Sending Money to Germany to pay a bill

expat_jo

Hi


I am not sure where to post this, so apologies if it's in the wrong place.


I need to send 10 EUROS to a Standesamt (Record Office) in Germany. I have the bank details and wondered what the cheapest way to do it is.


My mother lives in Spain. Would it be cheaper for her to do it?


Many thanks for any advice.

badger09

expat_jo wrote: »

Hi


I am not sure where to post this, so apologies if it's in the wrong place.


I need to send 10 EUROS to a Standesamt (Record Office) in Germany. I have the bank details and wondered what the cheapest way to do it is.


My mother lives in Spain. Would it be cheaper for her to do it?


Many thanks for any advice.

I would think so, as there would be no currency exchange involved.

Nebulous2

If your mother does it from her account in the eurozone using the iban number the cost should be minimal.

Last time I looked from the UK the process and cost was ridiculous. I had to pay about 60 euros as a deposit for a gite and in the end I put the cash in an envelope and posted it rather than pay the charges.

expat_jo

Thanks for your help. I'll see if she can do it then.

The_weedie

Transfer wise. Can't recommend them highly enough. Have used them for years with no problems what so ever.

https://transferwise.com

It'll cost £9.67 to transfer €10.

eDicky

Your mother can send a SEPA payment in euros without fees. Make sure a reference is included to identify your payment.

lildoonbuggy

YESTERDAY 8:21 PM
The weedie Transfer wise. Can't recommend them highly enough. Have used them for years with no problems what so ever.

It'll cost £9.67 to transfer €10.

TransferWise might not be ideal for this given its a Standesamt so you will presumably need to include reference numbers and TransferWise will require their email address etc. As an aside Germany and in particular German authorities are very conservative so I could see this going really wrong and the payment getting lost in the system.

My advice, go with your mum or, if you have a travel credit card and speak German, ask to pay via credit card if your mum isn't in a position to do it. For the long term however, I'm assuming you have some ties to the local authority so will need a better solution going forward.

If helpful, you can have your British address registered with the Standesamt and they send bills/post to me in the UK for free. It may be worth looking to do that, or at least starting a dialogue with them. They tend to be helpful as long as you are open. You can also set up a free ING-DiBa online account with zero hassle, after which you will be able to use TransferWise to top it up. The benefits to that are you can take cash out at Sparkasse, set up DDs and receive payments for any property/investments if required. If you are not living in Germany, just make sure you do your Abmeldung. You will continue to have ties there regardless but then won't be chased by the TV licensing etc.