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Please can someone advise the best method of paying bills in Portugal in Euros from the UK ?
(oh and by the way they do not take credit cards)
(oh and by the way they do not take credit cards)
Paying Bills in Euros
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bendyone
Well-Known Member
If it is going to be ongoing you need a bank account in euros and then just transfer the euros as and when., I used a Citibank one which works well for me.
Cloven
Well-Known Member
+1, if you are based in Portugal open a Portugese bank account and then arrange transfers from UK bank. I have a similar issue in France and I have a French bank account and then make payments to it with HiFX which gives you a near commercial rate compared to a transfer from a normal bank.
Steve Clayton
Well-Known Member
Try Transferwise - you will not be disappointed!
https://transferwise.com/u/d4e86
Used to use HiFx ; only open for Tx 8:00am til 10:00pm; closed at weekends and expensive. Txwise is great. Money routinely transfers within 48 hours; 24 hours a day service inc. weekends. cheap as chips and you can receive payments as well. Try it!
https://transferwise.com/u/d4e86
Used to use HiFx ; only open for Tx 8:00am til 10:00pm; closed at weekends and expensive. Txwise is great. Money routinely transfers within 48 hours; 24 hours a day service inc. weekends. cheap as chips and you can receive payments as well. Try it!
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colind3782
Well-Known Member
SeamanStaines
Well-Known Member
http://www.fairfx.com and use their fastpay service. The credit cards are pretty good as well
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maxi77
Well-Known Member
Another vote for FairFX and fastpay. We have used them for about 6 years now, rates are always competitive especially if you avoid night time and weekends. Easy to use on-line and payment is usually very fast. All you need is the account details for you payee and internet access.
GrahamM376
Well-Known Member
I just do an online SWIFT transfer from UK bank, stipulating how many euro I want to transfer.
doris
Well-Known Member
I use MoneyCorp whom I find hugely helpful. Some bank account details abroad can be confusing, they will help translate the jargon. Also no transfer charge.
Joker
Well-Known Member
Barclays charged me a £25 fee for doing that!
GrahamM376
Well-Known Member
So do Nationwide but the so called "no charge" people make their money on the exchange rate they give which is frequently much lower. No-one does it for free.
maxi77
Well-Known Member
I agree no one does it for free, but in my experience the traditional banks take more out of any transaction than nost of the specialist money transfer companies. When I had a Portuguese account it was cheaper to top it up using Fairfx than using the service provided by my UK bank, in fact the Fairfx exchange rate was usually better than the banks before the bank added it's fee
Readysteady
New Member
Transfermate are great for larger transfers and have a 24 hour callcentre and online system,
Same day payment to a lot of destinations
Same day payment to a lot of destinations
Jim@sea
Well-Known Member
Before I moved to France I was able to open a bank account with Barclays in Bordeaux without leaving the UK. If Barclays have a presence in Portugal I would look to opening one there.
In the meantime back in the UK I found that Barclays also have a Euro Current Account together with a Cheque Book which I sometimes use to send cheques to pay my French Bills.
(although if you go into an ordinary Barclays branch and ask for one they don't know what you are talking about and pretend it dosent exist) however the bank sort code is 20 54 78 if that helps.
In the meantime back in the UK I found that Barclays also have a Euro Current Account together with a Cheque Book which I sometimes use to send cheques to pay my French Bills.
(although if you go into an ordinary Barclays branch and ask for one they don't know what you are talking about and pretend it dosent exist) however the bank sort code is 20 54 78 if that helps.
davidej
Well-Known Member
I can't see the problems
Most UK banks will let you make internet transfers from your current account to most of the civilised world.
Whether or not you get a good rate is another question
pagoda
Well-Known Member
RAI
Well-Known Member
Transferwise has the best exchange rate but CurrencyFair has the smallest fee. So it depends on how much you are transferring.
Heckler
Well-Known Member
GrahamM376
Well-Known Member
We always pay him by cash drawn from local account but you can do a bank transfer via any of the methods people have mentioned above.
