Starling Euro Bank - Advice Needed

Evilbush

Hello MSE Forum

I would like someone who has some knowledge/experience with European banking to provide me with some advice.

Let me first set out my circumstances:

• This autumn I am set to move from the UK to Germany for one year.
• Whilst in Germany I will be making payments in Euros and receiving money in Euros from within the Eurozone area. 
• I will also be receiving bank transfers from the UK with these transfers being denominated in Pounds Sterling.
• After my year in Germany, I will be moving to France for a year.
• I will continue to make payments in Euros, receive money in Euros, and receive bank transfers from the UK during this year in France.
• Throughout this two year period, I will on multiple occasions return to the UK for a period of anywhere between 2 weeks and a month, and so when in the UK I will be making payments in Pounds Sterling.

As a result, I am considering opening a Euro account with Starling bank. However, I am concerned and confused by their answer to the below FAQ on their website. I have copy and pasted it (because I am too new to send a link) below.

Are there any charges for euro/SEPA payments from/to my euro account?

"There should be no charges for any euro payments made from your euro account.
However, some banks may charge a fee for receiving payments that originate outside of the European Economic Area. As a result of Brexit, Starling is outside of the European Economic Area. You will need to contact the other bank directly if you wish to contest a fee.
Starling will not charge you to receive euros into your euro account."

Does this mean that there is the potential that I may be charged by another bank, for example, for making a payment in a supermarket? Would I be charged for making a bank transfer to a Eurozone bank account?

Please may someone explain further details of the nature of these possible charges and potential scenarios in which I may be charged by the bank in receipt of the payment. Currently, I really can't wrap my head around how this could be an issue when Starling maintain that they will not charge me for receiving or spending Euros.

Thanks!

TheBanker

I think it means if you make a bank transfer from the Starling account to another bank in the EU, the receiving bank may apply a charge, because EU banking regulations permit this (I believe they would not be allowed to charge for receiving a Euro payment from another EU bank).

Starling are warning you of the charge, but it's not their charge so they don't know which banks will apply it or how much it will be. 

Band7

To have a Starling account, you must be a UK resident. You would need to clarify with them that they still classify you as a UK resident, even if you spend significant time abroad.

I am surprised Starling don’t mention that the UK remains a member of SEPA, and therefore there should be no charges for receiving Euros. As they confirm, they won’t be charging you, but the bank sending you Euros might. If that happens - unlikely but not impossible - you’d be on your own chasing a refund.

You can lower your risk of getting charged by the bank sending you Euros by going with Wise. They will give you a Belgian IBAN (the Starling one is a GB IBAN) but Wise are not a bank, so you don’t get deposit protection. This may or may not be an issue for you. Wise will also give you a UK sort code and account number, and they don’t mind whether you are a UK resident or not. The bottom line exchange rates of Starling and Wise are much the same.

Other theoretical options are Revolut, HSBC Currency account combined with HSBC Global Money, or Fineco. I wouldn’t touch Revolut with a barge pole as they have a pretty dreadful reputation, getting worse rather than better (google them). They are also not currently a bank. HSBC is overly complicated but perhaps the least worst of these three. Fineco is the pet darling of some on this forum, and now on my absolute blacklist as they screwed me around with Euro receipts. They are also very slow and their CS is provided by Italians with dreadful English so unless you are fluent in Italian, you might run into a problem.

Finally, I wouldn’t rely on just one single source of money, particularly when away from home. At a minimum, have a good travel credit card (e.g. Halifax Clarity), and may be also both, a VISA and a Mastercard debit card alongside whatever Euro account provider you choose

wmb194

Band7 doesn't like Fineco but I haven't had any problems and the English of the couple of CS agents I've spoken with was very good. It's an Italian bank that offers multi-currency accounts in the UK and uses an Italian IBAN number. I'd also look at opening an account in Germany when you are there.

Marchitiello

wmb194 said:

Band7 doesn't like Fineco but I haven't had any problems and the English of the couple of CS agents I've spoken with was very good. It's an Italian bank that offers multi-currency accounts in the UK and uses an Italian IBAN number. I'd also look at opening an account in Germany when you are there.

She does not like Fineco for a mistake Santander did BTW… 

only downside of Fineco is the speed to clear funds and when transfers happens, but conversion rates are amongst the very best.


HSBC Currency (to receive)  plus Global Money (to hold, spend via card and bank transfer) accounts combo has looked good and once set up, pretty straight forward, however recent evidence with some currency (did not check EUR) have shown that UK GMA offers worst rate if the amount being converted is higher than £1000 but best rates if it is up to £1000.

I had the Starling GBP/EUR accounts when it was free to convert between they two but they then introduced charges so I stopped using the EUR bit and shortly after I had a nightmare customer service experience (including difficult communications with all agents) that made me decide to close all accounts with them.

I have also been using Wise for years, now only for Business transactions, and I have held some considerable funds in currency there for short/medium terms but it is risky and your deposit with them will not be protected. Rates are good but net converted amount (due to Wise fees) always lower than Fineco.

Band7

Marchitiello said:

He does not like Fineco for a mistake Santander did BTW… 

 

To start with, he is a she, and despite Santander also mucking me about, I got abysmal service from Fineco and won’t ever use them again. BTW

penners324

I wouldn't touch HSBC. Their charges are very high.

Stick with Starling 

wmb194

penners324 said:

I wouldn't touch HSBC. Their charges are very high.

Stick with Starling 

The HSBC accounts that have been mentioned don't have high charges. What are you thinking of or are you just assuming?

Marchitiello

Band7 said:

Marchitiello said:

He does not like Fineco for a mistake Santander did BTW… 

 

To start with, he is a she, and despite Santander also mucking me about, I got abysmal service from Fineco and won’t ever use them again. BTW

Yet, you have failed to see what clearly was a Santander issue and charges (received the money, did not allocated it properly to your account, returned it minus the CHAPS fee of £25), and kept trying to blame Fineco for this as well…. I would not be surprised for Fineco being unable to track Santander handling of your transfer but accept that they may have offered poor service in trying to address your query/complaint (in
my experience of all UK banks, I have so far experienced at least one  incident of poor service or failed attempt of poor service recovery (with exception of Chase UK, which has handled any query or first line complaint I have thrown at them, with an exceptional level of service)).

adindas

penners324 said:

I wouldn't touch HSBC. Their charges are very high.

Stick with Starling 

You will need to use two HSBC accounts as a pair. HSBC Currency account to Receive + HSBC Global Money to convert.