Banking problem

Ro2124

Got a bit of a dilemma and would welcome some suggestions. Basically I have an account in a Czech bank in Pound Sterling and have a monthly amount going into it every month from UK. I do not have a UK account anymore because I left the country and you cannot open an account in pounds unless a UK resident.
As transfer is in pounds and to a pound account, I imagined the full amount would be credited each time, but when I looked at the payment details I see that Czech crowns are mentioned, so it appears they are are charging a conversion fee each time, which has lost me a considerable amount of money over time and is pretty bloody irritating.

Of course the bank never mentioned that when opened the account, not the first time I have been duped by banks by giving less than forthright information. Anyway I consider that a rip-off so I want to close the account,but it's not easy finding a pound account as I am not living in UK, but Germany at present.
Well future payments have been taken care of, I have now opened a GBP account with one of the online only Banks based in UK, which seem to be far more flexible and upfront about their costs and been assured that in future all GBP payments received will be in full- so that was one problem solved. However the other problem is I have a considerable amount of Pounds in the CZ account and if I close it and transfer the amount, they will probably use the CZ conversion rate again and looking at the the present rate of the pound which is sinking like the bloody Titanic, I would lose a considerable amount of money so trying to find a way around that, also really want to keep the amount in pounds for now, hoping once this Brexit shambles is solved the pound may rise again - any ideas would be welcome.

eDicky

Ro2124 wrote: »

I have now opened a GBP account with one of the online only Banks based in UK, which seem to be far more flexible and upfront about their costs and been assured that in future all GBP payments received will be in full- so that was one problem solved.

Which bank?

Most of them should be able to receive GBP from your Czech account, from which you should be able to send directly in GBP. Have you tried, a small amount first?

Have you looked at Revolut, and TransferWise Borderless account..? Both are available with your German address.

jonesMUFCforever

How are you sending funds into the account if you no longer hold a uk bank account?

sal_III

Sounds like you need to ask around on Czech forums, as the issue with the conversion seems to be stemming from your Czech bank. I doubt you can get the best answer here.

Looks like you are moving between countries a lot, have you considered the likes of Transferwise borderless to limit losses due to currency conversion in the future?

sal_III

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

How are you sending funds into the account if you no longer hold a uk bank account?

have a monthly amount going into it every month from UK

OP never said (s)he is the one sending the money. Likely payment from a friend/relative or rent from a property or payment for work done remotely or any other source.

Flobberchops

Who is the person or company in the UK sending you money? They may be the ones at fault here if they're sending the wrong currency, for example in the well intended but mistaken belief that you have a Czech currency account.

Ro2124

In answer to some of the questions and to clarify some things.


Re suggesting Transferwise, that's in fact the GBP account I opened from Germany and at least partly UK funds (the amount currently going into the CZ bank) will be going into Transferwise borderless account in future. Other payments from UK account are currently going into German account with N26 and Santander and are paid in euros after conversion. And yes of course I did consider moving all the GBP in the Czech account to Transferwise but first I have to be sure about this conversion rate stuff, otherwise would lose a considerable chunk of cash with the pound in it's dismal state at present.
Another thing which made me think twice about sending large amount is the fact that outfits like Transferwise do not have a UK deposit protection scheme as the major banks usually have. Although apparently they have a ring fenced account controlled by the FCA, shall have to look into that a bit more more.Guess sending small amount first to see how it pans out, as eDicky suggested looks like good idea.


So far quite happy with N26 and Transferwise they are easy to sign up to and seem fairly efficient and less charges and are more upfront about them.



Unlike some I could mention like Santander, have an account with them ,although might transfer the lot to N26. When I signed up with Santander they made a big deal about a free account, which turned out to be not quite as free as they tried to make out.
I gave give them all my details, including the regular payments amounts which would be going in every month.Double checked with them it would be a free account yes they said. Yeah right... a few weeks later I had charges for €20 and I said what the hell is this? Well you have to put a minimum amount every month etc which of course they didn't mention before,so far as I'm concerned they blatantly lied ,especially as I already told them how much would be going in every month. Lesson learned -do not don't believe everything banks say, but check the smallprint before signing anything.


As to the question regarding about wrong currency being sent, yes that is a possibility,although I would have assumed it would go straight from pounds to pounds but if they're sending it in CZK that would obviously be a problem. I will have to check with them again. In fact come to think of it some government organisation , which in this case is the Ministry of Defence refuses to pay in GBP and always uses the local currency. But its always confusing, some do, some dont. Actually if I recall that particular department was sending it in GBP, have to double check with them again. But then again its academic really ,since as from next month it will go into the Transferwise account, just bit irritating all the money I've lost in the past, but my fault I should have addressed this sooner, although with all the travelling around gets a bit difficult at times.


Anyway I shall be more than happy to get rid of that CZ bank which is Raiffeisen, frankly one of the worst banks ever dealt. Caused me a lot of trouble in the past losing cheques, lousy customer service, giving me wrong information, etc At one stage I had to take them to the Czech Banking Ombudsman who unlike them, was very efficient and helpful and found in my favour, calling their behaviour unprofessional and they had to pay compensation and Ombudsman also arranged free banking for a year, which runs out early next year- hope to be rid of that bunch of clowns by then!