Every week I speak with people moving money across borders. Athletes, expats, families, business owners. Most are dealing with complex decisions, tight timelines, or high stakes. But sometimes the most valuable thing I can do is tell someone not to use my service.
This week I had a quick six-minute call with Jonathan, a UK expat living in Australia.
His story is the kind of real life situation most people don’t see behind the scenes.
He and his partner are getting married in January.
Family flying in.
Lease about to end.
Then out of nowhere, the landlord decides to sell.
They can either move out or buy the property.
Suddenly he needs to move between 30,000 and 50,000 pounds from the UK to Australia, and he asks the question everyone asks.
Can I get a better rate if I use a specialist instead of Wise?
This is where experience matters.
After a decade of dealing with international transfers for athletes, associations, and high-value clients, I know exactly when someone needs a premium strategy and when someone should keep their life simple.
And this was a moment to keep things simple.
Wise already gave him a good rate. The difference on a one-off personal transfer was tiny. He already had the account set up. And with a wedding, a property decision, and a house full of UK family arriving soon, the smartest thing for him was not creating another onboarding process.
So I told him the truth:
👉 Stick with your current setup.
👉 But prepare your paperwork properly or you will hit a compliance wall.
Because here is what most people never think about.
The real risk is not the rate. The real risk is compliance.
Any time a large lump sum lands into a UK account and gets sent out again quickly, the system will ask questions. It has to.
Source of funds.
Purpose of transfer.
Verification.
Every bank, every fintech, every regulated payment provider has to follow the same rules.
The difference is how well they prepare you for it.
Most platforms never warn you. They wait until your transfer flags an alert, then lock it until you upload something. And at that point, your timeline is at the mercy of their support queue.
This is where specialist advice matters, even if you don’t use the specialist’s platform.
I walked Jonathan through exactly what to prepare before he moves a cent.
A simple letter from his parents confirming the funds are a gift.
No repayment expected.
A clean explanation to satisfy compliance on both sides.
Once he has this ready, the transfer runs smoothly without surprises.
Trust is built by saying what is right, not what is profitable
People trust me because I give them the truth, not a sales pitch.
Sometimes that means securing a million-dollar forward contract and protecting them from a six-figure loss.
Sometimes it means saying, “Mate, your current setup is fine. Let’s keep this easy.”
This is real advisory work.
Clear. Honest. Experience-driven.
And here is the part that matters most. In the big moments:
The contract renewals
The property purchases
The seven-figure deals
The clients who received honest advice on the small things always come back.
Because they know I will guide them properly when the stakes are higher.
What this story really shows
When you strip everything away, people want the same thing.
Clarity.
Confidence.
And someone they trust to guide them.
This call was not about making a transaction.
It was about making someone’s life easier during a stressful moment.
That is how you build real long-term relationships. And that is how you build a reputation in this industry.
If you ever have a question about a transfer, big or small, reach out anytime.
I am always happy to point you in the right direction.
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