Fineco Bank multicurrencies account

stphnstevey

Highland76 wrote: »

I've no idea about Revolut but Transferwise is widely regarded as offering the best forex rates in the UK, ie very close to the interbank rate. From my own experience Fineco beats Transferwise's rates (not by much though) but unlike Transferwise, doesn't charge any fees.

Whilst its true Fineco doesn't have any UK FSCS protection, you can minimize the risk of losing your money by simply converting & transferring to UK any incoming funds almost immediately, ie don't keep any large amounts for more than a day or two.

If you have limited your world to thinking TransferWise is the cheapest, then yes, FINECO is cheaper

But if you did some research, you would find Revolut is even cheaper

Marchitiello

Regarding FSCS protection;

Fineco like all other European banks operate under the equivalent EU protection of €100,000, and actually the FSCS protection follow the EU directive, which resulted in the increase to £85,000 when the GBP weakened against the Euro...

So no need to move funds or be excessively worried, at least until a no deal Brexit 😱

Highland76

stphnstevey wrote: »

If you have limited your world to thinking TransferWise is the cheapest, then yes, FINECO is cheaper

But if you did some research, you would find Revolut is even cheaper

You're comparing apples v oranges. Revolut don't support incoming foreign payments in currencies other than GBP/EUR so for many, Revolut isn't an option. Whereas the likes of Transferwisre and Fineco accounts can receive (as well as send) forex payments in multiple currencies. So the Revolut forex rates mean diddly squat if you can't receive USD...

stphnstevey

Highland76 wrote: »

You're comparing apples v oranges. Revolut don't support incoming foreign payments in currencies other than GBP/EUR so for many, Revolut isn't an option. Whereas the likes of Transferwisre and Fineco accounts can receive (as well as send) forex payments in multiple currencies. So the Revolut forex rates mean diddly squat if you can't receive USD...

WRONG! (again...)
Revolut does except incoming transfers in USD and 23 other currencies

colsten

Marchitiello wrote: »

Fineco like all other European banks operate under the equivalent EU protection of €100,000, and actually the FSCS protection follow the EU directive

Yes I know that. I also know, from my own experience, that it is difficult enough to actually get your money back through FSCS. I would not fancy putting a claim to a scheme whose operating language I do not speak.

KTF

When the icelandic banks (Icesave, etc) failed, all my money was returned automatically after a few days. I didn't have to contact anyone.

colsten

KTF wrote: »

When the icelandic banks (Icesave, etc) failed, all my money was returned automatically after a few days. I didn't have to contact anyone.

I also had money in Icesave. It all got returned, eventually, but certainly not "after a few days". It also wasn't returned under the Icelandic financial compensation scheme, as the Icelandic Government had decided that compensation would only paid to Icelandic citizens. We got our money back because Alistair Darling decided it would be in the Labour Party's interest to dig into the public coffers and pay all private savers the full amount. It was anything but straight forward or fast. Many people also had issues with UK banks who initially wouldn't accept ISA money to go into new ISAs. Various UK Governments pursued Iceland for the return of the money, and IIRC, it took almost 10 years for the Treasury to actually get all the money back into UK Government coffers.

My personal view is that no Government would now repeat such an action because by now, every last person should have heard about FSCS. It is now down to people's personal responsibility to ensure they have the cover they feel comfortable with. If you are comfortable with a non-UK scheme, that's fine. I am not, and I know plenty of others who also are not.

Marchitiello

colsten wrote: »

I also had money in Icesave. It all got returned, eventually, but certainly not "after a few days". It also wasn't returned under the Icelandic financial compensation scheme, as the Icelandic Government had decided that compensation would only paid to Icelandic citizens. We got our money back because Alistair Darling decided it would be in the Labour Party's interest to dig into the public coffers and pay all private savers the full amount. It was anything but straight forward or fast. Many people also had issues with UK banks who initially wouldn't accept ISA money to go into new ISAs. Various UK Governments pursued Iceland for the return of the money, and IIRC, it took almost 10 years for the Treasury to actually get all the money back into UK Government coffers.

My personal view is that no Government would now repeat such an action because by now, every last person should have heard about FSCS. It is now down to people's personal responsibility to ensure they have the cover they feel comfortable with. If you are comfortable with a non-UK scheme, that's fine. I am not, and I know plenty of others who also are not.

Iceland is not and was not part of the EU albeit is indeed heavily linked to the EU.

If the FSCS compliance did not meet the EU directive, under current condition you would have to recourse to the intervention of the EU court funnily enough.. and it was this approach that resulted to the increase to £85,000 limit...

The scheme will operate in the same way in each and every country, legislated by the EU so the language barrier you are worried about should not be a problem (I do not speak French or German but I am perfectly comfortable with my deposits in those countries).

In any case it would be better to be complete in any advice against a challenger bank that it is covered under the EU equivalent scheme as the FCSC but would perhaps need a claim in the home country of the bank.

This is al academic however if we leave the EU without a deal...

Pigrissimo

Hi, I am a UK citizen, I have a house in Italy, but I am not an italian resident. I have a Unicredit bank account (specifically for non-residents). I want to ditch Unicredit and avoid its nasty account/card fees and per-transaction costs, and the anual Italian govt taxes for having the account.

The fineco multi currency account sounds promising, but I have 2 questions:

1. Can I set up direct debits to Italian utilities companies (water, electricity etc).

2. Can I pay my italian taxes (IMU, TARI) by F24 semplificato, via the fineco app/online banking?

I saw earlier in the thread that someone said you cant do direct debits. I also have seen on fineco's italian help pages that they do support online F24 payments. I suspect therefore that I may need a fineco Italian (rather than UK) account in order to meet these 2 objectives. If that IS the case, then I have a follow-up question:

3. Can I open an Italian fineco account as a UK citizen, non-resident in Italy?

TIA for any help

KTF

Best to call them and ask.