Lloyds TSB introduces fee-free international money transfers

The move means customers with this kind of account will no longer be charged transfer fees when moving currency to any overseas bank accounts, regardless of whether it is requested online, over the telephone or by post or if it involves currency exchange.

"Many expats rate foreign exchange and money transfers as an important financial service and fee-free transfers will be a great benefit to the huge number of our customers who continue to have financial commitments in more than one country," said Russell Galley, Managing Director at Lloyds TSB International.

He added that by removing these fees, the bank was taking another step in its bid to build a market-leading banking service for expats. This commitment, Galley explained, could be seen in this and the many other improvements it has made - such as best-buy savings rates and the development of an award-winning internet banking service.

Lloyds TSB International will continue to offer market-leading exchange rates which are typically better than those offered by many of its high street rivals1. The bank recently introduced savings accounts including a fixed-term, five year Sterling account paying 4.5 per cent AER , some nine times better than the Bank of England base interest rate and one year Sterling accounts paying 3.4 per cent AER8, despite UK base rate increase in the next 12 months remaining unlikely.

Lloyds TSB International also revealed details of an independent and weighted survey which asked 1,030 expats about their current habits in terms of international money transfers. It was revealed that 34 per cent of expats - which equates to around 1.87 million - transfer money internationally at least once a quarter2 at an average cost of £15.10 per transfer2. The number of people doing this on an even more frequent basis amounted to 18 per cent.