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Whether you are importing goods from China or buying an overseas property, you will want to know that you got the cheapest money transfer deal. You may have already planned popping into your own bank to arrange the necessary transfers, but did you know that they won’t offer you the best deal?

The truth is that high street banks are one of the most expensive ways to arrange a money transfer. It’s a much better idea to use a specialist foreign exchange company. They will have access to a higher rate than your bank and can also give you advice on the best way to transfer your money. Let’s take a look at those facts in more detail.

1. Expensive Bank Rates

By using a foreign money transfer service you could make typical savings of 5% compared to transferring the same amount with your own bank. That’s because a specialist money service has access to exchange rates that are very close to the Interbank rate – this is the rate that the banks use to lend money to each other. When you use a foreign money transfer service you get access to live rates and not the static rates that the banks set each morning. As a first step, compare exchange rates online so you can be sure of getting the best deal when you transfer your money overseas, especially when moving around large sums of money.

2. Benefits Of Using a Foreign Exchange Specialist

Not only will you get access to the best rates when you call a non-bank foreign exchange company. You will also get access to the best service and advice. Because exchange services focus on one specific aspect of finance, they have an excellent grasp of what is happening in the currency market and will aim to get you the most beneficial deal on your transfer.

3. Smart Forward Thinking With a Forward Contract

If you know you are going to be transferring regular sums of money overseas, it makes sense to consider a forward contract. Worrying about fluctuating exchange rates can keep you up at night when you are transferring large sums, but with a forward contract, your rate is set in stone for a set period of time – that period is usually 12 months. During this time you can enjoy that exchange rate and the extra money it can give you compared with the current exchange rate if there are adverse currency fluctuations.

4. Shop Around Online For The Best Transfer Deals

It really does pay to shop around for most things online and money transfer deals are no exception. The good news is that you could find the best deal for your situation and currency in moments when you use an online comparison site. Don’t always assume that the first deal you find is the best deal even if it is listed at the top of your Google search results. When you are transferring hefty sums of money around it pays to spend a few minutes, or indeed hours, researching the most beneficial rate.

5. Make Sure Your Currency Company Is FCA Accredited and Regulated

Of course, you need to be sure that any money transfer company you use is legitimate and authorised to be carrying out such transactions. Any UK payment services company that is transferring money and which is not regulated by the FCA is breaking the law. These regulations provide customers with a high level of protection and therefore it pays to look for an authorised company.

In a perfect world, investments would constantly go up at a predictable and measurable rate, unaffected by variables or unwanted outside influences. Unfortunately, though, the world is far from perfect and the actual volatility of a financial asset or investment is subject to a myriad of influences. Some are welcome, some not so, but one thing is certain, over time the value of an investment such as a piece of jewellery or a fine work of art will change. This in turn will have a direct bearing on the type of insurance you will need to take out to protect that asset – and how much it will cost you.

Educating clients about risk

For insurance brokers, there is now more of a need to educate clients about the risks involved in protecting their assets. Charles Hamilton-Stubber of Aon Private Clients sums it up: “Investment volatility has meant families are placing more emphasis on protecting their tangible assets. In turn, the role of the insurance broker has become key to insulating wealth by educating and boosting understanding on tackling risks. As confidence has been lost in some elements of the financial services, insurance brokers are in a strong position to respond and offer effective advice on protecting wealth.”

What this translates as is that as we lose faith in perhaps what were seen as greater risk/return options before the financial crisis hit, the shift is more towards what are regarded as more ‘stable’ investments, such as fine art. For those who manage larger private insurance programmes (such as those with annual premiums in excess of £40,000 [or $66,000]), one of the best ways to risk assess is through the use of a ‘risk audit’.

Risk audits

Risk audits are a process of reviewing expenditure on insurance (which includes tangible assets such as property or fine art, liabilities and personal wellbeing), cross referencing them with their current insurance portfolio to find out if the existing arrangements are adequate and then finally offering practical solutions and advice in how to maximise coverage whilst minimising risk.

In recent years, the size and complexity of insurable assets amongst wealthier clients has changed. However, there may still be a disparity between the level of cover provided by existing insurance and the true worth of the assets. In addition, the increased risk to a client’s wellbeing (particularly if they travel extensively in what can be regarded as ‘high risk’ areas) could mean that their existing insurance is insufficient.

So it is up to the broker to ensure that their client is kept fully informed of the potential for their insurance to struggle to keep up with the volatility in value of an investment. It also needs to be pointed out to the client that there may be gaps or even overlaps in coverage, especially if policies have been taken out with different insurers. In this instance, the client could end up paying far more in premiums than they need to.

It’s also key to read the small print. While this may seem like generic advice, in some cases the wording of a policy may be outdated or even inappropriate for the risk being insured. Clarity is key, and so the overlying advice has to be to check those policies on a regular basis, especially if circumstances change, to ensure that they are current, offer the best coverage and that the client is actually getting what they’re paying for.

Home owners are able to cash in on the value of their property through an equity release scheme. They can do this without actually having to sell their property and find a new home. Two schemes exist to make this possible:

• Reversion schemes
• Lifetime mortgages

When you decide to release the equity of your home, deciding which option to go for is but one of many decisions you will have to make. This is why comparing equity release schemes is so important. You should seek not just financial advice, but legal advice as well. When you take money out of the value of your home, this could have a serious financial consequence and you have to be prepared for that.

Equity Release

Equity is surplus value in your property. A home that is worth £200,000 with a £100,000 mortgage has £100,000 in equity. However, equity release schemes aren’t available for anybody, but usually only to older people (over 55 for a lifetime plan and over 60 for a revision plan), who are unlikely to have a regular income.

Most people choose a lifetime mortgage. Here, you essentially take a loan out on the property, which remains yours. The debt has to be repaid when you die or go into long term care, meaning no monthly payments are needed. However, the interest does accumulate, which means you will owe a lot more than you originally owned. So, a £45,000 loan could turn into £152,387 after 25 years.

The drawdown version is the most popular lifetime mortgage. This is for those who don’t need a huge lump sum straight away. Instead, they can dip into a pot of money as and when needed. No interest is paid on the money that is not released.

The other option is the revision scheme. Only very few people use this. Here, you sell your home or part of it to a company, but you retain the right to live in that home. When you die or go into a home and sell the property, you only receive money on the percentage of the home you still own, which is often nothing. You also generally have to pay rent to the company that has purchased your home or part of your home from you.

Do bear in mind that releasing equity in your home can be costly. Usually, you will have to make at least a £1,500 fee and your financial adviser and solicitor will have fees as well.

With the growth in popularity of online shopping has come a rise in the ways you can pay for goods on the internet. While many people still prefer the more traditional route of paying directly through online banking, there are a number of advantages to using these specialist services – particularly regarding security, which has become one of the biggest challenges for internet shoppers as hackers and fraudsters seek to take advantage of a whole new market.

Whenever you enter your payment details into a site, you are potentially putting them at risk: phishing attacks (in which users are directed to a spoof website that collects their information) and malware that logs keystrokes are just a couple of the ways the bad guys could gain access to your bank account. This has necessitated the development of more secure online payment services.

An example of one of these services is Ukash. With this method, rather than entering your banking details each time you pay for something, you simply exchange a set amount of money for a 19-digit voucher code, which then acts as a virtual “wallet” that can be topped up whenever you want. The code corresponds to how much money you have: whenever you spend, you’ll receive a new code telling you how much you have left.

This means you don’t have to reveal your credit card number to a variety of different shops in order to make a payment – as long as you treat your vouchers as you would cash, your money is secure.

There is nothing better than opening a high risk merchant account for businesses operating in high risk environments. It solves the purpose for such risk prone institutions and their dealers for a long term. However, the real ordeal begins after opening one such account. High risk merchant accounts are nothing less than “cash cows” for such businesses but proper management is necessary in order to avail benefits in the long run.

It doesn’t need a lot of effort to manage high risk merchant account but having a prudent strategy is a must.

Here are some tips that might help in maintenance of high risk merchant accounts.

• Easy access: High risk merchant services should try to make it really easy for the customers to get in touch. The easier it is for customers to contact the merchants the better for the business as it would increase satisfaction quotient among them. Generally, most merchants lose out on this point and maintain distance from the customers for numerous reasons.

• Communicate: The more often a business communicates with its customers, the better. It is always advised to keep them updated about the orders placed by them. In addition, any issue related to customer or his payments should be taken as a top priority. It increases the level of communique with customers and increases their satisfaction level too.

• Short response time: It is always better to solve customer query yourself than allowing banks to mediate as it would only worsen the situation. The moment banks enter the confrontation, the scenario becomes all the more complicated. Therefore, it is always recommended to deal with customers’ concerns in the beginning instead of dragging the whole issue further.

• Monitor the accounts: It is very important and should be followed religiously. Businesses should always review and keep track of suspicious orders and online credit card processing.

• Fraud protection: High risk merchants should always employ automated fraud detection systems. They can also use velocity controls on the gateway to filter out potential frauds that have been recognized by experts till now.

Most importantly, high risk merchant banks should guard against excessive charge backs. High levels of charge backs are the primary reason for termination of majority of the high risk merchant accounts. A merchant should not entertain a transaction till authentication is not accepted fully.

The most important feature that ensures high level of security in risk free merchant accounts is settlement of transactions in the form of a lot on a daily basis. This will ensure stable and fraud free mechanism. .

At times, most merchants go out of the way to please their customers and clear high ticket items without adequate proof. This practice is unhealthy as proper verification complete with signatures and other essential details can significantly eliminate the possibility of default. .

Last but not least, all the high risk merchant accounts should make it their duty to comply with merchant agreements provided in writing. .

In case of any changes in the account make it a point to contact the payment processor in advance and maintain hassle free mechanism for years to come.