Warning Citibank Euro Account

[bendyone]

I have just had a letter from Citibank UK to tell me because I do let them "manage" my wealth they are going to close my Citibank Euro Account. They say it is no longer suitable for my needs.
60 day notice them a cheque sent to my last know address for any balance in the account. No discussion. Be warned.
I guess they are not making enough money out of me. Will now need to find another Euro account with a debit card to use. Any ideas? Anyone use Britline?

 

[Tin Tin]

Will now need to find another Euro account with a debit card to use. Any ideas? Anyone use Britline?

We looked at them when we were looking to open a Euro bank account.
French banks are a minefield when it comes to 'charges'.
And it all adds up in the end.

https://www.britline.com/documents/banking-fees/banking_fees_2017_principal.pdf

In the end, we settled on Lloyds.
One flat fee.

http://international.lloydsbank.com...=1&gclid=CJmvr7CwgdQCFU4hGwodqDMDFQ&gclsrc=ds

 

[B&M]

There is a new player in town it's called "Revolut". All transactions via an app for multiple currency transactions, it might be worth investigating.

 

[RichardS]

In the end, we settled on Lloyds.
One flat fee.

http://international.lloydsbank.com...=1&gclid=CJmvr7CwgdQCFU4hGwodqDMDFQ&gclsrc=ds

It's interesting that I opened a Lloyds International Account before they introduced the monthly charge. I keep expecting then to force the charges onto me but they haven't so far.

Richard

 

[Flica]

When I was in France, I used a CA account. No cash transfer fees - I wrote a cheque on my UK bank and got mid-market rates 2 working days later. That "Account Etranger" got me both debit and credit cards, and was, basically, a savings book account .
Cards valid anywhere in €area.
I'm afraid that banks expect to make a profit out of one, it's a matter of principle for them and minimising their cost, one for me.
I'm afraid you'll find that the way most "international" accounts work is to show no charges but make themselves a healthy profit on bid/offer exchange rates.

 

[lurob]

I have just had a letter from Citibank UK to tell me because I do let them "manage" my wealth they are going to close my Citibank Euro Account. They say it is no longer suitable for my needs.
60 day notice them a cheque sent to my last know address for any balance in the account. No discussion. Be warned.
I guess they are not making enough money out of me. Will now need to find another Euro account with a debit card to use. Any ideas? Anyone use Britline?

We're investigating Cater Allen Private Bank (a subsidiary of Santander) after getting the same letter from Citibank.

 

[bendyone]

We're investigating Cater Allen Private Bank (a subsidiary of Santander) after getting the same letter from Citibank.

I looked at this but you have to start off with €5000. Which at the moments is expensive to buy. I sorted it by opening a Bank of Ireland account on line. 3 days after scanning in my POI the account was up and running, just have to wait for the card to be posted. Very easy to do and cheaper to run that CITI.

 

[Baroudeur]

hey there (first post having just bought a Newbridge Spinner 28!),

we use CashPlus. They're a UK company, but offer a US$ and € card too, for free. The only pain is that they're prepay; you 'load' up your main account card (a Mastercard) from your bank etc, then you can transfer currency onto the € card from there. We've used this system for years, both in the US and Europe and it works really well. I've actually found that the prepay mechanism along with 'faster payments' from my UK bank has given me a little bit more security in fact, in that I shift over money to the card account as needed, thus not exposing a large balance to potential card scammers (I could be a little paranoid though..!).

I think Caxton also do a similar system too.

 

[bendyone]

hey there (first post having just bought a Newbridge Spinner 28!),

we use CashPlus. They're a UK company, but offer a US$ and € card too, for free. The only pain is that they're prepay; you 'load' up your main account card (a Mastercard) from your bank etc, then you can transfer currency onto the € card from there. We've used this system for years, both in the US and Europe and it works really well. I've actually found that the prepay mechanism along with 'faster payments' from my UK bank has given me a little bit more security in fact, in that I shift over money to the card account as needed, thus not exposing a large balance to potential card scammers (I could be a little paranoid though..!).

I think Caxton also do a similar system too.

Hi and welcome.
Trouble with a prepaid card is it is harder to buy euros at the right time/rate. I'm still spending some of mine bought at 1.30. Going to run out soon mind you. Some petrol pumps in France wont accept prepaid cards for fuel.
Bank of Ireland have come up trumps, debit card arrived and a test UK withdrawal worked.
Happy days.

 

[MikeA]

Bank of Ireland have come up trumps, debit card arrived and a test UK withdrawal worked.
Happy days.

Sounds good, I've just tried to open a current account with BOI online, web page states I'll need to get POI signed by a Police Officer or Solicitor - that's not a show stopper but also it won't accept my mobile phone number (have tried several formats +44, 44, 07xx etc). Did you experience those issues?

TIA
Mike

 

[bendyone]

Sounds good, I've just tried to open a current account with BOI online, web page states I'll need to get POI signed by a Police Officer or Solicitor - that's not a show stopper but also it won't accept my mobile phone number (have tried several formats +44, 44, 07xx etc). Did you experience those issues?

TIA
Mike

PM sent re phone number

 

[JamesFrance]

Transferwise has introduced a business borderless bank account and should soon offer a personal account with debit card, so well worth watching.

https://transferwise.com/borderless?source=publicNavbar#borderless-account