Euro account

g4jnw

I thought that this would be simple but can't find the solution on the net.
I travel to the euro zone twice a year and always use a caxton card and pre load it, which up to now has worked fine.

Myself and my wife are hoping to retire abroad in a couple of years so we were hoping to ditch the card and open a savings account, if possible with an ATM card and internet banking so we could transfer small amounts monthly and hopefully build up some euro savings.

I bank with Santander and have contacted them and they don't offer anything, i also bank with nationwide and they don't either (have emailed them) I have emailed quite a few banks and some even want deposits of up to £50k

Yet i can open a savings account in the UK with £1 to use in the UK.

Im sure loads of people have gone through this before, has anyone found the answer?

colsten

Why would you want to have savings in Euros? The interest rates in Euroland are even lower than they are in the UK.

For current accounts, you could search the forum, and would find threads like this one https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5155617

g4jnw

colsten wrote: »

Why would you want to have savings in Euros? The interest rates in Euroland are even lower than they are in the UK.

For current accounts, you could search the forum, and would find threads like this one https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5155617

Thanks will look at your link.

I usually transfer to my caxton card when the exchange is better so would probably do mostly the same but its about building savings up.

Have just transferred some on to my caxton card as the exchange is good.

As we are hoping to retire there then it makes sense having a UK account then transferring as and when, the problem isn't the exchange rate its the account.

g4jnw

Tried online application using google translate for DKB and got an answer but not very good!

Sorry, we could not match your desire for a DKB Cash in our automatic decision. The necessary conditions for a DKB-Cash are not available according to your specifications.

Please note that we are opening accounts for customers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

yorkie3

HSBC offer Euro accounts for your kind of situation.

g4jnw

yorkie3 wrote: »

HSBC offer Euro accounts for your kind of situation.

Already looked at HSBC there savings accounts seem ok until you read the t&cs minimum deposit £5000 and no debit card, account is run online, i need to be able to withdraw money while abroad ideally by debit card or the worst by going into the bank.

ordinary expat account for new customers that provide a debit card have a minimum of £60,000

SliAbhaile

The next time you are in a tourist spot in France, for example, pop into any bank and tell them you are looking at properties in the area and need a local account to manage it.

Any tourist area will be well used to these types of customers and will be able to process your application in minutes, they'll probably have a dedicated English-speaking member of staff to help.

The downside is running a current account, and debit/credit card in France will cost you about EUR €60 per annum.

Then open an account with an online FX dealer, such as http://www.currencyfair.com, and enter both your French account's and UK account's details. You will be able to make low commission FX trades between both accounts at a simple click.

You are correct in saying there is no simple solution in the UK, I've looked and looked.

g4jnw

SliAbhaile wrote: »

The next time you are in a tourist spot in France, for example, pop into any bank and tell them you are looking at properties in the area and need a local account to manage it.

Any tourist area will be well used to these types of customers and will be able to process your application in minutes, they'll probably have a dedicated English-speaking member of staff to help.

The downside is running a current account, and debit/credit card in France will cost you about EUR €60 per annum.

Then open an account with an online FX dealer, such as http://www.currencyfair.com, and enter both your French account's and UK account's details. You will be able to make low commission FX trades between both accounts at a simple click.

You are correct in saying there is no simple solution in the UK, I've looked and looked.

Thanks yes I know about FX type accounts and how they operate, I am over in Malta next month so I will call in to a bank there as there are a few banks, have emailed several in the hope i can set one up before i go but with no luck.

colsten

OP, here is an article about savings in Euros that you might find of interest: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/11356767/Expat-rates-not-the-time-to-switch-savings-to-euro-account.html


As to currency exchange services: don't just blindly use one. Use a comparison sit such as https://www.fxcompared.com/ to find the best deal for a given sum of money on a given date.

g4jnw

colsten wrote: »

OP, here is an article about savings in Euros that you might find of interest: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/11356767/Expat-rates-not-the-time-to-switch-savings-to-euro-account.html


As to currency exchange services: don't just blindly use one. Use a comparison sit such as https://www.fxcompared.com/ to find the best deal for a given sum of money on a given date.

Read the piece in the telegraph, the amount of money i use or save makes pennies so its hardly worth worrying about it, as i said earlier its more about the convenience of having an account in euro's and moving money when the euro exchange rate is good, the fx companies i know about and give better rates than my caxton card, i'll not have the amount of money to transfer that some want until we sell our house.
Its up for sale at the moment BUT don't think it will sell quickly, we will more than likely keep most of the money in the UK then and transfer as and when we need it, when we move, making the best out of exchange rates.

colsten

g4jnw wrote: »

the fx companies i know about and give better rates than my caxton card, i'll not have the amount of money to transfer that some want until we sell our house.

Ignore those that need to to xfer big amounts. There are plenty of companies that let you transfer quite small amounts.

In fact, the ones that expect you to transfer tens or hundreds of thousands are in my experience the least competitive. And none of any of the currency transfer firms actually gives you any protection, so transferring huge sums in a single transaction is highly risky and I would never use a currency transfer service for individual transfers of more than £5K - £10K at a time. I'd spread my transfers over a number of days, or bite the bullet and pay the bank charges if a large sum must be transferred on a single day. Whichever - I would definitely have (and do have) at least one Euro current account alongside my UK current account(s).