Euro Account & Credit Card

jumpingjack75

Hi.

I hope I have found the right place for posting my query?
I am after some advice please regarding the possibility of opening a Euro account with, ideally, a credit card attached.

I currently have a HSBC current account & a HSBC credit card (paid off monthly) & I live in the UK.

Last year I worked abroad (home for about 40 days) & I have just landed a contract for the next two years. I am mostly working in Europe but do go to the Middle East/Australia & Asia. Last year my employers (based in Italy) paid my wages directly to my UK HSBC account. (I have to pay any fees) With bonuses it came to approx. 150K paid in instalments so the fees were quite substantial. As I mentioned I also have a HSBC credit card & I have to pay all my expenses & then get reimbursed by the company. Last year my expenses were approx. 55K. Mostly used on food, hotels, flights, hotels etc. I have worked out that I have probably paid at least 2k in sterling transaction charges which seems crazy. I spoke to my bank today & whilst they said I could open a Euro account with them (cost of £60) they do not have a credit card linked to it.
Apart from paying off my credit card monthly I wouldn't need to withdraw all of my wages. I could probably leave roughly half in an account so ideally one with interest would be ideal. Does anyone have any ideas what would be best to do? Thank you

pjread

Looked at Citibank ?

jumpingjack75

pjread wrote: »

Looked at Citibank ?

No but I will do. Thank you

zerog

Option 1: Open any account in the Eurozone and let your salary go there; take cash back to the UK and convert it at Thomas Exchange when you need it

Option 2: If you have HSBC Premier, open a EUR account in the UK (don't know what the £60 fee is for, it should be free) as well as a euro account in the eurozone. Using Global View transfer EUR to your UK EUR account, then convert as needed (usually worse rate than Thomas Exchange).

catokelly

You have probably lost quite a large chunk of the value of the Euros by having them transferred to your UK account, as the bank will have automatically converted the funds to Euros at poor rates.

So even if you cant get a Euro account that offers a credit card facility you should still make it a priority to try to get a Euro account up and running.

You could also use an international money transfer specialist to have your Euro salary transfererred to their client Euro account, they can convert the Euros into Sterling at far more superior rates than the banks and unlike the banks they will always let you know the rate before converting the Euros to sterling. Once you agree to a rate the Sterling is transferred to your UK account.

You could then perhaps use a UK based credit card for your ad hoc purchases whilst abroad, apparantly metro bank's card is good for international usage.

jumpingjack75

Thank you all for your replays...