Topping up the overseas account? Make it as easy as possible.

A huge number of people use their bank to send an international payment.

Whilst this is totally unsurprising, we'd like to give you some reasons why using a company like Prime Cap might be better, cheaper and easier.

The rate you'll get:

For a couple of reasons, your bank isn't minded to improve a rate of exchange when pushed to do so.

A lot of time and money was no doubt spent on your bank improving and refining their online banking offering to their customers.

Sending an international payment from that online banking platform, although an increasingly desirable feature, was never at the heart of such developments...and this is largely because, actually, of all the customers a bank may have, relatively few of them will ever need to send money to someone abroad.

Therefore, whilst it cost the bank to develop and implement the ability to send and receive a payment, bank's include this feature as a default measure, rather than as one designed to tempt customers to move to the bank and to use their services.

We tend not to hear about someone changing their bank because the rate of exchange is better, or moving from a bank because the cost of sending a payment is high.

These elements tend to be secondary to lending, savings and current account products on offer...unless of course you are a business for whom expense is key.

So, as a default feature of an online banking platform, international payment capabilities are priced at something of a premium; hence why you pay more.

You use these features infrequently and as a result you get a less competitive pricing and cost structure.

Prime Cap and our institutional partners deal far more regularly with our bank when it comes to international payments, than you do with yours.

For that reason we are able to command a lower cost of engagement.

It costs us less to send a payment than it does you.

So, for as long as we are prepared to pass on some or all of that saving to you, you are able to reduce your own associated costs.

Additionally, we exchange far larger amounts of currency with our bank.

Being in the business of exchange currency, professionally, means we know how to push our banking and currency providers to give us better rates.

Just as you might say to your currency broker that you are getting a better rate elsewhere, so can we say the same to our bankers.

Our bankers want us to place our many hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of foreign currency activity with them...and this is precisely how we can offer something more competitive and attractive to you.

Usually we can reduce the transaction cost of a payment by between 50 and 80%. Also, we can increase your buying power by between 1.5 and 2.5% by providing you with a more competitive rate of exchange.

We do this by making less money ourselves on an exchange.

Our fees and costs for exchanging currency and sending a payment are akin to a wholesale transacting structure, and, as our retail customers, provided our mark up is less than a bank or another broker, you get more for your money.

The 'How' of sending a payment:

Did you know that there is more than one way to send a payment?

There are a few contracts made available to companies like Prime Cap which are not directly accessible to retail bank customers.

Even though you may be aware of the useful contracts and tools available to you through companies like us, are you fully versed in how to use those contracts to best effect?

We suppose not and this is why we place emphasis on the value of speaking with our team about 'the how'.

Currency brokers, whether purely online systems like TransferWise or Revolut, or more comprehensive like Prime Cap, will provide you with a better rate, but, unlike those aforementioned brands we can add to that underlying price improvement and cost reduction by coupling those benefits with expertise on timing and strategy, for free and uniquely applicable to what matters to you.

Our Audio content has been developed specifically to talk you through the use of some of these contracts and tools and to elaborate on the key differences between purely online and the more blended brokers out there. CLICK HERE to view our audio content.

Let someone else take care of it for you:

In pursuit of the easiest way for topping up your account abroad, once you've established that price and product are appealing, the execution of a transaction can be looked at.

Prime Cap refers to three different 'Service Wrappers' within our solutions based approach.

You do not need to 'select' a service wrapper that you wish to work within. We do this for you.

What you want to achieve and what we can identify as core to the way you might like to work with us will mean that your activities fall within one of the three categories we outline across our FAQs and Data Centre pages.

If you want us to we can do everything for you.

Our Fully Managed service wrapper means that you simply need to electronically send us the money you want to exchange.

You do not need to worry about what rate you will get, where the funds are going or how long they will take to arrive.

This is because we will, throughout the course of our initial fact find, have confirmed all of these details with you, and we will have set the relevant permissions and preferences for you in line with achieving your desired outcome as quickly and cheaply as possible.

'Prime Managed' relates to a very much more hands on role for our front of house team.

We liaise with your solicitor, accountant or wealth manager directly and confirm the exchange, receipt and release of funds with both them and you at each stage, but, crucially you do not need to feed this information backwards or forwards. We do this for you.

Our other services wrappers, whilst reflective of your demands and needs, are characterised by your involvement in the processes above.

Some clients want to take of everything, start to finish, and simply want to login to our online system, get a rate and deal without any direct action on our part.

This is something we happily facilitate, but, you can take absolute confidence from the fact that we will be watching your online activities to make sure that you're doing what you want and we will only engage directly should we spot something that might have been overlooked or is not in keeping with what you've suggested you're trying to do.

No one wants to feel like they are being micro-managed, and our facilities mean you can be totally in control, but, we are committed to the belief that you get the utmost in value for money when we are behind the scenes guiding you on request.

We do not want our clients to feel they have no one to call.

We've all tried to call our bank because their systems don't seem to be playing ball.

A huge amount of effort has gone in to anticipating these issues on our part, but also, you will have the name and contact number for your broker, so, unlike with bank you will always be speaking with someone familiar with your activity and able to action assistance immediately should it be required.

Using a currency broker is a quicker, cheaper and better value way of getting your money from one account to another.

If you are in any doubt as to the validity of that statement, then we can happily connect you with happy existing clients who have made the change to their practises and not looked back.

www.primecappayments.com | 0203 172 8193 | brokers@primecappayments.com