Charges for receiving payment in Euros into a UK bank account

trailingspouse

I'm expecting a fairly chunky payment from an institution in the Republic of Ireland over the next couple of weeks. I'm struggling to find out how much it will cost me to receive it.

According to my bank's website, SEPA receipts are £0, according to the man I spoke to in-branch they charge £20 'but you'll get stung on the exchange rate'. And generic advice on the internet is 'most banks charge 3-4% of the total transfer.' That would amount to about €30,000.

I don't know if facilities like Wise are routinely used by institutions? It would certainly save me a bob or two.

I have a current account in Ireland, so wondering whether it would be better to have the money sent to that account, then I can use Wise myself for the transfer - but for the last 13 years it's only been used to service one direct debit, so likely to flag up all sorts of issues if a chunk of money arrives into it and then is immediately transferred to a UK account!!

sausage_time

Can't you get the transfer into Wise directly?   Wise will give you "vritual" Euro bank details that anyone can send funds to.  Then you can move to your UK account as soon as it lands (the app will notify you).  No FSCS protection with Wise, but it should only sit there for seconds.

grumbler

Also you can have a look at HSBC Global Money account - 

• "Store 18 currencies in your Global Money Account.
• Competitive live exchange rates.
• Convert currency on the go, when you need to, or when the rate is right for you"
  

I think it's mentioned in MSE article - 

Send money abroad: Cheap currency transfers 

trailingspouse

sausage_time - thank you so much. Euro account all set up and ready to go.