USD to GBP

Who converts dollars to pounds

You might be sending funds across the Atlantic for all sorts of reasons. Maybe you're a US student at a university in Scotland, using your home savings to cover rent and fees in sterling. Or you could be a London-based developer whose employer pays in dollars from New York, but your bills and mortgage are in pounds. Some buyers from Florida need to move the money quickly to seal a deal on a cottage in the Cotswolds. And plenty of online sellers see their stores pay out in dollars, while their suppliers are in the UK and need payment in sterling.

For most people, transfers like these happen more than once. That means small price differences can add up, while a fixed fee takes a chunk out of a small payment but barely scratches a bigger transfer. Just so you have a reference point, at the mid-market rate, 5,000 US dollars comes to 3,731.94 GBP. The table above shows how much each provider delivers from the same starting amount.

Dollar, pound, and why you see USD/GBP

In the US, the Federal Reserve sets monetary policy; for sterling, it's the Bank of England. Both the dollar and the pound trade on open markets. You'll often notice markets quote this pair in reverse as GBP/USD (meaning how many dollars to the pound). The nickname "cable" goes all the way back to the earliest transatlantic telegraph. Here though, we show USD/GBP, how many pounds you get per dollar, so these figures correspond to those on GBP → USD (just flipped).

Market swings come from many sources: interest rate decisions by central banks, inflation or jobs reports in either country, or risk shifts. Politics sometimes makes a bigger splash, like after the UK's 2016 EU referendum, which pushed the pound sharply down. Over the last twelve months, the exchange has shifted -2.03%, ranging between 0.723986 and 0.766890.

How pounds actually arrive in the UK

When pounds land in a UK account, it's nearly always through Faster Payments. Nearly all domestic banks use this system, which is usually instant. The only things you'll be asked for are the sort code and account number. For very large payments, banks may turn to CHAPS, which is built for big transfers and clears the same day. Some providers already hold sterling in the UK, so they can pay you out directly without routing money between countries.

You usually fund a transfer from the US by ACH, bank wire, or perhaps a debit card. But a US wire to the UK will use SWIFT and might lose a slice to intermediary bank fees (we look at this in intermediary bank fees). Before you send, it's very important to match the recipient's details exactly, see our page on bank details for international payments. Changing a sort code after sending takes a long time to unravel.

Costs, provider differences, and comparing payouts

At this moment, Wise offers the highest payout in our comparison, sending you 742.69 GBP for 1,000 dollars. If you're looking for some benchmarks, Revolut comes in at a total cost of 0.50%, while Wise is at 0.50%; you can view them side by side on Wise vs Revolut.

Larger sums usually call for a different setup. OFX focuses on higher amounts, and if you're sending 5,000 dollars, the cost there is 0.70%. Don't choose by fee alone; always check which provider puts the most pounds into your recipient’s account. There’s more detail about why banks often lose out on price in our bank exchange rate markup guide, and you’ll find how we measure providers on How we compare.

Timing matters: deadlines and bigger payments

Deadlines can be tight. You might have a tuition bill coming up, property completion scheduled, or a supplier who only ships after payment lands. If it's a house purchase, solicitors sometimes need the money ahead of the completion day, so a routine transfer made a day too late can create problems. Setting up your first transfer may take extra time because new customers often need to clear identity checks. Our value dates and cut-off times guide breaks down why late-in-the-day payments may only count on the next working day.

For larger sums, the exchange rate often matters more than the transfer fee itself. If you’re moving 200,000 dollars, a one percent swing in rate equals two thousand dollars. There are ways to lock in rates ahead, see our note on forward contracts if you need to secure a deal now for future payment. Sometimes you'll be asked for documents showing the source of funds (perhaps a recent savings statement). And if you need to send money into the euro area as well as the UK, USD → EUR covers that side.