jdr

Draw it out in cash, leave a few € in and deposit rest in new bank.

NicCol

Cash isn't an option at the moment as we are in England. Though keeping a small amount in will be a good idea!

j0197

They do like charging here for every transation and every bit of paper! But if you need for future...halifax in uk to halifax banco here is free for transfering money.

maryg

We are currently with Banesto...it was purely for convenience at the time when buying the house in Spain. We will however be changing banks when we move over to one that is cheaper to opperate. At present, we are paying 4.50 euros for every transaction, eg electricity every two months. The account is a non residents account which is probably why they are charging extorionate amounts, however I must add in their favour that I can email the manager at anytime and ask any questions. She can speak very good English and well up on house buying matters. Does anyone else use Banesto?
Mary

NicCol

Thanks everyone for your help (and for saving me money!!)

jdr

I got a similar acc at Bancopopular, no charge for transactions they charge 8 € a year non res payment and hold 15% of interest for the nice taxman.

gfx

NicCol, like other people have said - Do the Halifax thing - open a british Halifax account (or Bank of Scotland) and a Banco Halifax - it's possible to do transfers from Halifax to Banco Halifax for free & over the phone (don't know about the other way round but why would you?). You can also check both accounts on the information super web (you can't initiate transfers on the web). When you make a transfer they speak in english are very helpful and tell you exactly the rate etc. The Banco Halifax account is a genuine spanish account so you can use it to automatically pay for insurance, gas, elec, telephone etc. You can also withdraw euros from Servired cashpoints without charge.

Regards, Graham