Euro account for cruising in France

[lustyd]

Thanks to all who answered my query. Very useful to know that there is an option there, not sure I currently spend enough to justify €2k in a dedicated account but the point about using it to pay marina fees has been noted for the future!

 

[Donheist]

If you have a premier account

I have a first direct account and managed to get an account set up for me in malta. There are fees unless you have premier status but even the fees are less than the charges for adverse exchange rates and cash machine charges.

I need to keep a balance of 200 euro out there but thats it. They asked what my connection was to malta and i said i would visit if the wind blew me that way.

I send money over via xe at good rates.

With more places refusing cash esp in greece, my former plan of taking lumps of paper money was not sustainable...

 

[RobbieW]

...With more places refusing cash esp in greece...

only when a tax inspector is peering over their shoulder

 

[vyv_cox]

With more places refusing cash esp in greece,

????? Where are they refusing to take cash in Greece? We have been cruising here for seven years now, nobody ever refused cash from us.

 

[Donheist]

????? Where are they refusing to take cash in Greece? We have been cruising here for seven years now, nobody ever refused cash from us.

Gouvia told me that my usual approach of counting out 4000 odd paper euros would not be acceptable this year...i didn't test this as we have moved anyway but it is my understanding that there's a limit of a 1000 euros or so?

Not to mention that walking around with lumps of valuable paper isn't the most 21st century approach to transactions.

But the difference in the rates of any alternative was shocking until i got my new maltese account.

 

[vyv_cox]

A matter of wording perhaps, I would not have described that as 'refusing cash'. We have paid our marina bills for about the past 5-6 years using BACS transfer from our Dutch account.

 

[Jamesuk]

I would open up a French euro account when I got there although for English customer service open up an Irish current account

 

[JumbleDuck]

I used to work with a rather odd organisation which ran summer camps for children. The head of the organisation was very keen to attract more French children, so he opened a French bank account to let them pay with euros. One day I heard him complaining loudly that a German family had asked for the French account details. "That account's for French euros only" he said, "not German euros."

 

[Donheist]

A matter of wording perhaps, I would not have described that as 'refusing cash'. We have paid our marina bills for about the past 5-6 years using BACS transfer from our Dutch account.

Not sure what wording would have been more apt. They were clear that they would not accept cash. Would have been a pain if I had turned up with the paper...

I think the point I was trying to make is that a euro account is really handy. For paying bills via bacs, budgeting and not having to carry wads of euros on the off chance the chandler has the expensive part you be been looking for.

Also because debit cards are waterproof. On this last point, I have had my cash refused until I had hung it out to dry...

 

[avalon_router]

Maybe the easiest is to open an Internet bank account... some of them are free and you can get a Visa card in Euros

 

[AndrewB]

One word warning, having worked in France, is that all the French banks used to charge for a current account, even one in credit. Free banking is a very UK sort of thing. The closest I can get in NZ is one that charges me every time I use counter service but it is free to operate on-line and with my EFTPOS card, the local debit type card which is accepted by the say 10% of places that do not take my UK credit/debit cards.

+1

In Aus and NZ I had a free account IF I paid $2,000 per month into them. So in each place I opened two accounts (at the same bank!) and went through the charade of swapping the money back and forth each month. In Europe though you just pay. France is particularly expensive, so we went to Belgium (ING), which works well. Everything is in English, and we have an English-speaking personal advisor in our branch.

They won't take cash in Greece???? You have to be joking - they won't take anything else. The only time I was given a VAT receipt recently was for a 5 euro boat ride. Puzzled - until suddenly a customs boat powered round the headland and demanded an on-the-spot inspection. (How Greece ever expects its tax system to work is beyond me).

 

[Donheist]

+1


They won't take cash in Greece???? You have to be joking.

Not joking. I didn't say 'they won't take cash in Greece' because that would be nonsense. I said it was increasingly being refused. I then clarified having been challenged that it was for large transactions such as my mooring fees. I am sure i have read a limit of 1000 or 1500 euros which would also cover certain repair bills.

If anyone can tell me it is possible to pay annual mooring fees in Gouvia in cash then i will update to the narrower claim that some people's cash is refused i.e. At least mine.

For me, the prospect of turning up with my paper money to have it refused would have been at best expensive (paying a double exchange spread) and at worst highly inconvenient (finding a place to pay it in) instead i got a fee-free maltese bank account where my named bank manager speaks perfect english and for whom i have a mobile number. I would recommend this to anyone especially if you have a premier account. If i weren't offered it fee-free i would still set one up as it saves me a fortune on little charges and poor exchange rates and is more secure.

 

[AndrewB]

I paid cash in Gouvia recently for six weeks mooring. Did you notice they quickly run the notes through a checker, maybe one of yours was iffy.