transferring money between two EU accounts

pin

Hi

Firstly, is your mortgage in the Netherlands and therefore being paid in Euros?

A few options.

Get a Citibank account. They offer multicurrency accounts (£/€/$) and free transfers between the different currencies.

Try opening a Nationwide account in the UK (possible if you still have an address in the UK) and benefit from free foreign withdrawals.

naughtybits1uk

Buenos Tardes Senor,

I found currencies direct were good for me as i was working on shifts so i knew that the direct debit gave me peace of mind that my rent would be paid on time. Their charges were not too bad considering the time factor and no hassle.
As for me, i was a married woman with three children but because my husband did not work i had to pay 45%. I could not believe how sexist they were.
One good thing came out of it is that my oldest son is almost fluent in Spanish and he is studying for his GCSE and going on to do A level in Spanish.

Hasta Luego

davidsonmick

Thanks, i've just been looking at the Citibank site, they're in Belgium but not Holland it seems! I might be able to open a UK account, I'll investigate it further, thanks.

Chadsman

IIRC Citibank will transfer funds free of charge between their own accounts even when denominated in different currencies.
Are there any UK banks that have retail operations in Holland or vice versa? ...HSBC?

davidsonmick

Thanks, I'll have a look at HSBC then.

davidsonmick

OK, HSBC didn't pan out, it's more or less the same charges as my bank but minus the exchange rate, so that's a saving at least. Citibank have also fallen by the wayside.

Does anyone else have experience of either moneybookers or currenciesdirect? On the face of it, this seems to be the best way to go as there's no costs other than exchange rate. If I understand currenciesdirect correclty, there are no charges whatsoever as they make their money from playing the money markets. To quote them, "there are no charges." This does sound too good to be true?
Cheers,

pin

Have you looked at this article: Sending money abroad

System

I think Alliance & Leicester do a service called Eurogiro.

Its £7.50 (flat rate) to other Eurogiro members.

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/otherservices/index.asp?page=international-payments&content=send

The Eurogiro website lists ING/Postbank as the member in the Netherlands.

http://www.eurogiro.com/

I guess its not universal, but not expensive and quite fast compared to other methods.

With it being the 6% current account, it would seem to be a good package.

davidsonmick

Mad Maverick, yes, thanks, i looked there first. Wasn't sure that it covered my problem.

Heng, I'll have a look, thanks.

davidsonmick

Naughtybits,
I spoke to currencies direct and they told me that they have no charges as they make their money from playing the exchange rate using the funds supplied by people like me. However you say that they were charging about a fiver a time.
So what they're offering is essentially a free money transfer service - the only cost you have is what you lose on the exchange deal. Sounds too good to be true, but is it in fact perfectly reasonable? Any more thoughts about your experience with them?
Cheers,