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Advanzia Bank. 6% no fees or penalties,held in euros

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From another thread it was pointed out by gunnaknow that Advanzia Bank are offering 6% interest with no fees or penalties and the money is held in euros. They are covered by the AGDL scheme and this suggests this may give a guarantee of 100,000 euros from 01-01-2009.

http://www.gouvernement.lu/salle_presse/actualite/2008/10-octobre/17-frieden-garantie-bancaire/index.html

Any thoughts, knowledge or advice from anyone?

Comments

  • soulsaver
    soulsaver Posts: 6,606 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    copied from previous thread:
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Charles1968 viewpost.gif
    Yes you're right that Advanzia is covered by the Luxembourg deposit scheme, but the chap I spoke to on the phone when ringing Advanzia a few minutes ago told me the limit is being raised to EUR 100,000 on 1st January.

    The advantage of moving a large sum is that you get a better exchange rate. I'd probably deposit EUR 90,000 to leave room for interest. Quick back of an envelope calculation after speaking to First Direct suggests I'd lose only a £25 fee charged by FD and then around £250 lost through the exchange rate. Advanzia don't charge any fees for transactions.

    I'm not certain but a revisit to the statement on AGDL webby leads me to the conclusion that the AGDL is the (Bene?)Lux equivalent of the FSCS - funded by the their financial services industry, and AGDL appear to cover the first 20k euros. The additional guarantee to 50k now, 100k in Jan, appears to be taxpayers money, although not sure which treasury is funding it, prob Lux forced by Euro central would be my guess.

    I'd like it to be clearer , so I'd like to research it a bit more for my dosh.
  • gunnaknow
    gunnaknow Posts: 178 Forumite
    pmcx9 wrote:
    Advanzia Bank. 6% no fees or penalties,held in euros


    Bear in mind that the rate will drop to their usual 5.40% rate come the beginning of january. Although even then it'll be as good as the best rates in the UK, with the advantage of being in euros, for those who want to spread their risk by investing some of their money in euros.

    Like Soulsaver, I'd like absolute confirmation that the protection scheme will cover a full 50K, or 100K. I'd also like to know whether any UK bank will convert the money to euros and transfer the money. I might give my bank a call tomorrow to find out what any charges for this might be.
  • Note that Advanzia bank is backed by Norway, and I'm not sure Norway's economy is very strong. Certainly further research required...

    In the meantime it might be wise to keep some savings in a Euro holding account as protection from sterling's fall. Most UK high street banks can do that. Once youve converted into Euros (incurring small admin fee and larger fee resulting from exchange rate spread), moving Euros from UK to a continental bank is free.

    I think there's an urgent need to establish which continental banks offer the best combination of safety and high interest rates for those of us who want to save in Euros at the moment. There's a shortage of info about this on MSE.
  • soulsaver
    soulsaver Posts: 6,606 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Note that Advanzia bank is backed by Norway, and I'm not sure Norway's economy is very strong. Certainly further research required...

    quote]
    Sorry Charles, Backed by Norway?
  • gunnaknow
    gunnaknow Posts: 178 Forumite
    Soulsaver, he is referring to the fact that the bank is mostly owned by a norwegian investment company. That's not quite the same as it being backed by "norway" as such, though.

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=16457873&postcount=51
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