stevesainty

We know two sets of couples who have sold their properties here in Spain for personal reasons and need to transfer their sales proceeds elsewhere, not necessarily into Sterling.

One couple are not residents and do just less than 6 months here and just more than 6 months in UK. They have a Spanish bank account, Sabadell, and a euro account in Germany. Sabadell are asking for 4% per transfer for them to send euros from here to Germany.

The other couple are resident here but are planning to repatriate to UK and will need to transfer the balance of euros here to UK and convert it to sterling along the way.

We are resident here and have bank accounts here and in UK and are willing to be intermediaries in the transactions, if required, for no financial gain.

What are the most cost effective solutions to these transfers please?

spainrico

It has generally been known and accepted for years now that currency transfer companies are the way to go and not use a bank to bank system.

I use Currencies Direct and have had no problems and they always give me an excellent service. There are no added costs so the rate quoted is the final deal.

https://www.currenciesdirect.com

missile

Currency Transfer is the usual route.

If you have concerns, another option is to use offshore accounts. Most Spanish banks do not charge for transfer in €. Most UK banks have an offshore branch where one can set up accounts in € and £. Some, e.g. Lloyds do not charge to transfer funds from one to tother and offer free transfer to a Lloyds UK £ account.

stevesainty

Our friends who are non resident and bank with Sabadell tried to transfer 20,000€ into Transferwise´s borderless account, in euros but a German bank, and before confirmation it advised that there would be a 800€ transfer fee, 4%.

This must be because their account is non resident as I tried the same exercise, resident and have an expansion account, and was advised of zero transfer fee.

They are now looking at FX companies that have a Spanish bank account and this might get around the transfer fee.

missile

Some banks have a horrendous charging structure.
I find it ridiculous that people don't vote with their feet and switch to another with more competitive pricing.

lic

Hi,
If they send it at 10,000€ at a time to TransferWise they should not incur a charge with sabadell.
I did this a couple of years back as a non resident using their non resident current account.

Rotor

4%!!!! to transfer euros to euros , blatant theft, it costs them nothing, find out what a bankers draft costs , should be a fixed fee , pay it into Barclays Gibraltar or similar.

stevesainty

Yes it is a fixes fee, fixed at 4%, already tried that too.

Rotor

Sounds like extortion to me , there must be a way of getting your money out without getting robbed ,cash in 500 euro notes? talk to a Spanish financial advisor .

IanWorthington

Can you use a service like revolut.com? iirc they allow the tx of large chunks of money subject to the provision of proof of income.

stevesainty

It is not using a transfer service that is the problem, it is transferring the money out of a non resident´s Sabadell account into a non Spanish bank account without incurring large fees.
Our friends already have a borderless account with Transferwise in addition to their ordinary transfer facilities, but their euro holdings are in a German bank.

Rotor

If you can transfer Spanish bank to Spanish bank for free I`d go around them all and ask them all whos doing the best deal , I wouldnt give up for that amount, personally I`d draw cash if I could get it out for free and drive down to Gib and bank it with Barclays , obviously dont tell a soul what you are doing.

fwl01

I went to see my Sabadell manager last week to check on fees etc.to repatriate house sale proceeds to u.k. As soon as I mentioned using an FX specialist he was keen to talk!Normally they charge 0.6% for euro to GBP,sent to u.k. banks.He said he would reduce this to a fixed fee of approx.150 euros (instead of 3000euros i.e .6%x500000) and give me interbank less 1%. I have an account with Currencies Direct and although they have no transfer fees their exchange rate was 98% of interbank average.My best friend returned to u.k. recently and also discovered too late that although he paid no fees and was even accompanied to the Notary by his FX rep. he ended up with 98% of interbank which he could have got from NatWest!! Friends recommend Transferwise who pay interbank rate but charge .5%-still better than Currencies Direct.Any advice welcome.

Eric S

Any bank or FX company is going to charge some kind of fee to convert currency. It will either be a straight fee or it will be built in to the exchange rate (or both). When comparing, you need to look at the actual amount you'll receive after the exchange/transfer occurs.

I've found Transferwise generally gives me the best result for Euro to Dollar and Dollar to Euro exchanges. But my Spanish bank (BBVA) does not charge a fee to transfer the Euros to Transferwise's Euro accounts.

- Eric S.

stevesainty

I take it that you are a resident here in Spain, unfortunately my friends are not and they have a non res bank account, hence the transfer fees.