advice repatriating money to UK

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Nimrod
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advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Nimrod » Tue Feb 07, 2017 7:25 pm

I hope this is in the right forum
Some advice please,hopefully my house will be sold later this week.
How do I go about getting the money exchanged and transferred to my UK bank?
Do I use a local spanish exchange co.or one of the big UK foreign exchange companies?
Any tips,recommendations and ideas very gratefully accepted.
Many thanks

Aadam
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Aadam » Wed Feb 08, 2017 5:32 am

I would personally use my bank to send and exchange the money, it saves loads of headache and time

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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby flyeogh » Wed Feb 08, 2017 8:45 am

Nimrod presumably this money will end up in a spanish Euro Account? I'd simply use Currencyfair or similar transferring 25000 Euro blocks [there can be limits on the size of a single transfer made online] into currency fair, and then switch that to sterling, and then transfer to my UK sterling account. Etc, etc. Never had a problem as long as you ensure all the account codes, sort codes and references are entered correctly. I once made an error on a reference but even that only added 48 hours to that transfer. Normally the process is lightening quick so in a week you can shift 125,000 or with the wife's account double that. I trust her :lol:

However to add security I opened an Isle of Man Euro account through Lloyds bank. This gets the money into the UK system (assuming UK is the destination) quicker and increases security.

I tried negotiating with my high street bank for large amounts but it never was cheaper than using the exchange banks like CF. The UK banks offered a better than normal rate for a large amount but there were always extra charges. Of course depends on the banks and I only tried 2.

However as Aadam says if you don't mind the cost, and/or you need the money in a UK sterling account very fast, then the straight route bank to bank may give less worries. Although the only worry I would have is leaving a large amount in a spanish bank.

HTH but all the very best with your move and hope all goes smoothly.
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Stevemul
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Stevemul » Wed Feb 08, 2017 10:10 am

Have a look at


https://revolut.com/

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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby flyeogh » Wed Feb 08, 2017 11:07 am

Stevemul this as far as I can see is a very new and small company mainly based on an app. It seems to target smaller transactions.

On endole it offers:

Revolut Ltd is an active company incorporated on 6 December 2013 with the registered office located in Greater London. Revolut Ltd has been running for 3 Years 2 Months. There are currently 2 active directors and 0 active secretaries according to the latest annual return submitted on 29 December 2016.

As they say "We are a group of young entrepreneurial people" who "are determined to disrupt the old-fashioned banking industry, which we believe offers consistently poor value". Nice sentiments but not sure I want crusaders handling large amounts of my wealth. As for being a small fish in a big tank and threatening the sharks!! Think others have found such a strategy difficult.

I would be further concerned by how it is regulated and who the major backers are? While they offer client accounts are ringfenced at Barclays I see little detail on regulation and backers.

Each to their own of course
Last edited by flyeogh on Wed Feb 08, 2017 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Wicksey
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Wicksey » Wed Feb 08, 2017 11:17 am

Aadam wrote:I would personally use my bank to send and exchange the money, it saves loads of headache and time
I can tell you don't yet live in Spain! Spanish bank charges can be huge for transferring money, even within the Eurozone, let alone between Euro and Sterling.

We have used Halo in the past http://moneytransfercomparison.com/halo-financial/

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knowal
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby knowal » Wed Feb 08, 2017 12:15 pm

Register with CurrencyFair and set up an account, it's the best way as per Flyeogh advice.
Speak to your Spanish bank before making transfers to CF, they may need to up your online limit.

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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Miro » Wed Feb 08, 2017 6:17 pm

I hope to be in the same position soon. I've been in contact with Currencies Direct http://www.currenciesdirect.com/en/es. Anyone used them / have any knowledge of them?
They seem to have been around for a long time. They offer the option to deposit your bankers draft from the sale directly into their client account a La Caixa, thereby avoiding extortionate charges by your Spanish bank just to deposit the cheque. From there, your euros can be converted to sterling whenever you choose (you can watch the exchange rate and decide when to convert) and the funds are then transferred to your UK sterling account. No fees or hidden charges. It does seem like a good option, but would love the reassurance of someone who has used them!
I have an "Experiencia" account with Solbank, which allows free deposits of cheques (drawn on other Spanish banks) and also free transfers in euros to banks anywhere within the EEA (UK still is, Gibraltar isn't though). Although I would feel most secure doing it this way, the exchange rate I would get converting euros to sterling in my UK bank account would almost certainly not be as good as Currencies Direct will offer - and anyway, I don't have a euro account with Barclays and can't open one because I'm not UK resident! I do have euro & sterling accounts in Gib, but that's no good because it's not in the EEA.
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby marios » Wed Feb 08, 2017 6:28 pm

Miro, its not just about charges its mostly about the rate they give you which is especially important for larger amounts, I always use Currencyfair and can at times get the international rate using the market option.I have used currenciesdirect and many others don't use them they are the past.

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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby baroness » Wed Feb 08, 2017 6:40 pm

Having just sold my house for Euros, it depends on how you are being paid. If it is going to be a Spanish Euro bank transfer it pays to use currency direct as they have a Spanish bank account for it to be paid directly into saving your Spanish bank's commission. If, like me, you get a transfer from a bank in another country (but still Euro) you have it paid directly into currency fair's Irish (Dublin) bank account. Both offer good rates of exchange but, you will be amazed what your Spanish bank will charge you to pay in and then transfer a bankers draft so it is best avoided at all costs. I was advised, by currency direct, that on no account accept a bankers draft that was not drawn on a Spanish bank as it would take forever to clear.
I hope that I have explained myself clearly, if not send me a private message for more details, jeff

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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Miro » Wed Feb 08, 2017 6:48 pm

marios wrote:I have used currenciesdirect and many others don't use them they are the past.
Thanks for you response, but I'm not sure what you mean by "they are the past". They are still in existence and doing business, so what makes Currencyfair so different / better?
I can pay a Spanish bank draft into my Solbank account without charge, & then sending the funds to Currencyfair presumably would mean a euro transfer within the EEA (Dublin), so I can see this could be an option, but I'm not sure why it would necessarily be a better option than using Currenciesdirect.
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marios
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby marios » Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:34 pm

I'm just talking about bank to bank transfers (electronic)I send money from UK(CF) to Spain it costs 3 euro per transfer no matter how much or how little so a 1000 euro transfer that's about .3% there is no charge for me to send into CF and no charge to receive in Spain by my bank, now if the rate I get is for example 1.17 via CF (obviously varies on the day rate)you would probably get 1.14 via CD so do the maths CF is much the better option even with 3 euro charge.

When I said the past I mean't there are a new breed of currency firms out there that don't rip you off, CF works like Betfair gambling Co, you are swopping your money with someone else.

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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Miro » Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:39 pm

Fair enough (pun intended). I've just registered an account with them so that I can look at all the details, and it looks worth trying. Might do a few smaller transfers first to see how it goes.
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Lyric » Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:44 pm

Currency Fair.
Coming the other way £ - € it works perfectly a good rate, on two occasions better than the bank rate on the BBC, and in Sabadell next working day.
I am thinking of using them for my Company pension as that can take anything up to seven days to appear in Sabadell, a complaint about which is greeted with a shrug.

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marios
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby marios » Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:49 pm

Good for you but remember the smaller the amount it's still 3 euro transfer fee, damm I could have had 45 euro for recommending you and you could of had the same lol.

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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby peteroldracer » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:36 pm

Moneycorp
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Miro » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:44 pm

Care to elaborate?!
I'm quite sold on Currencyfair, going by various members' comments, but I'm open to other suggestions
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby peteroldracer » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:49 pm

I have used Moneycorp every time I have transferred money UK/Spain, no small amounts as we have pensions etc paid direct into our Spanish bank. Every time the service has been spot on, at what looked to be a good rate. Not much more I can say!

Just checked them on trustpilot and they get a very poor rating, but from idiots who changed money at an airport outlet - any money expert (or travel expert) will tell you that the nearer to the departure gate the worse the exchange rate....as for changing £300 words fail me!
Last edited by peteroldracer on Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Enrique
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby Enrique » Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:50 pm

Hi Miro,
I use HiFx...........your current best liked option looks to be similar.............

https://www.icomparefx.com/currencyfair ... with-hifx/
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Re: advice repatriating money to UK

Postby masterob » Fri Feb 10, 2017 12:24 pm

I use Currency Direct and am very happy with their service.
The monthly rent for our house in Alora is paid into my CD account at Caixa Bank. CD then transfer it into my UK bank at an agreed exchange rate. No charges are incurred. Works smoothly.


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