Ask the experts: How should we move our money from Oz to Spain? To get the best exchange rate you need to shop around. It would obviously be simplest to transfer the money from your existing bank account. You mention that you are transferring money to the UK but that you were going to live in Spain. If you were going to live in Spain you may need the money in euros. Irrespective of the currency you want to end up in, ask your bank for a competitive rate and then check the rates with other banks and also specialist forex companies. You can certainly play one off against the other to obtain a competitive rate. Interest rates paid by banks tend to be more fixed and there is not so much room for negotiation, but again you need to shop around. You also need to be aware that many banks offer a high headline rate but that applies only to the first £10,000 of any deposit or something like that. Also, they are able to change the rates at any time unless you fix the deposit for a particular length of time with a fixed rate. You need to exercise care and examine the small print to make sure you are comparing like with like. If you are going to live in Spain you will become tax resident there and subject to Spanish tax on your worldwide income. If you bank offshore, the interest on your money is likely to be paid gross but will then have to be declared and you will pay tax on it when your file your end-of-year tax return. If you were to bank in the UK mainland, you would find that tax on the interest is deducted at the source but you would get a credit for tax paid in the UK against tax due on the same income in Spain. Banking offshore is generally advantageous because it gives you more control to use your various allowances to their maximum value which may mean little or no tax is actually payable depending on what other sources of income you have, how they arise, where they arise and what form the income takes.