If you are buying a property overseas, whether as an investment, holiday or retirement home, or to live permanently, it is likely that you will have to pay for your property in Euros.

Exchange rate volatility will play a key role in your local currency transfer. It is not uncommon for currencies to fluctuate by as much as 10% over relatively short periods of time.

For example, a couple wishing to purchase a property in Europe for 200,000 Euros would have paid the Sterling equivalent of £134,526.13 in May 2005. Two months later they would have paid £136,873.80 for the same property. By securing an exchange rate in advance, they could have made a saving of £2,000.

In addition, you can take advantage of the following:

• No commission charges
• Fast, efficient worldwide transfers
• A dedicated dealer to guide you throughout your currency transaction
• 24 hour market monitoring enabling you to benefit from currency fluctuations outside of normal banking hours
• Regular Payment Plan - smaller regular transfers
• Extended office opening hours 7:30am - 10:30pm Monday to Friday and 10:00am – 4:00pm on Saturday.
• TTT Moneycorp Privilege card to purchase currency and travellers cheques commission free and at preferable rates of exchange from any of our retail branches in central London, or at Gatwick and Stansted airports

Moneycorp provides a Regular Payment Plan to assist those clients that need to make regular overseas payments. Such payments might include overseas mortgage payments or transfers of UK pension payments or any other regular transfers.

The Regular Payment Plan allows you to fix an exchange rate on regular overseas payments for a period of between 6 and 24 months, removing the worry caused by fluctuations in the exchange rate over that period of time. Moneycorp will deduct the payments from your account by Direct Debit each month and transfer your funds directly to the destination account of your nomination.

After booking an exchange rate with Moneycorp, you will need to transfer funds to their client account. The easiest and quickest way is by CHAPS of BACS. Bear in mind that any cheque will have to clear before funds can be sent. Once we have received your cleared funds, we will transfer your currency to the account of your choice.

The Interbank rate can readily be found on the Internet and on Ceefax. Moneycorp's website has live currency charts and you can also view historical exchange rates. Although a useful guide to current market levels, do bear in mind that unless you are trading millions of pounds on a regular basis, you will not receive the Interbank rate for your own transaction! For a live quote on the amount you are looking to exchange, it is best to call Moneycorp.

Moneycorp use Electronic Funds Transfer and can generally get the funds into the destination account a good deal quicker than a high street bank. We have a same-day transfer service to most European countries and North America, and next day for all other destinations. Bear in mind that there is sometimes a short delay in the receiving bank before your account is credited, this can usually be overcome with a "proof of payment" document that we can provide on request.