Paying a bill to a Greek bank account

Sunshine_and_Roses

Hoping someone can help me please.

I have booked an apartment in Greece and the deposit is to be paid to the owner by bank transfer. I have all her details, and have been to my local Santander to make the transfer. They told me it would cost me £25 - the deposit is only £100!!

Has anyone heard of Transferwise? The apartment owner has suggested this, but its new to me. Is it safe?

Thanks in advance

grumbler

Well, they are in MSE's guide Foreign Currency: Sending Money Abroad
For more information see the discussion thread and search the board.

For other options see
fxcompared.com
mycurrencytransfer.com

colsten

clareski wrote: »

Has anyone heard of Transferwise? The apartment owner has suggested this, but its new to me. Is it safe?

Transferwise is a safe method to transfer funds but you have no protection against scammers if you don't pay by credit card. Plenty of scams where fantasy apartment owners request payment by bank or other currency transfer.

grumbler

colsten wrote: »

Transferwise is a safe method to transfer funds but you have no protection against scammers if you don't pay by credit card. Plenty of scams where fantasy apartment owners request payment by bank or other currency transfer.

Can 'Chargeback' protection not do the job if it's a debit card?

InsideInsurance

Are they aware its a EU account its going into? Most banks, which ive banked with anyway, charge less for EU then ROW - £15 is still a pain to pay but not as bad as £25 at least.

There are most likely third parties that charge less (factoring fees and exchange rates) though for a relatively small sum the difference in exchange rates are not as sensitive

Sunshine_and_Roses

Santander told me that it was £25, no other option at all. I will give Transferwise a go now, and see how that works. Will pay by credit card to be on the safe side.

Thanks for all your help

grumbler

I don't think you can use a CC for Transferwise. Even if this were possible, most likely it would be a cash advance with all the consequences.

And even if you paid by a CC (to Trasferwise) you wouldn't get any "protection against scammers".

Sunshine_and_Roses

Have done it by transferwise, fingers crossed!!

Archi_Bald

kris1985 wrote: »

I would recommend going with someone trusted. I would recommend First Rate FX or HI FX.

How would you define "someone trusted"?

The two you mention there are always amongst the most expensive, btw. Transferwise is always amongst the cheapest.

Both your recommendations force people to sign up before they even give you an approximate rate. There is absolutely no need for a service to know my name and address before they can tell me what today's cost of sending some money is.

henm2

clareski wrote: »

Santander told me that it was £25, no other option at all. I will give Transferwise a go now, and see how that works. Will pay by credit card to be on the safe side.

Thanks for all your help

If you do a payment bank account to bank account to Europe online it usually costs £15 with most banks except for HSBC where it is just £4
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/international-money-transfer/details

colsten

henm2 wrote: »

If you do a payment bank account to bank account to Europe online it usually costs £15 with most banks except for HSBC where it is just £4
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/international-money-transfer/details

All will use different exchange rates, so even one with a £4 charge might be more expensive than the one which charges £15.