rjcoles
Well-Known Member
With luck and a following wind we will be setting off for a couple of years cruise around the Med starting next spring. The question is should we open an Euro account for boat expences and if so with which bank?
Euro Bank accounts
- Thread starter rjcoles
- Start date
RichardS
N/A
We recently opened an International EURO account with Lloyds which is free to operate if you keep more that EUR2,500 in it. As our current account is with the Halifax, same bank group, we can transfer GBP from Halifax to the Lloyds account without any charges. Everytime the forex rate looks good I transfer some cash from Halifax to Lloyds.
You get an ATM / Debit card etc for use in the Eurozone so there are no withdrawal costs at that end.
It has also been really usefull for Swift online transfers to pay marina fees, maintenance bills etc.
Richard
Bertramdriver
Well-Known Member
Simple answer is on line banking with your existing bank and the apply for a CAXTONfx euro card. Just top it up online and use as a visa credit card. No hassle and good exchange rates.
michael_w
Well-Known Member
Citibank UK offer accounts in most major currencies. I've got ones in Sterling, Euro and US$. One debit card, which you can assign to any account you like and can change its account over the internet. On line forex at a pretty good rate. Much better than the Jersey based rigmarole that HSBC operated.
Tony Cross
Well-Known Member
+1 for CaxtonFX. You can load the card online and immediately withdraw the money from an ATM.
Cloven
Well-Known Member
+1 for Caxton but could I just correct the above. Cannot use it as a "credit" card as you cannot withdraw more than you have deposited in the account. Also not advised to use it when leaving a deposit on say car or bike hire or in self serve fuel pumps abroad as it withdraws a minimum amount which is more than the fuel obtained and you only get credited with the difference some time later. See Caxton's T&Cs for details
nigelmercier
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Just tried three times to order one via my iPad, will have to use a PC later.
AndrewB
Well-Known Member
I opened an account with a bank in Calais, which was just as easy as opening one in Britain. The advantage of Calais is not just nearness but the banks there are used to British doing this. They spoke English on the helpline, set up the appointment and explained what papers I would need to bring (same as usual, proof of identity and residence in Britain). The forms the bank gave me to sign were in English, though the person I met at the bank had limited English but was very patient. Being able to manage schoolboy-French is an advantage.
I preferred this route because I have some overseas funds, and by sending it to Calais avoid putting it though two exchange rates.
I preferred this route because I have some overseas funds, and by sending it to Calais avoid putting it though two exchange rates.
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vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
Using a UK based bank will always run a certain amount of risk on exchange rates, that may well be disadvantageous if the euro/pound rate changes significantly. Opening an account in Europe is straightforward and avoids these potential hiccups. Ours is at ABNAmro in Holland, we transfer sterling into it early in the year for a one-off charge and are then free to draw euros from ATMs throughout Europe with no additional charge. There is a bonus for us in that my Dutch pension is paid into it, boosting our cruising fund.
Having a Euro-based bank is highly beneficial when it comes to paying berthing fees, via a BACS transfer that costs nothing.
Having a Euro-based bank is highly beneficial when it comes to paying berthing fees, via a BACS transfer that costs nothing.
Koeketiene
Well-Known Member
+1 Citibank
colind3782
Well-Known Member
I have an account with Banco Sabadell in Spain which is really hassle free, but it does cost 8 euros per month. Bizarrely, rather than transfer funds from my HSBC account and pay the Forex and transfer charges, it's actually cheaper to order euros in cash from www.iceplc.com then pay the cash into the bank when I go to Spain.
RAI
Well-Known Member
CurrencyFair is a good way to get a better exchange rate for squids to teuros.
pcatterall
Well-Known Member
That caxton looked good but there seem to be a lot of potential risks associated so I decided not to bother the exchange rate was ok but not good IE 1.16 against 1.18.
charles_reed
Well-Known Member
When I was in France for a long time I opened an account with Credit Agricole, transferred cash by cheque from my UK bank and never paid any commission changes or got hit by charges hidden in the exchange rate - always @ or better than mid-market rates.
It's still marginally cheaper for me to use my standard Nationwide Flex card, now, for cash withdrawals in Greece than to pay £120/year and get surcharge-free € withdrawals on their Flex+ account.
Unfortunately no-one gives you "free" transfers from one currency to another. Most banks use either the Visa or Mastercard systems - these include an hidden surcharge (Mastercard tends to give slightly better rates than Visa) in the swap rate when compared to interbank rates. A few Building Societies (Norwich & Peterborough is one) do offer a transfer rate with only the Visa/Mastercard impost and Metro Bank makes no charge either. However there are some communication disadvantages (no on-line banking) which has militated against my transferring to them.
Of the prepaid cards, Caxton FX offers the least punitive rates, but I find it hard to justify the costs incurred and the disadvantages inherent in the systems.
There are a number of non-commission credit cards (all of whom charge lots for cash even if you pay off immediately) Halifax Clarity, Nationwide Visa Select and Santander Zero are probably the 3 leaders - excepting the 1st they require you to "belong" to their system in some manner.
You will need to tailor your system to your travel area and withdrawal pattern - if covering a number of currency areas in a fairly short period the prepay cards offer a simple system, but at a price.
One thing is certain, the major UK bank groups should be your last consideration.
It's still marginally cheaper for me to use my standard Nationwide Flex card, now, for cash withdrawals in Greece than to pay £120/year and get surcharge-free € withdrawals on their Flex+ account.
Unfortunately no-one gives you "free" transfers from one currency to another. Most banks use either the Visa or Mastercard systems - these include an hidden surcharge (Mastercard tends to give slightly better rates than Visa) in the swap rate when compared to interbank rates. A few Building Societies (Norwich & Peterborough is one) do offer a transfer rate with only the Visa/Mastercard impost and Metro Bank makes no charge either. However there are some communication disadvantages (no on-line banking) which has militated against my transferring to them.
Of the prepaid cards, Caxton FX offers the least punitive rates, but I find it hard to justify the costs incurred and the disadvantages inherent in the systems.
There are a number of non-commission credit cards (all of whom charge lots for cash even if you pay off immediately) Halifax Clarity, Nationwide Visa Select and Santander Zero are probably the 3 leaders - excepting the 1st they require you to "belong" to their system in some manner.
You will need to tailor your system to your travel area and withdrawal pattern - if covering a number of currency areas in a fairly short period the prepay cards offer a simple system, but at a price.
One thing is certain, the major UK bank groups should be your last consideration.
sailinglegend420
Well-Known Member
We have N&P and Nationwide debit cards. There is no charge for Credit card use, but for cash withdrawal Nationwide charge a fee of £2.89 AND a cash withdrawal fee of £1. There is no charge with N&P for cash withdrawal - as long as you pay in £500/month. We did a test with both on the same day for £200 from each card and the N&P was cheaper, even though the N&P exchange rate was slightly more expensive. Both have full online banking with fast cash transfers,
so I don't understand why you say:
"One thing is certain, the major UK bank groups should be your last consideration.."
Edit: It's good to have more than one card. Our Nationwide was cloned but we still had the N&P.
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charles_reed
Well-Known Member
The charge I pay Flex, on € ATMS withdrawals, is 2% of value + £1. Last year the cost was £72 - hence the comment that it wasn't worth paying for Flex+ premium - total cost was £108 (direct cost + difference between mid market and Visa exchange rates). CaxtonFX would have cost £208 on a withdrawal of £2889.
Using a Lloyds debit card would have cost a total £319. Hence my saying no-one should consider the major UK banking groups.
Bankers are devious lot - the next big scandal (and fine scandal) will be their rigging of exchange rates - to add to PPI, LIBOR and the rest.
Coastgal
Well-Known Member
++ 1 We used to use mainly Caxton card, but Currency Fair offer better rates, so we exchange and transfer to a Euro account
Applied for a Citibank Euro account early last week - the branch rep said it would just take 48hrs. But today the call centre said 7-10 days!!! We'll see how it goes.
Andy and Lyn
Well-Known Member
recommend Credit Agricole in France. They have a British speaking help line called BRITLINE. if you want a very helpful chap to help open an account ask for THOMAS BONNEAU.
Very straightforward - i transfer through a set amount from UK a/c to French account (through a FOREX dealer) and have a FRENCH debit card and French cheque book as well as on-line banking. The rate I transfer at is about 1 point below the headline actual exchange rate so today it is 1.186 / I get my money (without other charges) for 1.175.
Very straightforward - i transfer through a set amount from UK a/c to French account (through a FOREX dealer) and have a FRENCH debit card and French cheque book as well as on-line banking. The rate I transfer at is about 1 point below the headline actual exchange rate so today it is 1.186 / I get my money (without other charges) for 1.175.
DavidofMersea
Well-Known Member
Perhaps I have missed something, but I spend most of my life in Ibiza, and when I want cash I just go to the local ATM and get some € from my UK Barclays account - I don't see the need to have yet another bank account/problem in my life. As somebody says you may lose with the exchange rate, but by the same token you may gain.
