Best FX Euro to Stirling

mn2203

Hi
I need to be paid €9k to my sterling bank account.
I know banks don't give the best exchange rate - can anyone suggest a good way to do this with the least charges/ best rates?
Thanks

eDicky

Instead of bank to bank transfer a much cheaper service such as TransferWise can be used, but this needs to be initiated by the party sending the funds, whoever they are. Are they willing and able to do so?

benjus

...and if they can't do as eDicky suggests, it would probably be worth your while opening a Euro account to receive it, then you can manage the conversion to Sterling yourself. Unless this transfer needs to be made quickly, in which case you probably don't have time to open a new account.

mn2203

Thanks eDicky - yes they're happy to send me the money but aren't that keen on doing things online, but I know if they do it via their bank I won't get as much sterling as other methods. I'd heard of Transferwise but wasn't sure if it was the best/ safest etc.

Voyager2002

Transferwise is not necessarily the best, but one of a bunch that offer good service. With all of them, the person with Euro would need to sign up and do a few things on-line, so that may not be an option. So it might be worth your while to open a Euro account (there is a German bank that offers this to people in the UK: details are posted on this branch from time to time), and this would be well worth doing if you expect to receive Euro payments in future.

benjus

Voyager2002 wrote: »

there is a German bank that offers this to people in the UK: details are posted on this branch from time to time

Last thing I heard they had restricted applications to Germany, Austria and Switzerland only, but I may be wrong...

eDicky

benjus wrote: »

Last thing I heard they had restricted applications to Germany, Austria and Switzerland only, but I may be wrong...

Yes, that's DKB Bank. But somebody recently described how they opened an account with Comdirect Bank using a UK address in a thread on the banking board. I think they submitted the paperwork personally at a German post office.

So in the OP's case, a euro account with an Irish bank could suit better, opened online without going there, to receive the euros then transfer to their UK account using TransferWise or Revolut.