Foreign bank account - best way to withdraw money?

jetfromgladiators

Hi everyone,

My wife has a savings account abroad. She recently lost her job, which means that we are temporarily forced to use it to pay part of the rent. However, each time she withdraws money, she has to pay a small fee, and we are not sure that the exchange rate (from Euros) she gets is the best.

Does anybody have any advice about how this situation can be managed? Would it be better, for example, if she withdrew the money at her home branch in Euros (is that possible, even?) and then exchanged them at the best rate somewhere else?

jonesMUFCforever

How much are we talking about?

How much would it cost for her to visit her branch versus the charges being levied by an ATM?

jetfromgladiators

Hi,

Well, we need to withdraw about £500, so a bad exchange rate would make a lot of difference -- probably more than the £1.50 it would cost to withdraw from an ATM. There is a branch in London, so it would cost about £1 to visit it, but I'm not sure if that's the head office. We will see.

missile

For such a small amount, it is not worth using a currency exchange broker. I would do whatever you find most convenient. The charges will depend on which bank you are with. Some charge quite a lot.

You will do doubt find there will be a maximum you can withdraw per day from a cash machine. I can only withdraw 300€ from my spanish account. The cash will be issued in sterling NOT euros.