Barclays closed my current account - warning to other expats

poseidon1

GeoffTF said:

GeordieinAotearoa said:

I hardly ever exchange currency.

I got the impression that your pension is paid in British pounds, and that you convert into New Zealand dollars. Is that not right?

I sense your frustration in advocating  how useful Wise could be for British Migrants living abroad.

My brother was an early adopter of Wise ( then Transferwise), as a highly cost effective means to cover the Euro running costs of his Spanish second home.

He was very enthusiastic in recommending Wise to the community of British retirees he met out there as a better alternative to their arrangements whereby they habitually transferred UK pensions from UK accounts they maintained to Spanish bank accounts incurring very uncompetitive Spanish exchange rates along the way.

Sadly he found that their habits were so deeply ingrained along with natural human inertia, that they could not be bothered  even to explore what he was talking about. Then Brexit hit - with an immediate drop in sterling exchange rates and therefore the retirees euro spending power. Lots of whingeing and moaning but still no willingness to look at it Wise.

Then, UK banks started the process of closing their UK bank accounts, at that point some of them then woke up to the considerable benefits of Wise and after years of ignoring his recommendations, out of necessity finally made the move. They are now singing praises of their new arrangement and rue the significant Spanish fees they threw away over the past few years.

As I had advised my brother many times, you can 'lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink'. 

Forums like this can be  tremendously helpful in improving one's financial position but only if you are sufficiently motivated to properly explore the opportunities presented.

friolento

As the saying goes: you can lead a horse to water......

Bostonerimus1

friolento said:

As the saying goes: you can lead a horse to water......

There is something to be said for staying with a system that you know works as it's just less bother. Of course you should be open to new things and adopt a new solution when the old one fails. I looked at Wise and rejected it as for the amount of money I regularly send to the UK my US bank does not charge a fee and the exchange rate is close enough to the one from Wise that an international bank to bank transfer ended up being cheaper. Also I don't want to share my bank details and the details of the recipient's bank account with a third party when it is not necessary, even if it were to save me a few dollars.

poseidon1

Bostonerimus1 said:

friolento said:

As the saying goes: you can lead a horse to water......

There is something to be said for staying with a system that you know works as it's just less bother. Of course you should be open to new things and adopt a new solution when the old one fails. I looked at Wise and rejected it as for the amount of money I regularly send to the UK my US bank does not charge a fee and the exchange rate is close enough to the one from Wise that an international bank to bank transfer ended up being cheaper. Also I don't want to share my bank details and the details of the recipient's bank account with a third party when it is not necessary, even if it were to save me a few dollars.

Staying with the horse theme, ' horses for course'!

GeordieinAotearoa

To those criticising me for not choosing Wise: I appreciate the suggestion and I did look at it. But with respect, you cannot possibly know my circumstances and whether the direct transfer I have arranged is worse than Wise. So please don't make assumptions. Don't stubbornly assume that you know best. What's right for you isn't necessarily right for someone else. Take your own advice - and keep an open mind.

GeordieinAotearoa

Bostonerimus1 said:

friolento said:

As the saying goes: you can lead a horse to water......

There is something to be said for staying with a system that you know works as it's just less bother. Of course you should be open to new things and adopt a new solution when the old one fails. I looked at Wise and rejected it as for the amount of money I regularly send to the UK my US bank does not charge a fee and the exchange rate is close enough to the one from Wise that an international bank to bank transfer ended up being cheaper. Also I don't want to share my bank details and the details of the recipient's bank account with a third party when it is not necessary, even if it were to save me a few dollars.

Exactly. As if I wouldn't have considered these things 🙄

wmb194

GeordieinAotearoa said:

To those criticising me for not choosing Wise: I appreciate the suggestion and I did look at it. But with respect, you cannot possibly know my circumstances and whether the direct transfer I have arranged is worse than Wise. So please don't make assumptions. Don't stubbornly assume that you know best. What's right for you isn't necessarily right for someone else. Take your own advice - and keep an open mind.

Is the direct transfer to your NZ bank (which one?) just as good as Wise? I'm interested to know as it might help other expats in your situation in NZ and possibly elsewhere. If so then Barclays closing your account and HSBC` et al also not offering UK accounts to (NZ) expats could be a complete non-issue.

friolento

GeordieinAotearoa said:

To those criticising me for not choosing Wise: I appreciate the suggestion and I did look at it. But with respect, you cannot possibly know my circumstances and whether the direct transfer I have arranged is worse than Wise. So please don't make assumptions. Don't stubbornly assume that you know best. What's right for you isn't necessarily right for someone else. Take your own advice - and keep an open mind.

If you get a deal that's at least as good, or better, than the one you'd get with Wise, as a good MSE forumite you would share this here so that others can benefit from it, too.

GeordieinAotearoa said:

Bostonerimus1 said:

friolento said:

As the saying goes: you can lead a horse to water......

There is something to be said for staying with a system that you know works as it's just less bother. Of course you should be open to new things and adopt a new solution when the old one fails. I looked at Wise and rejected it as for the amount of money I regularly send to the UK my US bank does not charge a fee and the exchange rate is close enough to the one from Wise that an international bank to bank transfer ended up being cheaper. Also I don't want to share my bank details and the details of the recipient's bank account with a third party when it is not necessary, even if it were to save me a few dollars.

Exactly. As if I wouldn't have considered these things 🙄

It wasn't apparent from your posts that you had considered it that way. If you had posted straight away that you had worked out that you can get a better deal elsewhere, and what that deal was, nobody would have continued to suggest Wise. But all you did post was that you didn't understand how they operate, and that you basically didn't like the look of Wise.

PS. Since you asked: No, I don't work for Wise. I have never have worked for them, never will. I am also not a Wise shareholder or investor. I have simply been a satisfied customer of the Wise currency transfer services for many years.

GeordieinAotearoa

wmb194 said:

GeordieinAotearoa said:

To those criticising me for not choosing Wise: I appreciate the suggestion and I did look at it. But with respect, you cannot possibly know my circumstances and whether the direct transfer I have arranged is worse than Wise. So please don't make assumptions. Don't stubbornly assume that you know best. What's right for you isn't necessarily right for someone else. Take your own advice - and keep an open mind.

Is the direct transfer to your NZ bank (which one?) just as good as Wise? I'm interested to know as it might help other expats in your situation in NZ and possibly elsewhere. If so then Barclays closing your account and HSBC` et al also not offering UK accounts to (NZ) expats could be a complete non-issue.

It is certainly not a non-issue for those who who have lost access to their funds and who wish to keep them in the UK - which was my starting premise. I have no intention of commenting further on Wise - I have made my position clear.

GeordieinAotearoa

friolento said:

As the saying goes: you can lead a horse to water......

And some will never get off their high horses, forever convinced of their own omniscience irrespective of what they might not know.