Euro account

helmie
helmie Posts: 11 Forumite
in Budgeting & bank accounts
I am about to start a one or two year contract in Austria where I will be paid a dollar equivalent amount in Euros.

I mean to keep my house in the UK and will be probably be staying in hotels/Air B&B or whatever as I will be largely on the road, at least initially, so will not have a permanent residence over there.

Can anyone suggest a Euro account where I can meet day to day payments, and then probably send 75% back to the UK to GBP?

I am with Santander and was quite surprised they do not offer this based on their heritage.
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Comments

  • paragon909
    paragon909 Posts: 1,498 Forumite
    helmie wrote: »
    I am about to start a one or two year contract in Austria where I will be paid a dollar equivalent amount in Euros.

    I mean to keep my house in the UK and will be probably be staying in hotels/Air B&B or whatever as I will be largely on the road, at least initially, so will not have a permanent residence over there.

    Can anyone suggest a Euro account where I can meet day to day payments, and then probably send 75% back to the UK to GBP?

    I am with Santander and was quite surprised they do not offer this based on their heritage.

    Could try opening a KBC bank account....

    https://www.kbc.ie/our-products/kbc-current-account/current-account

    Can do it all over the internet, You just upload documents securely and you don't need them certified like other Euro banks.
  • welshlad
    welshlad Posts: 50 Forumite
    I would go with Revolut, then you can exchange back to GBP without any fees. Or Monese (£4.95/mth) if you need to use it for direct debits
  • demonloop
    demonloop Posts: 38 Forumite
    Revolut would get my vote
  • gzuckerman
    gzuckerman Posts: 2 Newbie
    I use KBC as I work between the UK and Ireland, easy account opening everything is done digital or over the phone even in Ireland. You can use your card via Apple Pay or Android Pay while you wait for your physical card to arrive.
  • tg99
    tg99 Posts: 1,198 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    Is Revolut a bank account as opposed to a money transfer account? Reason I ask is that I was thinking about whether I could sign up and use to fund my TD investing account in Euros to avoid TD’s fx fee but I note that TD only accept payments from a U.K. bank account in your own name and not from money transfer companies.
  • tg99
    tg99 Posts: 1,198 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    welshlad wrote: »
    I would go with Revolut, then you can exchange back to GBP without any fees. Or Monese (£4.95/mth) if you need to use it for direct debits

    Are you tied in for a minimum term paying £4.95 pm with Monese or can you cancel at any time or before the free month trial ends?
  • eDicky
    eDicky Posts: 6,565 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    tg99 wrote: »
    Is Revolut a bank account as opposed to a money transfer account? Reason I ask is that I was thinking about whether I could sign up and use to fund my TD investing account in Euros to avoid TD’s fx fee but I note that TD only accept payments from a U.K. bank account in your own name and not from money transfer companies.
    Revolut is a prepaid multi-currency account, not a true bank. But for your EUR balance a personal IBAN is provided (on simple request) from which payments can be sent in your own name. So I think it will work for your purpose. It should cost nothing to try, but study the FAQs to learn how to use it, and proceed with a small amount first.

    The only cost would be a 0.5% fee on conversions in excess of £5k/month. It's best to convert on a weekday as rates are slightly off from the interbank on weekends. Please let us know how it goes.
    Evolution, not revolution
  • Anthorn
    Anthorn Posts: 4,362 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    I've posted this several times and I'll probably have to continue posting it. Just walk into a bank branch in any country in the E.U. and open a bank account using proof of your identity and U.K. address. That's about it. But be quick because when we leave the E.U. or the E.U. put a stop to it you will not longer have the right to a bank account in an E.U. country.

    Be careful of exchange rates and transfer fees. Generally when transferring from an E.U. country's bank to the U.K. there is an automatic conversion from Euros to UK pounds and vice versa from UK pounds to Euros.
  • tg99
    tg99 Posts: 1,198 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    eDicky wrote: »
    Revolut is a prepaid multi-currency account, not a true bank. But for your EUR balance a personal IBAN is provided (on simple request) from which payments can be sent in your own name. So I think it will work for your purpose. It should cost nothing to try, but study the FAQs to learn how to use it, and proceed with a small amount first.

    The only cost would be a 0.5% fee on conversions in excess of £5k/month. It's best to convert on a weekday as rates are slightly off from the interbank on weekends. Please let us know how it goes.

    Spoke to TD who confirmed they would not accept payments from the likes of Revolut or Monese even if the account is in my own name since they are not true banks.
  • eDicky
    eDicky Posts: 6,565 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    tg99 wrote: »
    Spoke to TD who confirmed they would not accept payments from the likes of Revolut or Monese even if the account is in my own name since they are not true banks.
    In that case your solution is probably a Fineco Bank UK account, multi-currency with conversion at very close to the interbank rate. Check the Referrals board for any current sign-up bonus.

    I would still try Revolut to see if TD in fact notice that it's not coming from a bank. If they reject it Revolut will be able to see what happened and refund you.
    Evolution, not revolution
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