Money transfer company

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Paddy Pumpkin
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Paddy Pumpkin » Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:43 am

It's good to get so many recommendations for the same company. I shall certainly use them for my next transfer. I aim not to use the Nationwide account now for any foreign transactions as their fees are just too high, but we have to have a UK account and now cannot open a different one without an address there, so we're a bit stuck with them.[/quote]


There is no problem to open a UK bank account if you live in the EU infact under EU legislation it is illegal for a bank anywhere in the EU to deny you a basic payments bank account if you live in the EU (ie. you can live in one country and have a bank account in the other)
https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/payment-accounts-directive
https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-econ ... ntaccounts

Natwest openly market their account to non UK residents
https://personal.natwest.com/personal/c ... s_hub.html

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fyfin
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby fyfin » Sat Dec 29, 2018 12:13 pm

That is true regarding your right to a UK bank account but many banks will try and fob you off and I believe you will not be eligible if you have an existing UK a/c e.g. with Nationwide. That is what we found when we tried to open an additional account which is why we went the Transferwise borderless account route with a UK sort code and account no.
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Wicksey
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Wicksey » Sat Dec 29, 2018 12:22 pm

elusive wrote:
Have you looked into opening a uk account.as before it was near impossible (although illegal on the banks side) but more recently quite alot of banks have started offering basic accounts for non uk residents
Fyfin's thread about Transferwise said the same as I originally found. You couldn't open a UK 'basic' bank account if you already have a UK bank account. It seems that the basic account is there for people who cannot usually open an account in the UK, so if you've already got one up and running they said you cannot open another.

However, after being rejected by Natwest they recently sent a letter to me saying that they were wrong
"We incorrectly informed you that you were ineligible for an account with us. This was due to you already holding an account elsewhere. This should not have happened and we're sorry."

As they'd destroyed all our ID and previous application (which had to be verified by our bank here etc) they said we'd have to start again with our application which I haven't been bothered to do. Their foreign exchange charges are no better than anyone else's so in the end we've started to look at using a money transfer company. I've opened a Transferwise 'bank account' now that Fyfin recommended which should meet our needs and cost a lot less than a UK High Street bank for regular transfers.

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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Paddy Pumpkin » Sat Dec 29, 2018 4:07 pm

I agree with you about the banks making it difficult and I personally had the same experience in another country. It was resolved by my showing the EU directive and then miraculously my account was opened!

I would advise you to look at Revolut as they offer better rates than Transferwise. Revolut charge 0.00% on all currencies as opposed to Transferwise where you get charged at least 0.30%.

Revolut offer both GBP and EUR accounts but don't offer the wide range of currency accounts that Transferwise offer.

The days of the traditional bank account are numbered when there are financial technology companies undercutting them let right and centre

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fyfin
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby fyfin » Sat Dec 29, 2018 4:28 pm

I have no doubt you're right Paddy but having gone the Transferwise route some time ago it seemed logical to use their borderless account. It appears that Revolut is very similar and no fees up to £5,000 per month whereas Transferwise do charge BUT as far as I can see Revolut doesn't have a virtual bank account i.e. UK sort code and account number that could be used to receive pensions etc which is one thing we wanted.
I agree that traditional bank accounts are being superseded especially for us who are looking at currency exchange on a regular basis.
By the way I am not saying Transferwise is better than Revolut - they both are the way forward and I found a very good comparison site if you want to see the differences. https://www.icomparefx.com/transferwise ... ernatives/
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Paddy Pumpkin » Sat Dec 29, 2018 5:21 pm

You are totally right about not worth changing Transferwise vs Revolut

but definitely worth changing from a traditional bank to one of these guys

Revolut gives you a personal bank account in EUR and GBP with an IBAN (sort code and account number) but not all the currencies that Transferwise does.

Downside with both is how much cash per month you can take out, this is easily overcome by having a bank account with someone who does not charge for withdrawals

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fyfin
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby fyfin » Sat Dec 29, 2018 8:08 pm

But can you have a pension paid into a revolut a/c. According to the link you can't. Unless I have misunderstood
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby casita-bonita » Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:13 pm

Sabadell allow you to transfer money into your Spanish bank account using your UK bank debit card. Not the best rates compared to currencydirect, but simple and fast.
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Parilla » Sun Dec 30, 2018 6:43 am

Is your money whilst with Transferwise and Revolut, protected ubder the FSCS guarantee ?

Parilla

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fyfin
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby fyfin » Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:58 am

Probably not but it's never there very long lol
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Wicksey
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Wicksey » Sun Dec 30, 2018 11:10 am

Parilla wrote:Is your money whilst with Transferwise and Revolut, protected under the FSCS guarantee ?

Parilla
No it's not as it's not a bank. It's an authorised Electronic Money Institution independently regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and the EU money money is kept in Barclays. Their website explains this:

In the unlikely event TransferWise ceased to exist, your money would be paid back from this account, ie from Barclays or Wells Fargo (for USA), however it is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and therefore is deposited at your own risk. You also cannot earn interest on the money in your borderless account.

Like Fyfin, the idea is to just use it to transfer money so it will all be done in one quick transaction and I don't plan to hold a lot of money in the account. Being able to use the debit card for odd purchases or withdrawals may be useful, but I'll see how it goes once I start using it. If it's so cheap and easy to pay in money into our Spanish account then I may as well just use that all the time, which would keep my accounting simpler as well.

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Re: Money transfer company

Postby fyfin » Sun Dec 30, 2018 11:37 am

Wicksey, that was our thinking as well. Not even sure if it's worth having the debit card as we're more likely to use the Spanish a/c but we'll see how it goes. So far so good and my wife is getting the hang of it. I want her to be able to use the technology as she intends to leave it all to me now.
Casita Bonita, the real objective was to get a UK pension paid into a UK bank account and then do the transfer yourself. The cheapest and quickest way would seem to be the Transferwise borderless account. Revolut, from what I have read don't offer that facility yet although they are cheaper for transfers. Both Revolut and Transferwise will beat the actual banks and Currencies Direct etc. I have tested this in the past with Currencies Direct and found it not so easy e.g. I had to phone their office in London to get a better rate than was offered locally, and it still didn't beat Transferwise who show the rate on the site that you will get, not the interbank rate which one site showed and told me that was for deals of over £500,000 lol
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Paddy Pumpkin » Sun Dec 30, 2018 8:10 pm

I am beginning to sound like a sales person for Revolut but I cannot see any way in which any other currency transfer provider is better

You get a UK GBP current account (with sort code and account number) and an EUR account again with an account number (IBAN). The process to open the account is all online no need to get documents certified etc.

You get your pension provider to pay you every month to your UK current account, just like you would with Barclays or Natwest etc.

Then you choose when the GBP is converted to EUR. The rate for the conversion (if done Monday to Friday when markets are open (24/7)) is the interbank spot rate with 0.00% commission. Your limit is 5k per month to avoid charges

You then simply spend the money in your Revolut card by presenting your card at the till or shopping online. You can also withdraw the money and send it to your Spanish bank account, and then use your Spanish debit card to withdraw cash at the ATM.

Revolut now has a banking licence and is protected by FSCS up to 85k GBP. The only charge you pay is a one off £6 fee to get the card.

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Re: Money transfer company

Postby fyfin » Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:30 pm

Paddy if what you say is correct then Revolut would definitely edge Transferwise although for me it would be too much hassle to change as I know my way around their system. However, the icompare link states that you cannot directly transfer from a UK bank to a Revolut account unlike Transferwise which implies that a pension could not be directly paid without a fee.
If the comparison is wrong they need to be made aware as it could influence a decision by someone between the two.
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Paddy Pumpkin
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Paddy Pumpkin » Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:14 pm

I guess Revolut can't be responsible for everything that every website in the world writes, it may also be out of date as Revolut did not always offer bank accounts etc.

Here are the links from Revolut website

https://www.revolut.com/help/exploring- ... nk-account

https://www.revolut.com/help/getting-st ... transfers/

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Re: Money transfer company

Postby brimsham » Sun Dec 30, 2018 11:02 pm

I transfer money from my Nationwide to my Revolut account and have done for about 18 months or so.

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Re: Money transfer company

Postby fyfin » Mon Dec 31, 2018 12:57 pm

Brimsham, of course, but it was about transfers from companies that seemed to be an issue. I did ask Revolut and pointed out that an up to date comparison site was stating that they didn't do it. I suggested they contact them. I have had no reply to a message or a tweet asking the question " Could my UK pension company directly transfer from their UK bank account to the UK bank account and sort code on a Revolut account with no fee?"
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Paddy Pumpkin » Mon Dec 31, 2018 6:49 pm

Revolut need to start paying me ;-)

https://www.revolut.com/help/getting-st ... transfers/

Here is a link to the answer to your question. So on my Revolut app I have a sort code 23 69 72 and then an 8 digit account number (excatly dame format as other UK banks). I add money to my account by using bank transfer from my Barclays account which is exactly how salaries and pensions are payed. I never get charged a penny.

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alexander1
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby alexander1 » Mon Dec 31, 2018 6:54 pm

Have used HiFX for years now and no problem. Provided you transfer £4000 it's free.Obviously if you transfer more you get a better rate. It's usually in our Spanish bank the same day or the next.

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Enrique
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Re: Money transfer company

Postby Enrique » Mon Dec 31, 2018 9:13 pm

Hi,
A second one for HiFx..........No Fees if you transfer £3000 +

Looks like they have updated the above............

"Fees: £9 per transfer for all transfers below £3,000. Updated: No fees"

From their site............

"We charge no fees whatsoever"
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