Euro account?

Batto

Hi, I'm new here so be gentle 

I'm a UK Distributor currently being paid (from Spain) into my UK Barclays account who convert to sterling, I don't know exactly what exchange rate or fee's I'm paying but I'm sure there's better options out there, my question is - is there anyone in a similar position and what's your advice? 

As far as I can tell my options are - 
Open a new account with Monzo / Starling and keep the payments in Euros until I need to convert
Open an account in another country - I'm sure this has many more considerations that I'm not aware of!

eDicky

Batto said:

Open a new account with Monzo / Starling and keep the payments in Euros until I need to convert

Starling Bank is useful for this, not Monzo. There's also Fineco UK, Wise. Welcome to the forum.

Band7

It sounds you need a Business account. AFAIK, neither Fineco nor Wise are offering Business accounts in Euros. Starling do now. Another option might be Revolut, 

In any case, Wise and Revolut do not have UK banking licences and you get less deposit protection with them (not sure though what kind of protection your business would get with a bank, though). Revolut also has got a questionable CS record.

Futuristic

Band7 said:

It sounds you need a Business account. AFAIK, neither Fineco nor Wise are offering Business accounts in Euros. Starling do now. Another option might be Revolut, 

In any case, Wise and Revolut do not have UK banking licences and you get less deposit protection with them (not sure though what kind of protection your business would get with a bank, though). Revolut also has got a questionable CS record.

Wise do offer business accounts for a long time but yes not got FSCS. If you are converting back to GBP and then just sending it to your bank acc then any like Revolut/Wise will work. 

Starling business bank acc also has EUR option. So if you intend to hold and want protection that would be the best option. 

subjecttocontract

I'm familiar with Spain. All Spanish bank accounts charge fees, there is no free banking in Spain. 

adindas

Futuristic said:

Band7 said:

It sounds you need a Business account. AFAIK, neither Fineco nor Wise are offering Business accounts in Euros. Starling do now. Another option might be Revolut, 

In any case, Wise and Revolut do not have UK banking licences and you get less deposit protection with them (not sure though what kind of protection your business would get with a bank, though). Revolut also has got a questionable CS record.

Wise do offer business accounts for a long time but yes not got FSCS. If you are converting back to GBP and then just sending it to your bank acc then any like Revolut/Wise will work. 

Starling business bank acc also has EUR option. So if you intend to hold and want protection that would be the best option. 

Indeed WISE is offering international business account.

pecunianonolet

I use an HSBC € currency account and can use it to pay in € in cash at no fee in any branch, can receive and send payments in € with no fees. Other currencies have fees attached with HSBC. I think €, USD and other currencies are free with Barclays as they offer something similar but I don't bank with them. 

On top I have the free HSBC Global Money account, which can sadly only receive deposits from an internal HSBC account in my name like my current account for currencies except € or in my case the € currency account. It comes with debit card so I can pay with zero fees in the Euro zone or take cash for free. It also works for many other currencies.

Stood in front of a shop in Poland last week, moved funds from my current account to Global Money via app and converted to PLN. Walked into the store and paid in zl via card. No problems and transfer and conversion is instant. Exchange rate seems to be good.

Not sure if it works as a business account but maybe worth giving Barclays a call and find out as you already bank with them and HSBC might be an alternative.

greyteam1959

subjecttocontract said:

I'm familiar with Spain. All Spanish bank accounts charge fees, there is no free banking in Spain. 

Totally wrong information.
Cajamar Wefferent account is totally free to use in Spain.

gt94sss2

pecunianonolet said:

I use an HSBC € currency account and can use it to pay in € in cash at no fee in any branch, can receive and send payments in € with no fees. Other currencies have fees attached with HSBC. I think €, USD and other currencies are free with Barclays as they offer something similar but I don't bank with them. 

On top I have the free HSBC Global Money account, which can sadly only receive deposits from an internal HSBC account in my name like my current account for currencies except € or in my case the € currency account. It comes with debit card so I can pay with zero fees in the Euro zone or take cash for free. It also works for many other currencies.

Stood in front of a shop in Poland last week, moved funds from my current account to Global Money via app and converted to PLN. Walked into the store and paid in zl via card. No problems and transfer and conversion is instant. Exchange rate seems to be good.

Not sure if it works as a business account but maybe worth giving Barclays a call and find out as you already bank with them and HSBC might be an alternative.

HSBC Global Wallet is the business version of Global Money

https://www.business.hsbc.uk/en-gb/corporate/solutions/global-wallet

Marchitiello

In one of the business I am involved with we use Wise to receive payments in many currencies and have a dedicated Euro account. As others have said, it is not FSCS protected but we have been using it for 5 digits sums for many years now, and we immediately exchange and transfer the money to our regular UK Bank GBP account, so do not let it sit there unless we in turn need to pay a supplier in the same currency which we then also do. 

Wise still charges fees but between the good rate and lower fees we have been saying loads of money compared to when we did payments directly into or from our UK GBP bank account.