Does any retail bank offer this...
Discussion
I asked this question a few years ago but it seemed that there were no banks that allowed me to do this at the time. Things may have changed but I doubt a rural branch will know the answer, lovely people though they are!
I travel to the Eurozone regularly and so have long since thought it would be great if I could have a Euro current account to save me being bent over every time I buy anything other than with cash and also to save me having a load of Euro notes filling up the safe and then carrying a wad around.
What I would like to have is a current account that I can set up a DD every month of £150 to. Funds are converted into Euros (commission deducted etc) and my Euro account now has 168E (or whatever the rate is!) in it. I can do this every month and then when I go to France. Etc, I can pull out my Euro account card and withdraw money without being bent over or pay for things in Euros without being bent over and so on.
To me this sounds simple and logical. To the nice people at the local branches of the major banks this sounds I have just asked them to explain the theory of relativity, that it must be the Devils work and who on earth goes to the Eurozone other than once every few years on holiday...
Any ideas or is the retail banking World still living in the twentieth century?
I travel to the Eurozone regularly and so have long since thought it would be great if I could have a Euro current account to save me being bent over every time I buy anything other than with cash and also to save me having a load of Euro notes filling up the safe and then carrying a wad around.
What I would like to have is a current account that I can set up a DD every month of £150 to. Funds are converted into Euros (commission deducted etc) and my Euro account now has 168E (or whatever the rate is!) in it. I can do this every month and then when I go to France. Etc, I can pull out my Euro account card and withdraw money without being bent over or pay for things in Euros without being bent over and so on.
To me this sounds simple and logical. To the nice people at the local branches of the major banks this sounds I have just asked them to explain the theory of relativity, that it must be the Devils work and who on earth goes to the Eurozone other than once every few years on holiday...
Any ideas or is the retail banking World still living in the twentieth century?
I got a Nationwide credit card recently for all of my abroad travel.
For all transactions abroad they charge no comission and actually give a better rate than I got from City Forex in the city for my Croation Kuna (CF = 8.55, NW = 8.76)
Only charge 2.9% APR (for the first year) too which helps if it can't all be cleared in a month.
For all transactions abroad they charge no comission and actually give a better rate than I got from City Forex in the city for my Croation Kuna (CF = 8.55, NW = 8.76)
Only charge 2.9% APR (for the first year) too which helps if it can't all be cleared in a month.
User33678888 said:
Halifax Clarity card. 0% load. No ATM fees. Pay off ASAP as interest is due from the day you take the cash out to when you pay it back, but if you're quick no more than 0.5%
The only downside is that you cant lock in to an exchange rate. You pay the rate of the day which may be good or it may be bad. If you want to lock in then try one of the prepaid cards like this http://www.multicurrencycashpassport.com/
Multi currency as well so you can switch currencies around (the card also offers emergency cash if you lose your card).
I take it you don't want to be bent over? 
Honestly, I'm not sure what you expect to avoid with your plan - you'll pay commission, etc. on the FX transaction when going from GBP to EUR regardless of whether it's going between current accounts or at the ATM using your GBP card... It's all much of a muchness in my head, unless you're spending hundreds of thousands?
If you really want to draw cash on a card in Euros, some sort of top up cash card in Euros may be the way forward?
Honestly, I'm not sure what you expect to avoid with your plan - you'll pay commission, etc. on the FX transaction when going from GBP to EUR regardless of whether it's going between current accounts or at the ATM using your GBP card... It's all much of a muchness in my head, unless you're spending hundreds of thousands?
If you really want to draw cash on a card in Euros, some sort of top up cash card in Euros may be the way forward?
When I lived in Barcelona I had a CaxtonFx card. I topped it up with my debit card which took only a few seconds to do once it was set up and the cash was available pretty much straight away.
This was a year ago but the exchange rate was always favourable and there were no fees for ATM or card transaction. Not exactly what you're after but should serve the same purpose.
Otherwise I think Halifax or nationwide do a current account with fee free ATM/card transactions. Open one of those and set up a standing order between the two. I don't know what the fx fees are like on these though.
This was a year ago but the exchange rate was always favourable and there were no fees for ATM or card transaction. Not exactly what you're after but should serve the same purpose.
Otherwise I think Halifax or nationwide do a current account with fee free ATM/card transactions. Open one of those and set up a standing order between the two. I don't know what the fx fees are like on these though.
DanL said:
I take it you don't want to be bent over?
Honestly, I'm not sure what you expect to avoid with your plan
Firstly thanks all.Honestly, I'm not sure what you expect to avoid with your plan
What I want is to know that if I am paying 199E for a shirt I am paying 199E, not however much the banck feels like charging me in fees etc on the day they process it. I can also put another £1k or so in when I think that the f/x rate is a good one.
Basicly I like spreading risk on f/x rates and knowing how much an item is costing me without having to work out the banks rate on the day, comisson, etc and then decide if the price is right. It also helps when you aren't being charged 2.5% fee each time you fill up on top of the loaded f/x rate when you are regularly on the way to LM, Spa and the'ring!
http://www.americanexpress.com/icc/eurodollar/euro... - no interest as it is a charge card, not a credit card.
Can also withdraw from ATMs should you need the cash.
Can also withdraw from ATMs should you need the cash.
Edited by GCH on Wednesday 10th July 14:17
£150 is not worth bothering for because fees and exchange rate on such low volume will screw you over.
Have a look at something like caxton fx prepaid cards.
As an example, on anything less than £1500 transfer we charge £5 admin fee. Using the bank you will also find with banks but it is usually £25-£30, but whether it's £5 or £25 it is still a big % of the final value. Therefore in this case DD for £150 is not worth it and a prepaid card would be the best option. Alternatively carry on as you are.
Have a look at something like caxton fx prepaid cards.
As an example, on anything less than £1500 transfer we charge £5 admin fee. Using the bank you will also find with banks but it is usually £25-£30, but whether it's £5 or £25 it is still a big % of the final value. Therefore in this case DD for £150 is not worth it and a prepaid card would be the best option. Alternatively carry on as you are.
I think HSBC and Barclays will do US$ and EU€ accounts. Or just open an account with a bank based in the country you visit most? I don't see why you'd need to be resident in that country to have a bank account. Don't expect to get credit though, obv.
ETA:
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/current-accounts/interna...
http://www.barclays.co.uk/Otheraccounts/Currencyac...
ETA:
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/current-accounts/interna...
http://www.barclays.co.uk/Otheraccounts/Currencyac...
mrmr96 said:
I think HSBC and Barclays will do US$ and EU€ accounts. Or just open an account with a bank based in the country you visit most? I don't see why you'd need to be resident in that country to have a bank account. Don't expect to get credit though, obv.
ETA:
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/current-accounts/interna...
http://www.barclays.co.uk/Otheraccounts/Currencyac...
It doesn't get you round the charges involved which make sending £150 to EUR each month prohibitively expensive.ETA:
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/current-accounts/interna...
http://www.barclays.co.uk/Otheraccounts/Currencyac...
bulldong said:
It doesn't get you round the charges involved which make sending £150 to EUR each month prohibitively expensive.
I didn't say it was cheap, and the OP just said he wanted a DD in £ to be deposited in € after charges which I believe these accounts will do.You and I both know that changing £150/mth into € isn't very efficient in terms of the fees. It would be less costly in fees to put the £ into a £ savings account and then make a one off transfer once a year when the rate looks at its most attractive. However that doesn't allow him to mitigate against the risk of the rate moving adversely whilst the money is stuck in £'s. Moving some each month means that he benefits from a moving average, but the cost of commission makes it a bit pointless at £150 per time.
Really, IMO, £150/mth into € isn't very much to get excited about exchange rate wise. If he was talking about really big amounts of money where the risk mitigation was really worth it then the commission/fees would be negligible as a % so moving monthly would be a more realistic option.
His main problem is the fact he's moving 'buttons' around and commissions/fees are often fixed regarless of transaction value.
Rude-boy said:
Firstly thanks all.
What I want is to know that if I am paying 199E for a shirt I am paying 199E, not however much the banck feels like charging me in fees etc on the day they process it. I can also put another £1k or so in when I think that the f/x rate is a good one.
Basicly I like spreading risk on f/x rates and knowing how much an item is costing me without having to work out the banks rate on the day, comisson, etc and then decide if the price is right. It also helps when you aren't being charged 2.5% fee each time you fill up on top of the loaded f/x rate when you are regularly on the way to LM, Spa and the'ring!
To answer the question i'm pretty sure friends have this with First Direct & Halifax. You could also probably achieve the same effect with a charge card. What I want is to know that if I am paying 199E for a shirt I am paying 199E, not however much the banck feels like charging me in fees etc on the day they process it. I can also put another £1k or so in when I think that the f/x rate is a good one.
Basicly I like spreading risk on f/x rates and knowing how much an item is costing me without having to work out the banks rate on the day, comisson, etc and then decide if the price is right. It also helps when you aren't being charged 2.5% fee each time you fill up on top of the loaded f/x rate when you are regularly on the way to LM, Spa and the'ring!
Personally i would just look for the account or credit card with the lowest commission/fees and use that. I don't really see the point of doing it into € via DD, you don't avoid the fees you just move them to a different point in time.
If you spend a €199 it will be €199 if you just do it on £ card the rate will be that days rate, if you do it on € card it will effectively be at the rate of your last direct debit. Or if you've been saving for a while a aggregate of the last few months - which is going to be harder to work out. All equally arbitrary IMO.
I do see that you will mitigate the against the flux in exchange rates slightly but from £ to € i'm not really sure it's worth worrying about for £1800 a year.
Edited by waterwonder on Wednesday 10th July 16:43
waterwonder said:
I do see that you will mitigate the against the flux in exchange rates slightly but from £ to € i'm not really sure it's worth worrying about for £1800 a year.
As you and others have said for the (relative) buttons involved the fees etc, make it an expensive way to do things in some ways, but the thought process is that I'd not really notice £150 leaving my account each month - £750 and I'd need to rejig my spending that month.Obviously I could pay £150 into a savings account and then change it in one hit once or twice a year but would be at risk of getting a bad rate (as has happened a few times when I have done this cash, regardless of if I have done it in November, February or June - I always seem to pick the day/week after the pound has tanked.
Think I will look into some of the other suggestions, including the next time I am over on a week day popping into the local bank and hoping I find someone whose financial English is better than my technical French!
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