Best bank account for euros

chattykathyblue

I am about to inherit some money (£10K +) from my dad who lived in Ireland. Is there a bank account I could open from the UK in order to avoid currency conversion fees?

I currently have a Santander 123 account so have looked at their Gold account but that charges a fee to transfer euros to sterling.

Thanks in advance

eDicky

Avoid letting any 'mainstream' bank do the conversion, unless you can negotiate a preferential rate.

You can open a euro account at an RoI bank with your UK address and tax ID, the most popular is KBC Ireland, search this board for threads with details. Then you can convert and send the funds at leisure.

greyteam1959

Why not get your Dad to send the money using Transferwise ??
Sending 10 000 Euro to a UK GBP bank account would cost him around 33.50 euro.
You certainly don't need to open a euro bank account

colsten

Have a look at the Transferwise Borderless account, or at Revolut.

Both give you near perfect exchange rates, and have very low fees. Revolut is more restrictive on transaction limits than Transferwise.

PRAISETHESUN

I can second Transferwise and Revolut for foreign exchanges. I have used both in the past and found them very easy to use and offered competitive rates. I would avoid letting any of the high street banks do the conversions for you as they'll either charge a fee, or offer a "fee-free" transfer with a very poor exchange rate

eDicky

greyteam1959 wrote: »

Why not get your Dad to send the money using Transferwise ??
Sending 10 000 Euro to a UK GBP bank account would cost him around 33.50 euro.
You certainly don't need to open a euro bank account

I agree, opening a euro bank account for that amount one time is not necessary, disregard my previous suggestion and look at TransferWise and Revolut. For some reason I read it as a much larger amount such as property inheritance, must have been before having a coffee this morning..!

chattykathyblue

greyteam1959 wrote: »

Why not get your Dad to send the money using Transferwise ??
Sending 10 000 Euro to a UK GBP bank account would cost him around 33.50 euro.
You certainly don't need to open a euro bank account

I am inheriting from my dad so it will be a solicitor that will be sending me the money! I'll ask them if they can use Transferwise but I think thy might want a bank account they can transfer the money to.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions

eDicky

chattykathyblue wrote: »

I am inheriting from my dad so it will be a solicitor that will be sending me the money! I'll ask them if they can use Transferwise but I think thy might want a bank account they can transfer the money to.

Although not a 'real' bank, if you open a TransferWise Borderless account it will include a euro account in your name with IBAN. The same with Revolut, although I would stick to TransferWise as communication over source of funds verification is probably easier.

If the solicitor checks and rejects the IBAN you can revert to my original suggestion.

colsten

It takes but a few minutes to open a Transferwise Borderless account. Just do it.

They ask for ID verification at random times. To avoid any delays in transferring your money, I would suggest you verify your ID immediately after opening the account, if they haven't asked for ID anyway. It's a relatively painless process but it can take some time for them to confirm you are verified.

The_weedie

Add me to the transferwise. It’s great.

greyteam1959

chattykathyblue wrote: »

I am inheriting from my dad so it will be a solicitor that will be sending me the money! I'll ask them if they can use Transferwise but I think thy might want a bank account they can transfer the money to.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions

Knowing what solicitors can be like they will probably take the difficult route & issue a Euro cheque !!!