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British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)
-   Spain (https://britishexpats.com/forum/spain-75/)
-   -   Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK. (https://britishexpats.com/forum/spain-75/transferring-money-spain-uk-739731/)

scampicat Nov 22nd 2011 12:22 pm
Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Assuming our house sale completes (ETA now January :) ), what is the cheapest way of transferring the money across to the UK? I've never done it this way round.

Can we use someone like Currencies Direct?

anonimouse Nov 22nd 2011 2:31 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Originally Posted by scampicat (Post 9747937)
Assuming our house sale completes (ETA now January :) ), what is the cheapest way of transferring the money across to the UK? I've never done it this way round.

Can we use someone like Currencies Direct?

Yes you can but get some other quotes too if you can.

scampicat Nov 22nd 2011 2:41 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Originally Posted by anonimouse (Post 9748155)
Yes you can but get some other quotes too if you can.
Yes we will, but is using a broker like Currencies Direct cheaper than the bank doing it? I know you almost certainly get a better interest rate.

Mitzyboy Nov 22nd 2011 9:50 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Originally Posted by scampicat (Post 9748172)
Yes we will, but is using a broker like Currencies Direct cheaper than the bank doing it? I know you almost certainly get a better interest rate.
In general I have always found the currency companies to give better rates than the banks. It might not be too much difference, but with the amount you are probably talking about it may make a difference.

If the rate of exchange is not good when you come to do it, then why not open a € account with a UK bank so you can send the money over and then choose when to exchange it

megmet Nov 22nd 2011 10:01 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Originally Posted by scampicat (Post 9747937)
Assuming our house sale completes (ETA now January :) ), what is the cheapest way of transferring the money across to the UK? I've never done it this way round.

Can we use someone like Currencies Direct?
I would do as Mitzy suggested.

With Currencies Direct you can set a forward rate, if the rate falls below that set they don't transfer your money until it reaches your set level.

However you choose to do it please don't even consider a Bankers Draft, it would cost you a small fortune....as we once found out ourselves the hard way.

scampicat Nov 23rd 2011 8:20 am
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Originally Posted by Mitzyboy (Post 9748928)
In general I have always found the currency companies to give better rates than the banks. It might not be too much difference, but with the amount you are probably talking about it may make a difference.

If the rate of exchange is not good when you come to do it, then why not open a € account with a UK bank so you can send the money over and then choose when to exchange it
Good idea, did not know you could do that, will do :)

The other charges I an concerned about is the fee to transfer it. Do not Spanish banks charge an absolute fortune??

(ETA: AH! Just realised Megmet has answered my question. We'll get someone like Currencies Direct to do it :) )

Thanks all!!

Mitzyboy Nov 23rd 2011 10:01 am
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Originally Posted by scampicat (Post 9749597)
Good idea, did not know you could do that, will do :)

The other charges I an concerned about is the fee to transfer it. Do not Spanish banks charge an absolute fortune??

(ETA: AH! Just realised Megmet has answered my question. We'll get someone like Currencies Direct to do it :) )

Thanks all!!
To be honest, I have never sent money "the other way". I have no option to do that on my online account. Maybe currencies direct have a Spanish € account, I dont know. I do know that they have a representative down Alicante way that you can talk to, but you would need to log on to their site to find the details

jackytoo Nov 23rd 2011 11:04 am
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
I wouldn't trust a currency company with large amounts, some of them have gone bust overnight and your money is not protected.

We were paid in bank drafts and paid them into a euro account in our UK bank, cost was very small. The only negative is the time the cheques take to clear as the Bank of Spain holds them up at a clearing house in madrid. The UK bank gave us a named liaison officer at their foreign dept. and when we wanted to change it to sterling was an instant transaction.

whitelinen Nov 23rd 2011 11:05 am
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
You can easily open an offshore Euro account and assuming you have internet banking on your Spanish account you can transfer the money for very little.

I think the maximum charge is 12 euros for 50K transfer so you would have to do 2 or so transfers on different days and of course the receiving bank charges nothing.

Then wait until the exchange rate is better and change to sterling.

I personally wouldnt trust any currency broker in these volatile times.

scampicat Nov 23rd 2011 12:21 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Thanks all once again.

Is there any reason (charges etc), why I should not open a Euro Account in the UK and then pay in a cheque written from the cheque book that my Spanish bank provided?

Would this generate high charges?

whitelinen Nov 23rd 2011 1:01 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Originally Posted by scampicat (Post 9750018)
Thanks all once again.

Is there any reason (charges etc), why I should not open a Euro Account in the UK and then pay in a cheque written from the cheque book that my Spanish bank provided?

Would this generate high charges?
Yes that avenue will be costly.

Internet euro transfers are the only way.

scampicat Nov 23rd 2011 1:10 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Thanks!

anonimouse Nov 23rd 2011 1:46 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
I have been looking at investments today and came across this and thought of you, dunno if it's of any use to you? I always thought they were expensive but never thought of using them for this. I found it here, scroll down a bit

http://www.movingtobarcelona.com/money.shtml


Paypal
This is one of the cheapest ways to move money. By using PayPal you can transfer money to anyone with an email address.

You can't send money to yourself, so you need a trusted partner or friend to set up a PayPal account linked with a Spanish credit card or bank account.

Pay money into your PayPal account using a bank account or credit card; send the money to your friend's PayPal account, who can then transfer it into their connected bank account in Spain, or simply leave it in your Paypal account and use it when needed by paying directly for items using PayPal.

PayPal's fees are very reasonable and you can view them online at: www.paypal.com. If you prefer to set up a Spanish PayPal account visit www.paypal.com/es.

snikpoh Nov 23rd 2011 2:00 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Originally Posted by scampicat (Post 9750018)
Thanks all once again.

Is there any reason (charges etc), why I should not open a Euro Account in the UK and then pay in a cheque written from the cheque book that my Spanish bank provided?

Would this generate high charges?
I move money between countries all the time and have never yet been 'charged'. Clearly the companies make their money by 'adjusting' the exchange rate in their favour a little. However, I shop around and play company A against company B to get the best rate at that moment.

For once, I managed to get the timing just right recently and got a little over 1.17 (UK to Spain).

I Have used Moneycorp, Foreign Currencies Direct and my preferred 'broker' World First.

scampicat Nov 23rd 2011 3:29 pm
Re: Transferring money FROM Spain TO UK.
 
Thanks to all, some useful advice there. We will decide when (if!:eek:) we get the money.


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