The report by FXCompared.com begins a regular monthly index measuring the effective cost of shifting money through both banks and the money transfer companies that have begun to put pressure on a business previously regarded as a big cash cow for lenders.
The index measures the cost - including fees and the spread to the central market rate at which banks trade currencies with each other - for a range of transaction values and currencies. Those are gathered by shopping expeditions at dozens of Canadian, US, Australian and UK banks and brokers.