Jordan Tilley

BE members can take advantage of free transfers.

http://exchangerates.britishexpats.com/

Ensure that you check the financial stability of the currency company that you use. When funds are available you can have your Euros paid directly into the currency brokers Euro account. Depending on how quickly you need the funds you can then start to monitor the market.

jackytoo

Yes and just be aware that whilst the money is in a currency brokers account it is not covered by the FSA compensation scheme...bit of a gamble really

Jordan Tilley

Good point.

Always worth checking a company’s financials and or credit rating.

http://www.dnb.co.uk/

There are a select few companies who have very sound ratings.

scampicat

Thanks again everybody

amideislas

If you have a Santander account in the UK, transfers to your Santander branch in Spain are F R E E and the exchange rate is prime -1%.

Hard to beat that with any exchanger.

Jontee

I understand from this thread that one solution to move money from a house sale to UK would be to open a euro account in UK and move the money from Spain into that via internet banking. But I have found in the past that my Spanish bank charge a small fortune to actually bank a cheque in the first place. They told me that they would reduce the charge for this only if the money was not going to be moved elsewhere. Is this normal for all banks?

amideislas

Since cheques aren't used any longer in Spain (you can get them, but most banking is done electronically), cheques are considered a hassle for them. So, yes, they tend to charge a fortune for handling them.

Again, open a Santander account in the UK, and you can bring the money to your Spanish Santander account without charge.

If you open the UK account in Euros, they may nick you for high fees to convert sterling to euros on the initial deposit. Best to check with the bank about the fees they will charge.

But.. then again, why not have the payment for the house made directly to your Spanish account instead of depositing it in the UK?

In any case, it might be a good idea to wait until the value of the Euro tanks even further - and it will.

Jontee

Thanks amideislas but as with the Opening Poster I am hoping my house sale in Spain will complete and I will have euros from that. I need the funds in UK to purchase another property. So the idea of keeping the money in Spain will not be an option. And furthermore I can't wait to close my Spanish account, they grab charges from me at every opportunity!! I will certainly be asking my UK bank about a euro account, and I will open it with euros so hopefully no big charge for that.

Also, in my area, cheques are used all the time. Usually 'al portador'. When I am in the bank queue about a third of the customers are coming in just with cheques to cash.

amideislas

Wow, I haven't used or seen cheques in years...

Well, wait.. not true.. A friend of ours paid us with a UK cheque a couple of years ago.. uopn presentation of the cheque to the bank (La Caixa) they were completely confused. The teller had to call the supervisor over to sort it out. They didn't know what to do with it. The same was true in Germany when we lived there.

Otherwise, cheques are pretty rare here (Mallorca).

In any case, sorry, I was mistaken - you're going other way around - if you're going to convert Euros to Sterling - do it now! The Euro is likely to crash big time in the following months. The pound will be much stronger than the Euro. Remember where you heard this

Good luck...

Ami

Mitzyboy

You cant just say that on a forum
So tell us, apart from personal opinion, what is the basis for that comment

The very best experts in the world regularly fail to predict what will happen, thats why I ask

jdr

I am sure I heard that the UK was thinking of changing to the Euro.

Mitzyboy

With the two we have in power at the moment I wouldnt be surprised if we changed to the Uzbekistani Som!

scampicat

I could have written that post myself!

How about if we open a Santander Account in Spain, then a Santander Euro Account in the UK, have the money from the house put in the Spanish one, then move it to the UK one, that shouln't cost a fortune, should it?

amideislas

Oh, I suppose you're right. I should be banned for that.

There obviously is no evidence to support any problems with the Euro. Sorry, I just made all that up.

In fact David Cameron can't decide whether the Euro will collapse:

http://www.sunday-guardian.com/busin...up-of-eurozone

Andrew Bailey can't decide either:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...-break-up.html

But what the hell... Go ahead and hang on to your Euros from your house sale. Even if the Euro loses half its value, at least you'll have something left to convert to sterling.

jdr

Boy, you have a bad attitude. chill out a bit.