Euro Bank Account

kayles94

Hello, I am moving to Rhodes for a few months in a couple of weeks. I have a job over there and I will be getting paid in Euros. I currently bank with YB but I am guessing it will be very costly to use my card over there as well as to convert the euros into pounds. I will be getting paid around 1300 euros altogether for the months I am there. Any idea where I can open a bank account? Is it even worth opening a bank account for 3 months?

eDicky

How will you be paid? Cash would be simplest...

kayles94

No it has to go into a bank account

eDicky

kayles94 wrote: »

No it has to go into a bank account

Then perhaps your employer can help you open a bank account locally. If you expect to have such employment again in future you could open a euro account in UK, with HSBC for example, or with Credit Agricole Britline in France - but as you say, it may not be worth it for the one occasion. Your pay will be diminished by fees and bad exchange rate in having it sent to your YB account, but at least you will get more pounds for your euros since Brexit.

If you use a smartphone, Revolut may be useful, also to use its MasterCard fee free while you are there initially, but funds can be loaded to it only from your own bank account (or another Revolut user)'

KitKetchem

This is a bit of a convoluted way of doing it, but a) it's reasonably quick to set up from your smartphone; b) you can set it up easily before you leave the UK; and c) it's the cheapest way I can think of.

First step - download Pay With Fire. It's an app that creates two payment accounts - one in Sterling, the other in Euros. The Sterling account comes with a sort code and account number, the Euro account comes with an IBAN from Ireland (as Fire are based in Dublin).

Their website explains it a bit better, Google "Pay With Fire" and it's the first link.

(This is a new account and I can't post links - forgot my old login.)

You'll need some form of ID (passport, driving licence, etc) to scan in to comply with anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer rules. Open an account and upgrade it to a full account - once your ID is approved (it takes about a day, maybe a couple if you do it at the weekend/if they're busy) you'll be able to open a Euro account along with the Sterling one you're given when you open it.

(Opening a Fire account is free and there are no monthly charges.)

Once your account is open, you'll need to set up your YB account as a withdrawal account. On the Fire home screen, once you've logged in, select Withdraw and then Add A Withdrawal Account; you can then put your YB account details in.

Second step - get the Revolut card. It's free and you can do it in the app. Make sure you submit your ID so you can remove the £750/year limit on spending and withdrawals.

Then, what you do is this:

- When you start your job, give your boss the Fire Euro IBAN account number (the big long number starting with IE32CPAY) just as you would give them your account number and sort code to an employer here in the UK. They shouldn't need the BIC, but if they do, it's CPAYIE2D.

- When you get paid your salary into your Fire Euro account, you can convert it into Sterling in the app. There is a transaction charge of 1.25% but it uses the interchange rate - it's these conversions that pay for the service, so it's understandable from my POV.

- Once it's been converted into Sterling, withdraw it to your YB account. Fire do it by Faster Payments so it should be in your account within 2 hours.

- Once the money has hit your YB account, go into the Revolut app and load it up using your debit card; it's instant, so it'll be ready to spend straight away.

- You can convert as much as you like into Euros, you don't have to convert the lot in one go. Once it's in Euros, go ahead and spend - Revolut don't charge transaction fees and so long as you withdraw less than £500, ATM withdrawals are free as well.

Like I said, convoluted and a bit of a pain - BUT much, much more cost effective, and much less hassle, than setting up a Euro current account with another bank, whether in the UK or in Rhodes.

Have fun!