Money transfer to Germany for Erasmus student

[PattyPenguin]

My daughter will be doing an Erasmus semester in Germany from March to July. She will have to set up a bank account in Germany to pay for accommodation etc. There's quite a lot of advice about that on the university's website.

However, I need to find the most convenient, safest and cheapest option for transferring money, both from her account and from mine.

I've been researching on the net until my head is spinning, but I'm no nearer being able to make a choice.

I have found warnings that so-called fee-free services can be just as expensive or more so, as the exchange rate is usually worse than that with fee-paying services.

I have also searched this forum for similar topics but couldn't find any.
Does anyone have any recommendations or warnings? Thanks.

Talk to your bank. Go into a LARGE city branch and talk to someone who deals with this.

The simplest way is possibly a bank draft (a confirmed bank cheque) for her to take with her. It will take a week or so to clear so she'll also need some cash to cover this. A credit card with a low credit limit will also be useful.

A good idea for quick money In an emergency might be for her to have a UK card account with someone like Nationwide which doesn't charge for withdrawals overseas. Then you can transfer money into that account in an emergency.

Paypal isn't cheap but works well for small amounts.

We used HiFX when our DD was doing the same in Germany. Never had a problem with it - quick and easy. I didn't compare the exchange rates, but that would be easy enough to do.