How can I avoid the inter-bank exchange rate when transferring a large sum from Chile (CLP) to Canada (CAD)?

External question — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: Klik Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/134453 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. I need to transfer a large sum from Chile to Canada and convert currency to Canadian. I specify the countries because fewer businesses seem to operate in Chile. I absolutely want to avoid the inter-bank exchange rate because I would lose 10,000+ compared to using the international exchange rate. I've found some relevant information on this site, but nothing actionable for my circumstance. This answer mentions using a banks FOREX desk. I called the bank and they never mentioned such a thing. They said it was a 2.5% fixed inter-bank exchange rate. What are my options? Edit: I've been asking around and it seems that one way people move money from Chile to Canada is by networking and finding people that want to trade currency. E.g. Canadian pensioners living in Chile would be interested in trading CDN for CLP. This isn't a good solution for me because I'm trying to move a large sum of money.

External answer — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: Spidey Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/134458 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. As a Brazilian I've used Transfer Wise to send money between different countries and currencies. Another option was Remessa Online, but I'm afraid this is specific to the Brazilian market. I've used those to send BRL to the Netherlands as EUR. Transfer Wise has better exchange rates than most traditional banks and lower extra fees.

External answer — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: WBT Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/134865 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. If you can establish accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges in source and destination countries, this may be the best way to move a large sum across international borders, in terms of reducing fees. The exact fees will depend on the specific exchanges where you open accounts. You could take advantage of the volatility compared to government-issued currencies and stand to gain (or lose!) due to value fluctuations while the funds are in cryptocurrency form, or you could buy a "stablecoin" which is fixed to a government-issued currency like USD or CAD (stablecoins exist for both; whether a CAD stablecoin will be listed on whatever exchange you can connect to your Chilean bank is a different question).

External answer — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: Taha C Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/137077 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. Lol, usually people are trying to get the IB rate, because it is minimal for major currencies, lets say EUR USD might be 1.19999 and 1.20001 and yes, some entities may by agreement trade without that "fee" at 1.2 exactly that would also be the published rate you see in print and internet services. The 2.5% you've been quoted is unlikely to be "fixed" by the markets, but the specific desk you asked might only feel comfortable taking the Chilean risk for that kind of money, just like my local Forex shop wants 10% to convert CLP, yes, 10%, just checked! That 10% covers their profit, their risk, and probably the 2.5% of the bank they will have to use. So yeah, you're kinda stuck with looking around for cheaper providers that might offer you something closer to the "true" IB, which should be under 1% unless Chile is in Venezuela-style crisis. Converting up and down to crypto will not work usually to under 1%, in fact most people end up paying up to 5% when zigzagging with crypto. But you may get lucky and convert CLP in Chile to stablecoin, there is TrueCAD(TCAD) among other options, and stablecoins you can usually exit with 0 or close to 0 fees. It is similar to finding an expat or two, because the expat would also be able to acquire TrueCAD at 0 cost. Failing that, Transferwise and its digital competitors should be cheaper than any traditional bank or FX business. I see Coinbase and Coinmama operate in Chile, they are not the cheapest but should be better for TrueCAD than 2.5% . And of course check with trusttoken.com that they wouldn't object to your kinds of amounts, banks etc.