If you have to make a transfer overseas, but the exact date is flexible, a well-placed limit order could get you a good deal.

What is a limit order?

With a limit order, you set instructions to carry out your transaction — a forex trade or money transfer, for example — once the market price reaches your specified exchange rate.

Why is a limit order useful?

Maybe you think a currency is overvalued right now, and want to wait for its price to go down. You could set up a rate alert, but you’d run the risk of your target exchange rate being reached at a time when you can do nothing about it (for example, you may be asleep).

With a limit order, once your goal rate becomes available, the transfer will be locked in and carried out automatically.

Example: Anika sends money to India

Anika's nephew, who lives in India, is turning 21. As a gift, she wants to contribute £2,000 to his savings. However, the Rupee has recently gone up in price, with £1 being worth 82.0 INR, making her gift amount to 164,000 INR. Believing the Rupee will go back down, Anika places a limit order requesting an exchange rate of GBP/INR = 85.8. This rate is reached 9 days later and 171,600 INR is sent to her nephew's account.

Thanks to the limit order, Anika managed to send an extra 7,600 INR to her nephew.

* This is a fictional, but realistic, example.

Compare providers

Table: sorted by promoted deals first

Our table below lets you compare services you can use to send money abroad. Compare fees, exchange rates and discounts from different money transfer services, and when you have made your choice, click Go to site.

1 - 9 of 9

{"niche":"UKFMT"}

Name	Product	Ratings	Pay by	Receiving options	Fastest transfer	Fee (pay by bank transfer)	Key benefits
OFFER TorFX TorFX	OFFER	Finder rating ★★★★★	Debit card, Bank transfer	Bank account	Within minutes	£0	Get a £50 Amazon voucher for each friend you refer who transfers £5,000 or more. T&Cs apply.	Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
Key Currency Key Currency		Not rated yet	Bank transfer	Bank account	24 hours	£0		Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
OFFER CurrencyFair CurrencyFair	OFFER	Finder rating ★★★★★	Bank transfer	Bank account	Within minutes	€3	New customers get unlimited fee-free transfers for their first 3 months. T&Cs apply.	Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
OFFER Currencies Direct Currencies Direct	OFFER	Finder rating ★★★★★	Debit card, Bank transfer	Bank account	24 hours	£0	Get a £50 Amazon voucher for each friend you refer who transfers £5,000 or more. T&Cs apply.	Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
TorFX Business TorFX Business		Finder rating ★★★★★	Debit card, Bank transfer	Bank account	Within minutes	£0		Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
OFX OFX		Finder rating ★★★★★	Credit card, Debit card, Bank transfer	Bank account	24 hours	£0		Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
OFX OFX		Finder rating ★★★★★	Credit card, Debit card, Bank transfer	Bank account	24 hours	£0		Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
OFX Business OFX Business		Not rated yet	Credit card, Debit card, Bank transfer	Bank account	24 hours	£0		Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...
Currencies Direct Business Currencies Direct Business		Finder rating ★★★★★	Debit card, Bank transfer	Bank account	24 hours	£0		Go to site View details	loading Fetching your data...

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Are there any drawbacks?

Limit orders do not guarantee that your transfer will happen, as they rely on the exchange rate reaching the specified value.

For example, maybe you think the dollar will go down — but what if it keeps going up? If you placed a limit order hoping the dollar would go down, you may find yourself waiting endlessly.

Explore other risk management options

A limit order is one of many ways to lock in desirable exchange rates. Other methods include:

Stop-loss orders. Set a minimum acceptable exchange rate, to protect yourself should the mid-market rate drop too low.
Forward contracts. Lock in today’s exchange rate for a future transaction.

A common tactic, known as a one-cancels-the-other (OCO) order, is to combine a limit order with a stop-loss order. This means if the market goes in the opposite direction to what you had hoped, your losses are capped. As the name suggests, once either the limit or the stop-loss order is triggered, the other is cancelled.

Frequently asked questions

Check the mid-market rate between the 2 currencies you’re trading. The mid-market rate is what your money is actually worth on the global market compared to another currency. It’s the midpoint between worldwide supply and demand for that currency — and the rate banks and transfer services use when they trade among themselves.
Use the mid-market rate as a baseline to compare against the rates provided by your bank or transfer service.

Thank you for your feedback!

Noi Rotstein

Noi Rotstein was a publishing innovation and data analysis manager at Finder. She crunched numbers, wrote pages and created striking visualisations.

What is a forward contract? Skrill payments and transfers review

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What is a limit order?

Limit orders can help you get a better price on your currency transfer.

What is a limit order?

Why is a limit order useful?

Example: Anika sends money to India

Compare providers

Are there any drawbacks?

Explore other risk management options

Frequently asked questions

Do money transfer services offer limit orders?

How do I know what a fair exchange rate is?

How can I ensure I’m getting the best exchange rate for my transfer?

Noi Rotstein

More guides on Finder

Ask an Expert

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