Paying foreign Marina in Euros from Uk

[GrahamM376]

For transfers account to account.
Not for credit card payments. I got badly stung when transferring a large amount of money from one account to another with HSBC/Nationwide - as I said it cost me about 7% over the median buying/selling rate.

I transferred £2.5k this week from Nationwide to Portuguese account. Got rate of 1.17 (+£25 SWIFT charge) which isn't too bad, certainly far cheaper than using hole in the wall for cash now that Nationwide charge roughly £5 for every 200 Euro withdrawn by debit card. Transfer took 1 day.

 

[westernman]

I transferred £2.5k this week from Nationwide to Portuguese account. Got rate of 1.17 (+£25 SWIFT charge) which isn't too bad, certainly far cheaper than using hole in the wall for cash now that Nationwide charge roughly £5 for every 200 Euro withdrawn by debit card. Transfer took 1 day.

In my case it was US dollars -> Nationwide account for a lot of money. 7% overall cost.

 

[david36]

Its that time of year for us to pay our Croatian Marina for the annual berth, which they price in Euros. Last year it suited us to pay by Amex but this year I'd like to find a way that involves a fairer exchange rate and minimum forex charge.

We have UK bank accounts and will need to pay before we get out there again so cash is not an option.

I've held off paying since the beginning of November as the Euro has slid against the pound but we need to pay by end January.

Any thoughts on the best value way to pay?

As ever, it depends...... in this case upon how much you want to transfer. From your question I guess that you are talking in the range of £5/10k in Euros with you paying all the bank transfer charges at both ends. For that I would thoroughly recommend FairFX Fairpay - see their website; nb not their card or their currency although both of those are good for other circumstances.
No connection just a very satisfied customer etc etc.
Fair winds.

 

[maxi77]

I transferred £2.5k this week from Nationwide to Portuguese account. Got rate of 1.17 (+£25 SWIFT charge) which isn't too bad, certainly far cheaper than using hole in the wall for cash now that Nationwide charge roughly £5 for every 200 Euro withdrawn by debit card. Transfer took 1 day.

Mind you I get similar rates but no SWIFT charge when I use FairPay with FairFX.I can find plenty of better things to spend the £25 on.

 

[GrahamM376]

Mind you I get similar rates but no SWIFT charge when I use FairPay with FairFX.I can find plenty of better things to spend the £25 on.

The £25 would be handy since Portuguese have now increased VAT from 6% to 23% on most processed foods from today!

 

[neil1967]

Another vote for Hargreaves Lansdown - only used them once, but good rates and excellent service.

Neil

 

[maxi77]

The £25 would be handy since Portuguese have now increased VAT from 6% to 23% on most processed foods from today!

One of the benefits of being in Portugal is you tend to eat less processed food anyway.

ps, should have gone to Iceland last week then

 

[Roaring Girl]

We use nzforex, which has a ukforex sister company for paying bigger bills (e.g. winter marina) and have found them generally competitive and efficient. The first big exchange we did was some money to NZ and we've also used them for payments in Hong Kong as well as in euroes, so been happy.

This is not a solution for cash payments or small amounts of course. We were trapped in UK in 2011 so are still researching the best sub for the forlornly remembered nationwide flex account deal.

 

[maxi77]

We use nzforex, which has a ukforex sister company for paying bigger bills (e.g. winter marina) and have found them generally competitive and efficient. The first big exchange we did was some money to NZ and we've also used them for payments in Hong Kong as well as in euroes, so been happy.

This is not a solution for cash payments or small amounts of course. We were trapped in UK in 2011 so are still researching the best sub for the forlornly remembered nationwide flex account deal.

As far as I can see the best are the prepaid mastercard systems such as FairFX though as far as I can see no one in the UK will now pay the charges levied by ATM operators. For example every ATM withdrawl in Portugal costs e1.5, irrespective of the card issuer or their nationality. On the otherhand ther is no charge at all for direct card payments, though here in Portugal many retail outlets do not take foreign cards of any type, though many do have an atm by the checkouts.

 

[chinita]

Just been quoted rate of €1.1824 by FairFX FairPay. Not had need to use it yet but no charges as far as I can see.

 

[Neil_Y]

Another reliable currency broker we use when sending foreign currency is Hermex
http://www.hermexicb.com/

Rates are close to interbank rate with no fees, th erates get better the more you do but this has saved us quite a few hundred £ over the past year alone.

 

[Jegs]

Definition please

We use ICE for cash as that works out well, but our issue right now is bank to bank.[/QUOTE]

ICE means?

Tks

John G

 

[nickf]

ICE means?


International Currency Exchange

www.iceplc.com

 

[Jegs]

Merci

Tks,

John G

 

[lovezoo]

We use hifx.co.uk and I get daily emails from them with the current exchange rate, which helps when timing transfers. One point which is worth considering if you are thinking of using these 3rd parties for transfers for large sums of money, is what protection do you have if they go bust midway through the transaction?

In other words a bank rate maybe worse, but is your money safer?

 

[pandroid]

euro payments

For Euro payments we use the Citibank Euro acount.

Cash withdrawls are free within the Eurozone, as are SEPA payments. They give you a Visa Debit card. No other charges. Move money over whenever it suits you (so you can choose the rate timing) from UK account at no charge (conversion rates are published online so you can see before you move).

Setting up payments can be a bit of a hassle as you have to do it by phone, but otherwise has worked like a dream.

Simples.

 

[charles_reed]

Its that time of year for us to pay our Croatian Marina for the annual berth, which they price in Euros. Last year it suited us to pay by Amex but this year I'd like to find a way that involves a fairer exchange rate and minimum forex charge.

We have UK bank accounts and will need to pay before we get out there again so cash is not an option.

I've held off paying since the beginning of November as the Euro has slid against the pound but we need to pay by end January.

Any thoughts on the best value way to pay?

Best to pay with one of the zero credit cards - Nationwide Visa or Santander Zero are the two I use - the Mastercard network seems to give better rates than Visa.
A slightly more expensive alternative is to use a forex trader such as XE-com.

The last people to consider using are the UK banks, worst amongst which are RBS, Barclays and LloydsTSB. Not only do they make a direct charge but they pocket a hefty fee by short-changing you on bid-offer rate. (You'll pay about 8% from the best rates you can get)

 

[bendyone]

For Euro payments we use the Citibank Euro acount.

Cash withdrawls are free within the Eurozone, as are SEPA payments. They give you a Visa Debit card. No other charges. Move money over whenever it suits you (so you can choose the rate timing) from UK account at no charge (conversion rates are published online so you can see before you move).

Setting up payments can be a bit of a hassle as you have to do it by phone, but otherwise has worked like a dream.

Simples.

+1 very simple way and you get a good rate when you top up,

 

[bateau57]

GBP > EUR Methods

I use a money trading account at XE.COM. I transferred some money today and that transfer was at €1.1912 to the £1 while the market was trading at 1.2090 which means I lost about 2% at the FOREX rate at the time. Rather good rate and it will be in Turkey probably tomorrow (my experience <24hrs) and all for a wire fee of £12.50. Works for me.