Receiving Money from Abroad

rachelandgromit

From what I can see most banks charge to receive money from abroad. Does anyone know if there is any bank accounts that do not charge for receiving between £50-£100 a month.

henm2

Payment receved into HSBC accounts below £100 appear to be free
"Electronic Payments into your account-
Non-sterling payments into your account
Each payment under the currency equivalent of £100
No charge
Each payment of the currency equivalent of £100 and over
£8
This charge will be deducted from the payment amount received"

grumbler

See this old thread for some information that needs double-checking now:
Interwetten deposits and withdrawals: your experience

Beware that either you or the sender pays for the currency conversion. On your side it's ~2.5-3%. To avoid fees and for smaller charges consider using some currency specialist for both converting and sending:
https://www.fxcompared.com/
http://www.mycurrencytransfer.com/

rachelandgromit

Thanks. I will look into them. I currently have an N and P account which is free to use abroad but they do chargecharge as do First Direct who I also have an account with.

grumbler

rachelandgromit wrote: »

I currently have an N and P account which is free to use abroad

It's for card transactions only, not for bank transfers.

rachelandgromit

grumbler wrote: »

It's for card transactions only, not for bank transfers.

Just seen it, they charge £6.

henm2

rachelandgromit wrote: »

Thanks. I will look into them. I currently have an N and P account which is free to use abroad but they do chargecharge as do First Direct who I also have an account with.

Just checked First Direct's web site. Their charges for payments coming from abroad are the same as HSBC's. Free if the amount coming in is less than £100.

colsten

Receiving money from abroad is most economical through the same companies that offer the best deals for sending money abroad: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange

Cheapest isn't always best though. Consider the risks of a company going bust whilst they are in charge of your money. May be it's worth paying extra. Though I have no clue whether international money transfers would be covered by the FSCS guarantee. Probably they won't be but an established bank is probably less likely to go out of business than some money transfer bureaux

rachelandgromit

http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/rates-and-charges/charges

It gives charges here.

colsten

rachelandgromit wrote: »

http://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/rates-and-charges/charges

It gives charges here.

Looks like a bargain for payments from the EU or Sweden but check the FD exchange rates. It might be cheaper to pay a fee.

Inward payments received from banks abroad in currency above £100 equivalent

(payments up to 50,000 euros or 500,000 Swedish Krona from a country in the EU will be received free of charge provided the BIC and IBAN numbers are provided with the payment).