Bakerman

Yo, I am a UK resident with property abroad and have to pay for various things from the UK for France, e.g. gas/water/elec etc and it costs me a few quid everytime I do it as I use my UK bank to do it for me and they charge a fee. Does anybody know if I can set up an foreign account in Euros and then transfer money from my UK to/from it and pay for bills in Euros online rather than going through my own UK bank and obviously save the charges.

Thanks

GrantyBoy

why don't you ask your bank to set up a Euro account?

stilover

I have a Swiss bank account, but I don't like to talk about it. The Tax man might be reading Scoobynet

WRX300MAN

Matie . .It seems like the correct thing to do . . . I cannot foresee any problem with the HMRC, but the only problem is how easy it is to set up an account in the France . .

. . I speak from personal experience, and live/study in the USA and setting up an account there takes two minutes . . .UK banks - when they encounter something out of the ordinary usually have a seizure and refuse to actively help . . W*nkers!!!

. . But GB /France are countries where they love being awkward and pedantic!!!

Good luck!!

stilover

Still driving an inferior car?.


WRX300MAN really wanting an STI

WRX300MAN

Well . . .

. . .The STi, is still as common as garden compost!!!

. . But good to hear from you matie!!!!

sti-04!!

Can you set up a US account from the computer here or do you have to go into a US bank personally ?

WRX300MAN

FORM of id required . . .

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

If you already have property in France, you'll have ZERO problem. Just choose the bank you want close to your property, go in and ask to open an account. They'll want to see ID, obviously, and an address in France, etc, but it's easy to do. Apply at the same time for a French debit card off the account, and cheque book, (far more prevalent in France than over here).

You can then use these for purchases in France, paying bills from France or the UK etc etc.

You can take cash money to pay into the account to open it. That's what we do, every time we visit, take money from cashpoint, pay into French account. Or carry cash from the UK. I have been known to drive down France with silly amounts in €500 notes in my pocket

Transferring money from a UK to French account still costs, the last time I did it it was £18.

You should have seen the French bank manager's face when I went to open MY first account, with €18000 in brand new €500 notes! Now then they DID have a lot of questions But they never turned a hair when I went to top the account up with MUCH more than that.

Alcazar

sti-04!!

Whens the next time your going

stilover

Hopefully not for much longer. I've booked you a flight.

Space pioneers wanted for 520-day Mars experiment - Yahoo! News UK


See if they'll let you take your cr*p car with you.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

I set up a bank account with ING online all done over internet and post. Mine was in German though but sure you could do the same in English.

Surely as you have a house in France you could set up a French bank account and transfer money using IBAN without any charges.

WRX300MAN

Yes . .

. . But to get to Mars, we will need more thrust than your crap car anyway!!!

. . . . . . But cheers!!!Will send you a postcard!! . . And if yr car did ever reenter the atmosphere what are the odds of the park bench spoiler falling off!!!

Bakerman

Thats the bit that really frustrates me as I dont see why it should nowadays.
Thanks for most of the comments !!

RB5_245

I can't transfer money to my spanish account with any sort of ease at all. I think I have to go into my branch personally, which is really handy whilst abroad I also think I would get charged through the nose and it would take ages to get there. Ridiculous.

Coming back the other way costs me about £60-100 each time I make a transfer. If you could do something like lloyds tsb offshore, or maybe HSBC in euros I think that might be easier. I just suffer the costs as it's set up now and works.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

I can't understand why you all have so much trouble transfering money, I can logon to my online banking from any internet capable computer and transfer money free of charge to any of my various bank accounts in Germany and England. The only cost is the crappy exchange rate from pounds to euros and vice versa, and it arrives next day.

Flatcapdriver

If you use Currencies Direct or similar, you'll find that all you need is the account number/IBAN and bank address to transfer money across without charges. Usually a better rate than the banks too.

RB5_245

Yeah, I check what I got vs the actual exchange rate.. and it makes me angry every time.. I have no idea what the actual charge is but they make their money either way.

Usually 2 days for me, have Royal bank of scotland in UK. They just don't seem to be international

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Agreed. What is even more annoying is the poor exchanges rates you can be landed with, and the fact that SOME banks charge nearly double the £18 I quoted

I've had the best results taking cash out of a UK bank, hawking it round until I get the best rate, changing it, then carrying Euros to France.

You shouldn't have to do it. It's one reason I wish we were in the Eurozone.

Alcazar

Flatcapdriver

So why don't you just use one of the currency dealers, as above?

scoobyster

Hmm interesting reading for me as I work in the Netherlands. One tip I have is the Nationwide Flexaccount, which allows you to withdraw abroad without penalty (interbank exchange rate). I have found them to have good customer service too. I'm not aware of a similar deal for transfers abroad though, and I definitely lose about 3% when receiving a transfer in EUR, even though all the fees were paid by the sender!