GBP/USA Conversion Rate

[Tahushi]

I have recently bought and sold some USA shares and have been unable to understand the way foreign rate conversion rate is applied. When I buy USA shares, the conversion rate is somewhat in line with whatever the standard market buying rate at that particular point is but when I sell them it is way higher than the market selling rate. Even with the 0.5% IG fee added, it does not make sense. For example on 09/06/21 I bought some USA shares and was charged £1= $1.408 conversion rate which was fine but when I sold the same shares after an hour, I was charged £1 = $1.460. The market spread for whole day was between $1.40 and $1.41. Any explanations ??

 

 

[Ravuol]

I've noticed a lot of strange fees with IG. Live chat seem to avoid giving straight answers. Did you even get an answer elsewhere?

[ArvinIG]

On 24/06/2021 at 20:33, Tahushi said:

I have recently bought and sold some USA shares and have been unable to understand the way foreign rate conversion rate is applied. When I buy USA shares, the conversion rate is somewhat in line with whatever the standard market buying rate at that particular point is but when I sell them it is way higher than the market selling rate. Even with the 0.5% IG fee added, it does not make sense. For example on 09/06/21 I bought some USA shares and was charged £1= $1.408 conversion rate which was fine but when I sold the same shares after an hour, I was charged £1 = $1.460. The market spread for whole day was between $1.40 and $1.41. Any explanations ??

 

 

Hi @Tahushi,

When you buy and sell shares in a currency different to your account currency, we will convert currencies at the time of execution based on the best available bid / offer exchange rates, plus our spread of 0.5%. We use the same process for converting while buying and selling.

If you wish to hold on USD and convert your currencies later you can use the "Manual conversion " settings but it will change your trading fees as explained here here.

 

[ArvinIG]

2 hours ago, Ravuol said:

I've noticed a lot of strange fees with IG. Live chat seem to avoid giving straight answers. Did you even get an answer elsewhere?

Hi @Ravuol,

Could you please elaborate on strange fees to assist you further?
You can refer to this page for the fees https://www.ig.com/uk/investments/share-dealing/costs-fees.

If you need further assistance you can take a screenshots of the transaction you need more information about, and send it to helpdesk.uk@ig.com.

Thank you - Arvin
 

[Ravuol]

12 hours ago, ArvinIG said:

If you wish to hold on USD and convert your currencies later you can use the "Manual conversion " settings but it will change your trading fees as explained here here.

 

Hi, with a GBP account and "Manual conversion " does this mean if we do 10 CFD USD share trades a month we'd only pay 2 x 0.5% conversion fees instead of the 20 (10 x open/close)?

[ArvinIG]

12 hours ago, Ravuol said:

Hi, with a GBP account and "Manual conversion " does this mean if we do 10 CFD USD share trades a month we'd only pay 2 x 0.5% conversion fees instead of the 20 (10 x open/close)?

Hi @Ravuol,
The information shared above are applicable for Share dealing accounts. for CFD accounts and US shares this commission will apply: 
More details here.

With CFD you can open an account with a different base currency (e.g USD) if you wish to trade only in USD.

Thanks - Arvin

[Ravuol]

6 hours ago, ArvinIG said:

Hi @Ravuol,

With CFD you can open an account with a different base currency (e.g USD) if you wish to trade only in USD.

Thanks - Arvin

I was referring to the currency conversion charge:  "Manual conversion " does this mean if we do 10 CFD USD share trades a month we'd only pay 2 x 0.5% conversion fees instead of the 20 (10 x open/close)?

[ArvinIG]

15 hours ago, Ravuol said:

I was referring to the currency conversion charge:  "Manual conversion " does this mean if we do 10 CFD USD share trades a month we'd only pay 2 x 0.5% conversion fees instead of the 20 (10 x open/close)?

Hi @Ravuol,
You can't have a "Manual conversion" setting on a CFD account. 
But if you are using a share dealing account with "Manual conversion" yes you will only pay the conversion twice.
 Keep in mind that in Manual conversion you will pay 2 cents per share with a minimum charge of $15 on US stocks.


- Arvin