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please advise best bank a/c for working in Republic of Ireland and living in Northern Ireland

JMU-95
Posts: 189 Forumite


Evening folks, i'm seeking advice on behalf of a friend of mine. She is a UK citizen working in the Republic of Ireland and is paid in EUROS.
She lives in Northern Ireland (UK).
She's currently with Starling who offer a sterling and euro account with one card, but she is getting stung big time with foreign transaction fees when she transfers money from the euro part of her account to the sterling part. case in point she transferred €200 euro recently to the sterling side of her Starling card and was charged €35
What would be her best option in terms of minimising charges? Any better bank accounts?
She lives in Northern Ireland (UK).
She's currently with Starling who offer a sterling and euro account with one card, but she is getting stung big time with foreign transaction fees when she transfers money from the euro part of her account to the sterling part. case in point she transferred €200 euro recently to the sterling side of her Starling card and was charged €35
What would be her best option in terms of minimising charges? Any better bank accounts?
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Danske Cash Reward account is for N/Ireland residents and pays £5 cash reward each month (minimum monthly pay-in required.) I haven't got a clue about foreign transaction charges.I work within the voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people to rebuild their lives.
I love my job0 -
Willing2Learn wrote: »Danske Cash Reward account is for N/Ireland residents and pays £5 cash reward each month (minimum monthly pay-in required.) I haven't got a clue about foreign transaction charges.
A second rate Danish bank is going to help with cross-border/cross-currency Irish banking?!
Did one of your clients must drop something in your cuppaThis is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Evening folks, i'm seeking advice on behalf of a friend of mine. She is a UK citizen working in the Republic of Ireland and is paid in EUROS.
She lives in Northern Ireland (UK).
She's currently with Starling who offer a sterling and euro account with one card, but she is getting stung big time with foreign transaction fees when she transfers money from the euro part of her account to the sterling part. case in point she transferred €200 euro recently to the sterling side of her Starling card and was charged €35
What would be her best option in terms of minimising charges? Any better bank accounts?
Revolut would be another option for up to 5k per month.
Are you sure she got charged €35 for converting €200 by Starling?! It should have been less than a euro.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/starling-bank-euro-account-now-available-to-all-starling-current-account-customers-hold-send-and-receive-euros-for-free-3244891
All Starling current account customers can now set up a Euro bank account in the app, some of the main benefits below
No fees - It’s free to hold, send and receive euros with Starling, and there are no monthly fees.
Switch between your pound and euro accounts and convert currency between them all in one app. Currency conversion is free until 1st September 2019 where a 0.4% fee will be added.
Maybe HSBC sterling and euro would be better?
https://transferwise.com/gb/blog/how-to-open-hsbc-euro-bank-account0 -
case in point she transferred €200 euro recently to the sterling side of her Starling card and was charged €35
If that happened it's completely out of line with the advertised charge. I would suggest you go back and recheck what the charge actually was.With just a tap, convert between pounds and euros in your personal account, at the real exchange rate. All we’ll add to the conversion is a 0.4% fee
0.4% of €200 is €0.80, not even €1...====0 -
This must be difficult for her considering the current exchange rate between the pound and the euro and the fact that she probably has to meet all of her day to day living expenses in pounds.0
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This must be difficult for her considering the current exchange rate between the pound and the euro and the fact that she probably has to meet all of her day to day living expenses in pounds.
Other way up. She’s like me, working in the Irish republic and living in NI, and is profiting from all this brexit nonsense.
I’m a revolut fan, but rarely use it, as two bank accounts seems to be the better solution, one in each state. Large transfers a couple of times a year are quite cheap.“What means that trump?” Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare0 -
This must be difficult for her considering the current exchange rate between the pound and the euro and the fact that she probably has to meet all of her day to day living expenses in pounds.
Salaries are usually much higher in the RoI compared with NI, so she probably wiil not be worst off. Also prices in NI are cheaper than in RoI for most things.0 -
It'd probably be easier to have separate EUR and GBP accounts with RoI and NI banks respectively, and then transfer money between them as and when required - maybe use Transferwise or Revolut for this. I'd also recommend investigating the Starling fees, as they definitely shouldn't be that high!0
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Mistral001 wrote: »Salaries are usually much higher in the RoI compared with NI, so she probably wiil not be worst off. Also prices in NI are cheaper than in RoI for most things.
Almost all my income these days is in euro. About the only thing I buy in the Irish republic is diesel, which is about 10% cheaper than NI.
I nearly always use my AIB account when I’m down south.
You’re right about the salaries, but the income tax is wild. You don’t have to be doing all that well before they take half your salary. As a contractor effectively, I make all my payments to qwert yuiop ltd. (me). Huge difference.“What means that trump?” Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare0
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