travelalot

Please can anyone help?

We transferred 71,000 euros from UK to our Spanish bank account with Banco Popular, our lawyer then had a cheque written out on our behalf to pay for our new house.

Banco Ppular have taken 554 euros in fees? When I phoned the helpline I was told if I am not happy I must negotiate with my local branch?

Not that easy when I have no idea what is reasonable? and my Spanish is not very good (which I accept is my problem)

The helpline said 0.35% is the usual fee after 50,000 euros then the bank can take what they like from your account??

Any advice much appreciated

Thanks

poollounger

That's why it is best to use a currency excahnger like HIFX who guarantee no charges at the Spanish end. Spanish banks charge for everything...transfers internally, cheques etc etc etc. If you got a better exchange rate from your bank than from a money exchanger than you may be better off accepting the charges. Difficult to know what action to take after the event. I would try and have a quiet word with the local branch. I know one can end up paying higher transfer fees if they do not have the proper IBAN number for the Spanish account.

spain

its a shame you didnt negotiate the fee before the transfer then you could of threatened to take your business elsewhere but its still worth a try

for our house purchase they were going to charge 1000 euros for us to pay in the cheque form our buyer and print a new cheque for the people we were buying from, I told them that was too high and another bank had agreed fees of either 400-500€ (little white lie) anyway then my bank dropped the 1000€ down to 200€ !!!!!!

so why not go to the bank and say you are not happy, you will close the account etc etc and that a figure of 150€ is more reasonable ? they should at least meet you half way

good luck

jdr

Your UK bank should of quoted an iban number on the paperwork, then you would of not been charged.
Like they say tell them you have plenty of further transactions to make and unless there is a refund you will move your business elswhere.

malagaman

Interesting comment, are you saying that if the IBAN is quoted when transferring from a UK bank to a spanish one, no charges are made? Hard to believe knowing how spanish banks charge for absolutely everything.

spain

Ive never heard of that but when I transferred some funds back to UK my Spanish bank here said the charges would be higher if I didnt give them the IBAN code

suppose all banks are different

jdr

Didn`t cost me anything on landing charges, Lloyds TSB and Bancopopular have an agreement apparently.
Mind you this was a few years ago and the rate was a lot higher than now.

chrismortley

I use Interchange to buy my euros,
I supply my banks Iban number anyway, but they have instructed me ,from January 1st they can't make the transaction with out it
Is that common policy now ?

Chris

travelalot

Thanks for comments

I used UKFOREX for money transfer and buying euros. I did use my Iban number? I will have a word with them and my local branch in Martos for the bank

chrismortley

Did everone notice the ECB raised interest rates to 3.75% up a 1/4 % yesterday

Lionda

Nooo We are in the process of obtaining a Spanish mortgage so not too pleased about that! It has stayed the same in England thank goodness.

chrismortley

The French we not to pleased either
The article in the Telegraph says they up in arms over it.
It makes a point of mentioning that most Spanish & Irish borrowers have floating rate loans & also the army of Brits ( me included ) who have borrowed from Spanish banks
Mabe the French will do something about they seem to normally get their way

Mitzyboy

I originally was with Banco De Valencia, and they made charges which were horrendous when we transferred money by HIFX. I complained and they told me to make lots of smaller transfers then I wouldn't be charged. I did, and they still charged me. i closed the account.

SOL Bank DONT charge for any monies paid into your account, no matter where it comes from.

malagaman

Not true. Paid in a cheque when I sold my car for 31000 euros and was charged 75 euros, non-negotiable.

Mitzyboy

Absolutely 100 solid gold true!
Otherwise I wouldn't have said it!

I have transferred amounts up to 75000 euros to SolBank over a period of three years and have never been charged a cent. They actually use this as a selling point to ex pats, so you'd better have a word with your bank manager