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Does anyone know of a FOREX trading platform, on which both GBP and EUR are traded and which allows withdrawals in a different currency from the original deposit?

(Just found out forex.com only allows withdrawals in the same currency as the original deposit, making it somewhat pointless for actually changing money)

Background: I currently live in the UK and am interested in efficient ways to transfer money to Eurozone countries, both for personal and potentially business use. SEPA transfers from UK banks are a very bad way (I found that typically, I am paying 4% on the exchange rate plus a fee of 15-25 Pounds, so more than 5% on ca. 1000 GBP transfers).

I know there are cheaper services like transferwise, charging about 0.5 %, but there is little/no control over the exchange rate, you just get the rate at the time of execution.

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    Here is an alternative Money SE Money xfer to the UK. It isn't a recommendation, to use p2p necessarily, but I believe that @victor is correct.
    – Ellie Kesselman
    May 2, 2014 at 1:13
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    Currencyfair.com has a marketplace for exchanging currencies, so you can either pick the best available rate at a given moment, or place an offer at your preferred rate and wait for it to find a taker. You can pay the money in free from UK accounts, and send it out for about 4 euros. I usually get a rate within 0.3 to 0.5% of the midrate, sometimes better. Not a forex platform (which is why this is a comment, not an answer), but it's just about the cheapest way to do this type of transfer.
    – Rob Hoare
    May 15, 2014 at 9:49

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FX trading platforms are not used for exchanging money, they are used for trading currencies.

"I know there are cheaper services like transferwise, charging about 0.5 %, but there is little/no control over the exchange rate, you just get the rate at the time of execution."

With FX trading you don't have control of the exchange rate either, just like the share market, FX markets are determined by supply and demand of one currency over an other. So an individual does not have control over the exchange rate but will just get the rate at the time of the trade being executed.

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  • OP is asking about a place with tight spreads and no other fees.
    – CQM
    May 1, 2014 at 21:28
  • @CQM - The title reads: Using a FOREX platform to actually change money. This is what the OP is asking - read the question !!!
    – Victor
    May 1, 2014 at 21:37
  • but what he wants to do is find a cheap service that has spreads as tight as FX platforms and no other fees
    – CQM
    May 1, 2014 at 21:57
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    @CQM - but that is not what the OP asked, and there would not be such a service. Foreign exchange providers make their money through either large spreads, fees or both. FX trading platforms make their money on volumes traded. They are 2 different type of services to meet 2 different type of demands. That is why the OP is asking if money can be exchanged on an FX trading platform. And no it cannot.
    – Victor
    May 1, 2014 at 22:05
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    @Snowball - trading currencies and exchanging currencies are 2 different things. Trading for one thing is done on margin - forex.com uses 0.5% margin (or 200:1), so for every $1 you control $200 (an initial margin of $1000 would be controlling a $200,000 of currency). Maybe you should read forex.com's Introduction to the Forex Market and their other educational material to get a better idea.
    – Victor
    May 2, 2014 at 22:13
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If you wanted to spend money in another country, a specialist credit card would be the most cost-effective way. Near-spot exchange rate, zero-loading, no/low ATM fees.

Likewise a pre-paid debit card would also allow for money transfer across borders.

If this is the right situation, FOREX trading platforms are overkill to achieve a valid solution.

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