Euro transfer from Italy

rymo

Hello,

I have inherited some money (Euro) from the sale of a property of a relative that was an Italian citizen, and I am now looking to transfer the money to my bank account (I am a UK resident). Instead of transferring the money to a £ bank account I would prefer to transfer it to a Euro account that I opened long time ago at Wise bank. This is to avoid commissions and expensive exchange rates applied by the usual banks. Wise bank use for their Euro accounts a branch that is based in Brussels, and now the Italian bank informed me that as I am resident in the UK there might be problems with transferring the money to a non-UK based bank account due to the anti-money-laundry regulation. I am not familiar with this regulation but I have used Wise Euro account for other transactions in the past without any problems, besides Wise bank is based in the UK. Is the Italian bank right in challenging my request? What does the regulation say in these cases? Any help is appreciated.

Many thanks,

Ryan

friolento

Wise is not a bank but an electronic money institution. Nonetheless, they are quite safe to use for money transfers. AML checks can happen with any transfers, particularly if larger amounts are involved. Making the transfers with a bank does not make a difference. The Italian bank cannot refuse your request to transfer your Euros to your Wise Euro account because Wise is authorised in the EU, and it's your decision what you legally do with your money.

Wise has a great international reputation and has just signed a deal with SWIFT, the x-border system banks use for money transfers.

I suspect the Italian bank would love to charge you a small fortune for the transfer. If I were you, I would ignore them and use Wise. Depending on the total amount involved, I would probably split the payments into €10k - €15k chunks.

rymo

Many thanks for the details and clarification.

Futuristic

I would NOT split them into chunks, that raises more suspicions than a single transfer review. 

If you want you could deposit into a bank, HSBC offers EUR account and so does Starling for free. But otherwise Wise is fine, if you have enabled Wise Interest and the cash is invested in MMF then you have some protection as well. 

friolento

Futuristic said:

I would NOT split them into chunks, that raises more suspicions than a single transfer review. 

If you want you could deposit into a bank, HSBC offers EUR account and so does Starling for free. But otherwise Wise is fine, if you have enabled Wise Interest and the cash is invested in MMF then you have some protection as well. 

Different people, different approaches..... I always split my payments into smaller chunks, whether they are international or UK internal. I have never had any trouble with that. Smaller chunks limit not only the chances of getting caught by AML checks, but also the risk of lack of FSCS, or equivalent, cover. Note I don't have any reason to suggest Wise are at imminent risk of going bellies up - as I said, they appear to be a reputable company, and I have just today transferred a high 4-figure sum via Wise. But it remains a fact that they have no FSCS or equivalent cover.

I would also definitely never make use of the Wise interest offer. I happily use them for transfers to and from foreign currencies only. Whilst they claim that their interest-bearing offers might be FSCS protected, I prefer to make use of savings and investments that actually are FSCS protected.

[Deleted User]

friolento said:

Wise is not a bank but an electronic money institution. Nonetheless, they are quite safe to use for money transfers. AML checks can happen with any transfers, particularly if larger amounts are involved. Making the transfers with a bank does not make a difference. The Italian bank cannot refuse your request to transfer your Euros to your Wise Euro account because Wise is authorised in the EU, and it's your decision what you legally do with your money.

Wise has a great international reputation and has just signed a deal with SWIFT, the x-border system banks use for money transfers.

I suspect the Italian bank would love to charge you a small fortune for the transfer. If I were you, I would ignore them and use Wise. Depending on the total amount involved, I would probably split the payments into €10k - €15k chunks.

The OP can get PDF proof of the Euro account from the Wise website or app.

Euro transactions within the EEA are unlikely to use SWIFT- they are usually domestic SEPA payments.

I doubt the Italian bank wants to change a small fortune either. They likely don't want hassle now England is outside the EEA and therefore is a less trusted partner being outside that EU/EEA regulatory zone.

friolento

I only mentioned the SWIFT/Wise deal in the context of the standing of Wise in the finance industry.