Going off Travelling and need a euro account

tw0906blue · 8 May 2008 at 3:27PM

Hi,
I am trying to find out which is the best euro account to open whilst travelling arouund Europe.
My Oh and me will be living in Spain for 6 months to a year, then plan to move on....I know it's a hard life! :beer:

We both give up work at the end of June. The "children" are all grown and doing their own thing, so now is the time to do all those things we dreamed of before the family arrived and we couldn't. :rolleyes:
So I really would appreciate some advice from peoples' experience. We have a Nationwide account for spending free whilst abroad, we have a Barclays current account and Barclaycards but that's it. We know from our sons experience from living in Germany that a Euro account is needed as many shops don't take other countries cards and cash is a pain!

Thanks

jonesMUFCforever · 8 May 2008 at 7:31PM

As far as I know there is no international cross border euro account.

You say that you live 6 months in Spain - do you have a Euro account set up there? Do they offer debit cards - probably Visa or Maestro, if so you can use these anywhere in the world.

avantra · 10 May 2008 at 2:54PM

If it's for a short term and you only intend to travel why not keeping your UK account open and use something like a Euro Prepay card, there are fees but far less hassle.
Actually https://www.fairfx.com offer a Euro card with €1.5 fee per withdraw which is similar to what you would have pay for pulling your cash out of the wall from a continental € account. I think this is the only fee if you load the card a minimum of €500.

queen_of_leon · 10 May 2008 at 5:22PM

according to 'moneyextra.com' all major banks in britain offer euro bank accounts.

good luck!...been there, done that in 2004 and had a great time!
i wish i'd had a nationwide card back then...i daren't even add up what my charges were for cash withdrawals : (

holidayer32 · 19 May 2008 at 12:27PM

Hello!
I am also looking for the best euro account or in fact any advice as to the best way to manage my situation.....
I am getting married later this year in Italy and I have had to add on quite a considerable sum to our overall budget to accomodate the fall of the £ against the Euro of late.

After some initial investigations I have found that opening an euro account could be one of the better ways to manage my funds and stretch the £ as much as possible - I believe that you can get a better exchange rate on an euro account that I would if I were to pay my wedding invoices by swift payments for example which is what I have been doing. However, I have only spoken to a few banks so would appreciate a un-bias view - is this the best solution? If so, is there a facility online to compare euro account charges and best exchange rates etc?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Many Thanks

olly300 · 19 May 2008 at 2:33PM

Having worked aboard (and probably off again soon) banks in other EU states charge you for operating a current account. This can either be a mixture of a monthly fee and/or a small charge everytime you use your card in a shop or ATM. You will also be charged for moving money from your UK bank account to the Spanish one, and have to keep a closer eye on exchange rates as you will be moving a larger sum over.

There are lots of websites that tell you about opening an account in Spain:
http://www.euroresidentes.com/Property/spanish_banks/open-bank-account-spain.htm

The cheapest situation is to probably use your nationwide debit cards as it's free to use them at ATMs and in shops, and use your Nationwide credit card for larger purchases If you make sure you have access to the internet - best if you can take your own laptop with various cables to get internet access- then you can move money around between your UK accounts. Nationwide cards all have the VISA symbol which is recognised worldwide.

SCROOGE · 22 May 2008 at 8:11PM

Beware of bank accounts in Spain! Most of them apply quite hefty charges to current accounts for 'account maintenance' and also for cash cards. Also, if you don't speak Spanish (and even if you DO), the statements - if you can manage to prise statements out of them - can be difficult to understand. I use a Banco Santander current account to pay local expenses, but otherwise a Natiowide cash card (which you have), but it's always wise to have back-up in case a machine swallows it. Another point: many cash machines now offer you the choice of a debit in euros or sterling. ALWAYS opt for euros, as the final exchange rate is much better.

tw0906blue · 23 May 2008 at 7:14PM

Thanks Guys, this is all really helpful and I will look at the sites suggested.

Another question. Anyone know whether there are any restrictions re renting a place in Sevilla? Have been speaking to someone who was in Strasburg and he said he had trouble as potential landlords had no means of credit checking him :eek: Now we are a little worried we will have the same problem. He had a Euro account and money, but it still wasn't ok.

olly300 · 23 May 2008 at 8:35PM

tw0906blue wrote: »

Thanks Guys, this is all really helpful and I will look at the sites suggested.

Another question. Anyone know whether there are any restrictions re renting a place in Sevilla? Have been speaking to someone who was in Strasburg and he said he had trouble as potential landlords had no means of credit checking him :eek: Now we are a little worried we will have the same problem. He had a Euro account and money, but it still wasn't ok.

Every European country is different but on the whole landlords and estate agents want some way of checking who you are, which is why it is easier if you are working in a country as you can use your employer as a reference or the lease can be in their name. Plus in some countries it is actually very difficult to rent an apartment for less than a couple of years, apartments normally come unfurnished and if you can find a furnished apartment you pay a premium for renting short term, as unlike in the UK people actually do long term rentals. I suggest you google for apartment rentals in Spain and see what information you can find. There are also Spain expat sites which again you can google for.

missile · 23 May 2008 at 9:47PM

I use CAM Bank in spain> https://www.cam.es/EN/Paginas/inicio.aspx
They do not charge for servicing my current account. The only charge I pay is for my Maestro card which is accepted throughout the EU.

I don't know which part of Germany your son is in? I had no trouble using UK issued crads, when I worked there. However it is far more common for people to pay by cash than card. In most EU countries, I have found that Visa and Master Cards issued in the UK are universally accepted. Amex is not as widely accepted.

You should find many suitable properties available for 6 month lease in Seville. There are quite strict laws to protect tennats in spain and it is extremely difficult to evict a bad tennant. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for Brits to pay one month deposit then squat defaulting on the utility bills etc. Hence you may find some landlords are reluctant and it may be to your advantage to provide good references.
see here>
http://www.helloseville.com/
http://www.friendlyrentals.com/

tw0906blue · 29 May 2008 at 11:35AM

olly300 wrote: »

Every European country is different but on the whole landlords and estate agents want some way of checking who you are, which is why it is easier if you are working in a country as you can use your employer as a reference or the lease can be in their name. Plus in some countries it is actually very difficult to rent an apartment for less than a couple of years, apartments normally come unfurnished and if you can find a furnished apartment you pay a premium for renting short term, as unlike in the UK people actually do long term rentals. I suggest you google for apartment rentals in Spain and see what information you can find. There are also Spain expat sites which again you can google for.

Thanks for this, we are logging onto estate agent sites and no-one has suggested that we may have any problem. Plus we went into an agent in April in Granada - whilst we were researching areas and explained what we were planning and the agent said "come back closer to the time" another showed us a house and didn't ask anything about credit checking, but our Spanish is limited, so it may have been a question not asked!

Expat sites tend to have places for sale, as everyone seems to assume that all Brits want to buy in Spain....a reasonable assumption I guess as so many have.

Going off Travelling and need a euro account

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