Lynn R

I'm going to wait and see what happens when I make my first transfer via Currency Fair this year, and if Sabadell do charge to receive it then I'll definitely set up a Transferwise account. I wonder what will happen for those who have their state pensions paid directly into their Spanish accounts - are the banks going to charge them too?

johnnyone

I have a transferwise account that I use for currency transfers. I looked into direct debits for my Spanish bills. I wished to set up a recurring monthly payment from my UK bank to my transferwise account to fund the dd's but this doesn't seem to be available. I decided to stick with my Spanish bank to avoid problems if I forgot to do manual transfer at the UK end. I did negotiate reduced bank charges in Spain but still works out at 12 euros a month. I decided that was worth paying for convenience and peace of mind.

keithBT

I can also recommend Transferwise. They are efficient, cheap & instant. I've been using them for years and never been charged as such, however I did transfer yesterday £1000 yesterday to cover bills and having just checked, BBVA have not made a charge. That said, I think BBVA account charges are a rip off. I pay 50 euros every six months for account maintenance and a further 0.60 cents for every transaction- in or out. This is a standard account to pay all the associated bills ( direct debits) with owning a Spanish holiday property. I have not found a significantly cheaper alternative. Unless you are a resident and your pension / salary is paid into the account it seems that bank charges are unavoidable regardless of your account balance. It's a quick way to profit from suckers - oops I mean non residents. A cash cow !!
Keith.

MEL & JOHN

Smart Currency send via an Irish bank

stevesainty

Just to be clear, you can have a Transferwise account just to do currency exchange but you can also open their borderless account too. This borderless account allows you to make deposits in Euros, sterling, and USA dollars, in effect three accounts in one. This account also allows direct debits to be set up to pay your Spanish bills from your Euro account, based in Brussels, with no extra charges at either end. The only extra charge is when you convert currency and is included in the exchange rate, but still better than you can get with most FX companies.

I have used the borderless account for a few years now and cannot fault Transferwise as a company.

spainrico

Agree with Steve - Transferwise is a fantastic service - I have been using the transfer service for a couple of years and recently opened an account with them to hold sterling which I transfer as Euros to Sabadell - all very easy and efficient. I made the last transfer late December so unsure whether Sabadell will hit me when I make my January transfer.

bobd22

We have just received a transfer into our Cajamar account from Currency Fair with no new or extra charges.

rafikiphoto

Same here into our La Caixa account. Looking at the details it was remitted from Dublin so perhaps that has something to do with it?

bobd22

I knew they were Dublin based but so long as it works as normal I'm happy. I've been using them a long time now and find them excellent.

rafikiphoto

Yep. Very reliable.

Longlegpete

Thanks for the info, i have now opened a TransferWise account, at the top in the App it shows a Sterling account, a Euro account and a USD account so I'm presuming it's the boarderless account although it doesn't mention it , would you know if it's possible to send in euros from a Spanish euro account to the TransferWise euro account and if so are there any fees, thanks in advance if you know, cheers

Loafing Along

I presume it is a Belgium account . Yes you can and there are no fees

Longlegpete

Thanks, yes it has a Belgium IBAN

lyric030250

My company pension comes from the UK to Sabadell - no charges as yet, last deposit was the 31st December, avoiding the holiday.
My Guvment pension goes into a UK current account (NatWest) and thence via Currency Fair as required -no charges as yet.
Think CF should be OK as it's a € transfer from Dublin.

Fred James

I use Moneycorp and they now all transfers via Ireland.