Euro Sterling Current Account Fx Rate

jotpilot

jen245 wrote: »

I have Citi US $ account, and disagree that their rates are awful. Yesterday I transferred £1000 from my Natwest account into my Citi account and got $1599.80. The market rate at the time was $1.6013, so not much less than the market rate. I don't know if similar rates apply when transferring internally between accounts, as I only have that 1 account, but every time I've paid money in from an external account, I've always had either the market rate, or very slightly less. I can't get that anywhere else.

I'm glad you got a good rate but I can only go on the figures quoted to me by Citi; maybe someone can pitch in who actually transferred Euros to Sterling in Citi current accounts recently and tell us the rate they got.

jen245

jotpilot wrote: »

I'm glad you got a good rate but I can only go on the figures quoted to me by Citi; maybe someone can pitch in who actually transferred Euros to Sterling in Citi current accounts recently and tell us the rate they got.

I'd also be interested to hear this this aswell, as I've just paid in another £200 and got $320.35, which is a rate of $1.60175, the market rate according to XE is $1.6009, so I actually got a better rate! So I don't really get the whole cr*p rate thing, unless its for internal transfers, and I was thinking of opening Euro and Sterling accounts so it would be good to get some feedback

inmypocketnottheirs

jotpilot wrote: »

I'm glad you got a good rate but I can only go on the figures quoted to me by Citi; maybe someone can pitch in who actually transferred Euros to Sterling in Citi current accounts recently and tell us the rate they got.

You say "on the figures quoted". Are you just phoning citi up and asking for the rates?

As an example I have done a transfer at citi right now at $1.558. XE's rate today is $1.592, so 3.4cof a diffence, I.e 2.18%.

I do not see how you can say that is not a good rate.

I have also transferred €1000 to £ at €1.227 and XE's rate is €1.202, so a difference of 2.5c, so 2.04% difference.

With immediate online real time transfers and a visa debit card with fee free withdrawals from citi branches, can you find a better, more flexible deal?

There are a few citi knockers around here but how many actually use them and can speak from first hand experience?

RetiredInThailand

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

As an example I have done a transfer at citi right now at $1.558. XE's rate today is $1.592, so 3.4cof a diffence, I.e 2.18%.

I do not see how you can say that is not a good rate.

Earning 2.18% from the exchange is certainly good for Citibank, but I would call it pretty lousy for me if it was my money. It's barely better than a credit card. I expect to pay just a few tenths of 1% and anything more is way too high.

inmypocketnottheirs

RetiredInThailand wrote: »

Earning 2.18% from the exchange is certainly good for Citibank, but I would call it pretty lousy for me if it was my money. It's barely better than a credit card. I expect to pay just a few tenths of 1% and anything more is way too high.

Off the XE rate? It is no worse than any other commercial rate, and to be honest the comparison with vcredit cards is entirely correct.

What service can you recommend that gives an instant conversion with funds immediately available between sterling/dollars/euros?Immediate. In the account straight away. With no additional charges. No set up fees. No commissions. No transfer charges.

Because if you can I'll use it. I will use it straight away.

jen245

Do you pay money into your Sterling account first then transfer it between accounts? I'm trying to work out if transferring internally between accounts gives a worse rate than paying in from an external account, because ive transferred over quite a lot of money over the last few days from my Natwest and Santander accounts, before the rate fell a bit yesterday, and have got a little over $1.60 each time

inmypocketnottheirs

Yes, I just move funds around between accounts. I travel extensively and use these accounts for my expenses. Funds can go into any account depending on what currency I claim in, and then I can shuffle funds around immediately, on line.

RetiredInThailand

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

What service can you recommend that gives an instant conversion with funds immediately available between sterling/dollars/euros?Immediate. In the account straight away. With no additional charges. No set up fees. No commissions. No transfer charges.

The spread applied by my bank (an offshore subsidiary of a large UK bank) is under 1% on a booked rate. There are no other charges. The process happens on the same day but I neither know nor care whether it is instant or not as the rate is fixed at the time I give the instruction.

2.18% is out of the question as far as I'm concerned.

inmypocketnottheirs

RetiredInThailand wrote: »

The spread applied by my bank (an offshore subsidiary of a large UK bank) is under 1% on a booked rate. There are no other charges. The process happens on the same day but I neither know nor care whether it is instant or not as the rate is fixed at the time I give the instruction.

2.18% is out of the question as far as I'm concerned.

Are funds covered by the deposit guarantee scheme?

RetiredInThailand

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

Are funds covered by the deposit guarantee scheme?

They are fully covered by an offshore scheme.