The currency blog

 Last month Mr Tiago, from Italy, sold his luxury holiday apartment in Balito, north of Durban. He had previously used Currencies Direct to bring the money into South Africa, so gave us a call and asked for our assistance to make sure he got the most value from his investment in South Africa.

The team were able to assist him obtain the necessary tax and exchange control clearances as well as secure an excellent rate that enabled him to make an additional €6011 (2.3%) on his South African investment. By using Currencies Direct, as opposed to his international bank to do the transfer of funds, the R2.5 million he sent abroad amounted to €255 626. He was quoted an indicative (not guaranteed) rate by his bank which would have seen an amount of €249 615 deposited in his Italian bank account, 2.3% less than he actually secured through Currencies Direct.

To ensure your clients are able to maximise the value of their international transfers, make sure you send all possible leads to our South African offices (capetown@currenciesdirect.com).

If you’ve visited our website recently you’ll notice it’s had a radical facelift. We’ve worked closely with an expert website design company to enhance the navigation and features on the site, based on your feedback. 

Currently there is no affiliate section in the main navigation – that’s because we’re busy building a site especially for you! All the features for affiliates are still available just click ‘affiliates and partners’ located at the bottom of the website. Once you login, you have access to an amazing array of tools that make referrals so simple and add value to your website by providing additional service for your clients. (Don’t worry if you’ve forgotten your login password, we can easily reset it. Just email affiliates@currenciesdirect.com )

What’s on offer? Down-loadable and traceable banners and widgets. These help generate money for you – because when clients browse your site; they see a banner or a FREE widget which will calculate the cost of their purchase in sterling or any other currency. They click through to Currencies Direct and make use of our service – we can always trace where they came from, and you earn the profit share based on the trade, without ever lifting a finger! 

Other features include:

•              Simple Logos and banners

•              Rate watch widgets

•              Mortgage calculation widgets

•              Enquiry forms to download directly on your site

•              FREE exclusively designed landing pages that will seamlessly fit into your look and feel

•              Email campaigns promoting international payments

•              Online reports

•              A user guide on how to make the best of the toolkit

•                     And how to refer clients

For a consultation on how we can work with you to improve your website with credible links and revenue generating services please email your account manager on capetown@currenciesdirect.com.

Over the past 20 years, international property investments have become more popular and are now within reach of the average person. The low cost of travel and tourism have been the main drivers for this market and South Africa should soon start seeing the benefits of the positive exposure the country has experienced throughout the Soccer World Cup and other tourism drivers.

Investment in International property happened quite early in Europe, as most Europeans tend to feel more comfortable with change and have a higher level of intrigue for new destinations. After all it was the Europeans who set off on the voyages of discovery – and settled in countries as far away as New Zealand and Paraguay.  

Investing in a property abroad was at first the domain of the super wealthy across Europe and at first it was mostly other countries in Europe that caught their eye. However as interest grew, more and more destinations were identified, locations as far as Australia and Panama became popular. Today these hotspots can be found around the world, driven by tourism, yet still a strong bias of purchases from the UK and European countries.

Today over 4 million British people live in southern Spain. This has had a dramatic effect on the Spanish property market. It is not just the British that are happy to relocate, many other nationalities in Europe have followed suite. Another great example of this is Florida, UK purchasers spent over 1 billion dollars on properties in Florida in the past 2 years. Disney has done a great job promoting Orlando as a dream destination, and that is exactly what the UK market bought into, resulting in over 250 000 foreigners purchasing a property there.

Whilst housing markets around the world are “local” in terms of values, this can change when a tourist arrives in town. In cities around the world that have the ingredients to become a tourist attractions the prices of property in that location are generally going to be higher that those seen in other areas.

The answer is simple where there is an attraction for tourism there will be a property investment serge. Improved risk profiles, positive publicity and the successful hosting of the FIFA Soccer World Cup have all collectively positioned South Africa as a world class destination, one that Europeans and the British are beginning to notice. It won’t be long before they begin packing the bags and heading towards the tip of Africa for their own magical experience in South Africa.

The South African Rand (ZAR) will continue to reflect rapid changes in investor sentiment. A widening current account deficit will point to a depreciating bias of the ZAR vis-à-vis the US dollar, Euro and GBP later in 2011 and 2012.  However recently the ZAR has performed well on the back of a continued thirst for commodities and yield.  This tide should start to change once the major economies start to raise interest rates- we expect the ECB to kick off this trend with an interest rate rise on Thursday, followed by the UK within 2-3 months and finally the US Fed.  Current levels present a great opportunity to sell ZAR into GBP and other major currencies.

Currencies Direct has recently repositioned their African office to provide a range of forex solutions to clients wishing to transfer funds into and out of Southern Africa. These services are now available to both residents and foreigners and additional services related to tax clearances and exchange control are also now available.

South Africa has traditionally had very strict exchange controls to prevent residents from moving money abroad and non-residents from bringing in vast sums of foreign currency. However, in the past 18 months, the South African Reserve Bank has relaxed these regulations to allow greater flexibility and encourage interest in the South African market.  Both investment and discretionary allowances have increased  and this has seen many South Africans taking advantage of the opportunity to invest abroad.

Additional relaxation regarding repatriation of funds has come into effect, providing much needed surety for foreigners. It seems South Africa is embracing the opportunity for both private and corporate foreign investment.

Over the past six months, Currencies Direct has been improving their local systems and processes to ensure we offer a superior service to all our clients. In addition a recent partnership with Incompass Financial Solutions, a South African FSB registered company, has enabled a full international payment and currency transfer offering.

As of 1 January 2011, Currencies Direct  SA now offer the following services:  

•    Currency trades for both money in and money out of South Africa

•    Foreigners purchasing property in SA

•    Foreigners repatriating funds abroad after selling a property in South Africa

•    South Africans returning home and bringing funds in from abroad

•    South Africans wanting to release funds that were blocked when they emigrated

•    South Africans wanting to take advantage of the relaxed exchange controls , and taking both their investment and discretionary allowances out the country

•    Forex management for SMME’s (small to medium enterprises)

•    Complimentary SARS Tax Clearance and SARB Exchange Control support and assistance when transferring funds abroad

As Currencies Direct is not an Authorised Dealer in South Africa, foreign exchange transactions out of South Africa are processed through an authorised dealer bank in strict accordance with exchange control and SARB regulations.

So if you or your clients are looking to make or receive international payments from Southern Africa or would like to transfer funds out of South Africa, make sure you call Currencies Direct. Our efficient service, competitive rates and local knowledge will ensure your transaction is hassle free and gives you the most value for your money. Call our office on +27 (0) 21 418 0105 or email us on capetown@currenciesdirect.com

Currencies Direct has recently repositioned their African office to provide a range of foreign exchange solutions to clients wishing to transfer funds into and out of Southern Africa.

South Africa has traditionally had very strict exchange controls to prevent residents from moving money abroad and non-residents from bringing in vast sums of foreign currency.

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