Best bank account for the Med

[BoyBlue49]

+1 Nationwide

 

[NornaBiron]

Yes, the free account is almost as good but the European Breakdown cover is worth the £120 p a for me.

They won't cover the dinghy!

 

[Trident]

If you leave £2500 in the Flex Plus account you get £62 a year interest mitigating half of the fee - so for us £5 a month to have unlimited free withdrawals and get the prevailing Interbank rate was worth it - the travel insurance is worthless when being a yachtie but will cover delayed flights etc if we fly home for a week or two and the lost / damaged mobile phone cover is a handy extra too

 

[longjohnsilver]

The "best" advice is from moneysupermarket.com.

If you need a debit (cash withdrawal card) Santander or Nationwide appear to be optimum.
However, the Santander 123 makes a monthly charge AND demands a minimum monthly pay-in. You can get much of that back by paying certain set charges (council tax, energy bills etc.) Nationwide have two Flex accounts - Nationwide Flex Direct and Nationwide Flex Plus. The former demands a minimum monthly income (£1000), pays 1% on all credit balances up to £2500 charges 2% + £1 on all ATMS foreign currency withdrawals and costs nothing, but demands you do it all in branch or on internet. Flex Plus charges £10/month, makes no charge for ATMS foreign currency withdrawals, covers mobiles, travel insurance (if you're under 75 and not abroad for more than 31 days at a time), car breakdown cover and needs no minimum payment, and pays 2.5% on all monthly credit balances up to £2500.
In my case the £58pa extra outlay pa was not worth Nationwide Flex Plus, for mobile and breakdown cover, as I'm over 75 and spend 6/12 aboard.
Regarding Jim B's bloater - ALL cash transfers cost - usually missed as a bid/offer spread charge. The least expensive is TransferWise, Mastercard seems to be less grasping than Visa but both are less than any FX and anyone is less than the big 5 banks.
With credit cards it's a whole different task - Halifax Clarity, Nationwide Select, Santander all look good.
Small players Peterborough BS and Capital are the least expensive of all

I did my own comparison just a few days ago between transferwise and currencyfair, the latter came out with a marginal advantage. I've used them frequently with no problems.

 

[syneraida]

My recommendation citi bank, you can open a account in a number of currencies (i have Euros, GBP and USD) you can easily and fairly cheaply (not quite as cheap as transferwise) transfer funds between accounts instantly as and when you want.

They give you one card, which you can then "link" to which ever account you want to. There are no fees for withdrawing abroad.

Not sure about other countries, but you need a Codice Fiscal to open an account in Italy (which you need a contract of employment to get).

 

[overstag]

Just keep your home bankaccount and get a revolut prepaid creditcard.
www.revolut.com
You can use them in any ATM worldwide without charges and you get the interbank exchange rate.
I have one and use it a lot. You charge it online with one click of a button from any debit card.
Oh and did I mention it is free?

 

[boatmike]

I have been looking at this anticipating the "off to the med" in June. I have a Santander 123 account which pays 3% on all cash on deposit up to £20,000. It therefore gives better interest than a savings account. There is a small monthly charge but if you have utility bills etc paid in they give you cash back on those too.... However both the debit and credit cards incur costs when using them for purchases or ATMs abroad APART FROM SPAIN WHICH IS FREE so that's not so good if you are elsewhere but great in Spain.... They do have a poorly publicised "Zero" credit card though which I am going to discuss with them when I next go to the branch. According to the website it gives zero commission and costs on all transactions including ATM use. I also have a Nationwide account and the credit card with that one is free on purchases but 2.5% at an ATM. They also however have a "Gold" credit card which is the same as the Zero from Santander but appears to have lower interest rates although the qualifying conditions appear to be more demanding. Interest rates are of course irrelevant if you pay it off every month. Just thought I would alert anyone who doesn't know that these two cards exist because I was not aware until I looked. Anyone got one?

 

[boatmike]

Update.... Having now checked with Santander and NW I gave a bum steer with the Zero and Gold cards. My apologies but despite being mentioned on cost comparison sites both cards were withdrawn some time ago. So best bet is as others have said. Use the NW or Santander credit cards for all purchases but don't use them in ATMs. For ATM use your debit card. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[nortada]

I have been looking at this anticipating the "off to the med" in June. I have a Santander 123 account which pays 3% on all cash on deposit up to £20,000. It therefore gives better interest than a savings account. There is a small monthly charge but if you have utility bills etc paid in they give you cash back on those too.... However both the debit and credit cards incur costs when using them for purchases or ATMs abroad APART FROM SPAIN WHICH IS FREE so that's not so good if you are elsewhere but great in Spain.... They do have a poorly publicised "Zero" credit card though which I am going to discuss with them when I next go to the branch. According to the website it gives zero commission and costs on all transactions including ATM use. I also have a Nationwide account and the credit card with that one is free on purchases but 2.5% at an ATM. They also however have a "Gold" credit card which is the same as the Zero from Santander but appears to have lower interest rates although the qualifying conditions appear to be more demanding. Interest rates are of course irrelevant if you pay it off every month. Just thought I would alert anyone who doesn't know that these two cards exist because I was not aware until I looked. Anyone got one?

APART FROM SPAIN WHICH IS FREE. Are you sure?

I was told this by a Santander branch in the UK but whilst in Ayamonte I drew cash from a Santander ATM and was charged transaction fees. As you can't argue with an ATM, I immediately carried out the same transaction at the same ATM with Nationwide and overal it proved cheaper.

Never tried the experiment again - just stayed with Nationwide.

 

[boatmike]

APART FROM SPAIN WHICH IS FREE. Are you sure?

I was told this by a Santander branch in the UK but whilst in Ayamonte I drew cash from a Santander ATM and was charged transaction fees. As you can't argue with an ATM, I immediately carried out the same transaction at the same ATM with Nationwide and overal it proved cheaper.

Never tried the experiment again - just stayed with Nationwide.

Can't argue on a practical level as I haven't done it, but I have an e-mail from them confirmed in branch that it is so. However the advice from both banks was to use the credit card for purchases and the debit card for ATMs. Were you using the credit card at an ATM by any chance?

 

[GrahamM376]

If you leave £2500 in the Flex Plus account you get £62 a year interest mitigating half of the fee - so for us £5 a month to have unlimited free withdrawals and get the prevailing Interbank rate was worth it - the travel insurance is worthless when being a yachtie but will cover delayed flights etc if we fly home for a week or two and the lost / damaged mobile phone cover is a handy extra too

Have you checked this point with them? When I asked the question, was told the travel insurance only covered "arranged" holidays with an outward and return date within IIRC 30 days. As we stay on the boat for months on end, it wouldn't cover any of our trips for anything.

 

[santelmo]

With the flexplus account you are also eligible to open a flexclusive regular saver account which pays 5% , but you are only allowed to increase the balance by £500 per month and the term of the account is one year. Not a bad rate considering you have instant access to your money.

 

[nortada]

Can't argue on a practical level as I haven't done it, but I have an e-mail from them confirmed in branch that it is so. However the advice from both banks was to use the credit card for purchases and the debit card for ATMs. Were you using the credit card at an ATM by any chance?

No and I had a similar assurance from a branch in the UK but didn't seem to work that way.
Anticipate I will be back in Ayamonte in a few weeks so will give Santander another go.

 

[nortada]

Have you checked this point with them? When I asked the question, was told the travel insurance only covered "arranged" holidays with an outward and return date within IIRC 30 days. As we stay on the boat for months on end, it wouldn't cover any of our trips for anything.

No first hand experience but know boatie friends of ours who made extensive use of Nationwide Holiday Insurance and had only praise for the service they received.

 

[Seven Spades]

i have a Cater Allen euro account. Transfer GBP to Euros at commercial rates and then use the Euro debit card with no charges everywhere.

 

[[3889]]

I used Santander 123 in the Canaries for cash withdrawals and wasn't charged. The Nationwide flex plus account (£10/month fee) gives commission-free cash withdrawals in the EU at interbank exchange rates.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

As I have spent time in Hospital in the last 12 months they decline insurance .as my car does not have main dealer servicing that's declined . I only have a cheap phone so the £50 excess is not a lot of good .

 

[Jamesuk]

Barclays, HSBC etc Isle of Man open up euro account card. English customer service, easy transfers of money andnmore crucially a Euro account

 

[Donheist]

I bank with first direct. I asked about a euro a/c. Took a bit of to and fro but in the end they wrote to HSBC proper and said "treat this chap as if he's a premier customer". That means a fee free account can be opened in Malta. Malta was chosen because they make it easy I think. The Maltese lady asked when I would be in Malta next and I replied "depends which way the wind blows". And that was fine. So now as long as I leave a minimum balance of 200 euros I have a full service telephone banking, Internet banking, solo debit card euro account. If not a premier customer there's a small fee but still available if you ask. I then use XE trade to top it up from time to time for best rates. You can even set a bid price of you want to wait for the rate to be above a certain limit. Transfer same day for GBP 12.50 or wait a few days for free transfer.