Student Year Abroad

Bernice50

Hi Everyone!

Would appreciate advice as Student is going off to study in Germany for a year and has place confirmed for intensive language course in Sept. but must pay the 300 euros now...not a problem but according to the website she must pay a further £25.00 for paying online??? Anyone had this experience? Have told daughter she should visit her bank and request they do the transfer as I feel £25.00 is too steep a conversion rate for 300 euros...Appreciate any advice ASAP!

agrinnall

Use an online money transfer service such as Transferwise (there are others but that seems to be suggested more often) to get a decent exchange rate and fees that are lower than most, if not all, banks.

Before you do though, could I suggest that you post the website so that we can take a look at it as the whole thing sounds slightly dubious to me.

Bernice50

Thanks agrinall! Will inform my daughter and hopefully we can post website request.

bouncydog1

If you have a halifax clarity card you may be able to use that to pay the bill and get the best exchange rate.

Bernice50

Too late - daughter went into Santander and even with her account with them was charged £25.00 conversion rate...........

agrinnall

Lesson learned, although whether she'll take heed of it is another matter...

Maggie

Can I change the subject slightly please? My son will be doing 6 months at UC in Dublin from January. We are struggling to work out how the banking will work. He banks with Santander who don't have branches in Ireland. They tried to be helpful but suggested that he has a cash card and tops it up as Euro withdrawals on his current account will be expensive. This seems extreme and how will he deal with rent etc. We have also asked at TSB, Lloyd's HSBC( world's favourite bank?) but none can offer him a Euro account. He has looked on line and is wondering about an Irish account for six months but can't work out whether this is a good idea and how he would do it.
Haven't even thought about his mobile yet!
How have other's managed when studying abroad please? Any tips gratefully received

Voyager2002

Maggie wrote: »

Can I change the subject slightly please? My son will be doing 6 months at UC in Dublin from January. We are struggling to work out how the banking will work. He banks with Santander who don't have branches in Ireland. They tried to be helpful but suggested that he has a cash card and tops it up as Euro withdrawals on his current account will be expensive. This seems extreme and how will he deal with rent etc. We have also asked at TSB, Lloyd's HSBC( world's favourite bank?) but none can offer him a Euro account. He has looked on line and is wondering about an Irish account for six months but can't work out whether this is a good idea and how he would do it.
Haven't even thought about his mobile yet!
How have other's managed when studying abroad please? Any tips gratefully received

There are several banks that offer fee-free Euro cash withdrawals: Metro Bank, N and P, Cumberland Building Society...

Bernice50

Hi Maggie!
My daughter has been informed she MUST open a German Bank account -when she starts her year abroad - she will do this once she is there. She has tried to transfer her student account (Santander) and they have said they cannot do this. ?Prepaid cards - have no experience how they work!

agrinnall

Who is saying she MUST open a German account? If it's where she is studying, I repeat my suggestion that you post a link to them because it's now sounding even dodgier than it did before.

Maggie

Hi All,
We have done a bit more digging, I think the reason is that the Erasmus grant may need to be paid in the country that the student is visiting, hence the need for a German/Irish bank account. It appears they can do it more or less as they arrive. Bit tempted to do to get him to do a day trip during the Christmas break. (Both our local airports fly to Dublin)
I'm told that Daily Telegraph has a money transfer link as well, which might be cheaper than the banks but I need to read up on it.
Bernice - there is a helpful thread on student travel insurance for a year abroad on Mumsnet, if I am allowed to mention it! One poster has just completed a year in Germany- hence my pointing you to it.
Interesting that Santander , which seemed the best buy for student banking last year isn't able to help either of our travelers! However Lloyd's, TSB, or HSBC weren't able to help either. Having said that none of the branches we tried were branches on campuses.
Martin has a good thread on prepaid cards on the main site. I have had one for holidays in the past- but you need to be careful how you use it. It was fine for payments but not very good for cash withdrawals.