stevesainty

We are looking to open a euro current account either in Germany or offshore that does not charge an arm and a leg to operate.

The reason for this is that most of our income is in GBP in UK and so we only transfer across to Spain the euros that we need from time to time.

As the exchange rate is quite favourable at the moment we wanted to take advantage of it by transferring some of our savings to be held in euros.

We could just transfer them to our bank here but we are wary about holding too much money in Spain as the banks can too easily dip into them for whatever reason; especially since Cyprus did it big time last year.

We had heard that you can open a DKB German bank current account online but that was not true as they only open up accounts for Germany, Austria and Switzerland online.

We then had a look at some offshore UK banks but they have very high parameters either in income or the minimum amount of holdings in order to open accounts. We thought that we had found the answer with Nationwide International based in Isle of Man, but on further investigation they charge 5GBP for deposits and 35GBP for withdrawals.

These sorts of charges negate the beneficial effects of the current exchange rate.

Does anyone know of a euro account that you can easily open online from Spain in, say,any northern European country, that can be operated online with the minimum of operating costs?

johnnyone

Have you thought of fixing the price with your FX company

Forward Contracts | Foreign Exchange for You | FC Exchange.

stevesainty

Yes bit that still does not get round where to keep our euros as we would rather have most of our income in euros, but not in a Southern European bank.

johnnyone

Ireland?

amideislas

When compared to UK or "offshore" banks, German banks are quite reasonable and quite "international" in their services - particularly if you have need to transfer funds in different currencies often.

Be aware, however, that German banks are subject to finanzamt access to them, so if you are German or even an EU resident and have any potential tax "misunderstandings", be aware that the finanzamt tends to shoot first and ask questions later.

Austrian banks are perhaps the most desirable from that aspect.

Few, if any, bank accounts in the Eurozone can be opened "online". Physical presence, proof of identity and residence is a requirement under EU banking regulation.

"offshore" banks are always very expensive to maintain - you are paying for the high risk you represent to the bank.

Fredbargate

Call account | NatWest International

Would this be of any use?

I cannot find a list of charges and believe you may have to make a visit to open the account, but a simple phone call should answer your questions

GeorgeMartell

Try Britline. French, but many of our clients use this bank as they are predominantly online and in English. I believe they are cheap to operate.

stevesainty

Sorry Fred, we do not meet the eligibility criteria, but thanks.

International Personal Banking
Eligibility criteria
Our International Personal Banking products and services are designed for UK expatriates, foreign nationals living in the UK and the internationally mobile. When you open an account with us you can enjoy the full support of an experienced Relationship Manager.

Relationship managed service
To open an account with International Personal Banking you must have at least £75,000 annual income mandated to the account or more than £50,000 to deposit (or the currency equivalent).

Non-relationship managed service
If you don't meet the criteria, we may be able to offer you a non-relationship managed service. Please note that a non-relationship managed service is available subject to our absolute discretion, this is for customers with at least £40,000 annual income mandated to the account or £25,000 to deposit.

Fredbargate

Sorry Steve I could not find a link to conditions or charges.

At the moment no other bank in Gibraltar is worth considering, Barclays are closing and the others are expensive for your requirements.

However the new Gibraltar International Bank ( Government ) should open in the next few months, but conditions etc. are not yet available.

EMR

We have a Euro account with HSBC , we just transfer funds to our PT account as and when needed.
I receive income in Euros which is paid into the UK account and no extra charges.
If we need to top our Euro account from sterling we also get an excellent exchange rate.

stevesainty

Unfortunately though, you need to be resident in UK to open a new account in UK. HSBC only has business accounts in Spain.

amideislas

As the Euro is likely to continue to fall when QE begins next month, it's best to keep your assets in Sterling, and pull Euros from that as needed.

So, the suggesting of using an FX system is actually very sound. We do exactly that, have our Spanish bank account, and fill it as needed.

The way it works is that you set up an account with your choice of FX platforms. Then, you connect it to your UK account and your Spanish account (like setting up a direct debit). From there, you simply draw what you need from your UK Sterling account, convert it to Euros, and transfer it to your Spanish account - as you need.

I can't speak for them all, but generally, most FX platforms are far cheaper and far faster than any UK bank for converting and transferring funds.

Sorry - just noticed you have no UK residence and therefore no UK bank account - but where does your Sterling come from?

Family? can you use your parent's address in the UK?

stevesainty

Thank you for your input amideislas, we do have UK current accounts and we use Currency Fair to do our transfers. As the exchange rate is very favourable at the moment, we can get 150€ more per 1,000GBP than we could six months ago, we wanted to buy some euros now and in the near future until the rate slides again. What we do not want to do is keep our euros in Spain long term.

amideislas

Fair enough, but it seems to me you already have a good setup. Your assets kept in GBP, you take Euros as you need them.

I wouldn't worry so much about the exchange rate becoming disfavourable again anytime soon. The recent devaluation of the Euro is only in anticipation of what happens when QE begins in March. The "QE" part hasn't even started yet.

And yes, that doesn't account for the possibility that Sterling could take a hit - there's an election in April... One or more of those outcomes could spook the markets, but that would be nothing compared to the ECB's QE announcement, and the effect it will have in the Euro.

missile

I have two accounts with Lloyds Offshore one in Euros and another in Sterling. They cost zero to operate and the exchange rate is good.

About international banking - Lloyds International