Current Account advice needed...

BimalP

Hi!

I am looking for some information or advice from people out there about dual currency account.

Basically my situation is that I live and work abroad (in Asia) and have recently agreed a new job where my salary will be paid in Euros in Net and the company takes care of all the tax implications.

I am also able to be paid into a UK bank account (which I would prefer) and have an agreement in place for the exchange rate (for Euros) that will be used. I can of course ask for the payment to be made in GBP, but I feel I have better control on the exchange rate if it were kept in Euros and transferred later to GBP at the time of my choosing. The company will not fix the exchange rate in GBP due to some various reasons which I can agree with them on.

I would like to find an account in the UK which is a Euro account and accessible over the internet where i can get my salary paid into. My wish would be to let this money stay in Euros and when he exchange rate is favourable then to transfer over to GBP.

I have checked with hsbc, citibank.co.uk and those types of accounts with this require a minimum balance before you are able to open it. That minimum balance ranges anything between GBP 50k to 75k and I am not willing to pull my savings to secure a euro account with those banks. Therefore I would like to know if there is any accounts without minimum balance requirement.

Thanks in advance.

mapk

Lloyds International might be worth checking out, offshore banking, not UK-based though. According to your location, accounts are held in Gibraltar or the Isle of Man as I recall. £STG, USD, and Euro holdings which may satisfy your needs.