Current accounts accepting euros for free

ForumUser7

Hi, other than revolut and HSBC global money, which current accounts accept euros being transferred in for free please? With no % margin etc.? Thanks

friolento

Starling, but they are not accepting new applications for their Euro account at present.

Revolut still hasn't got FSCS protection. If this doesn't matter to you, you could consider Wise. I would use Wise in preference to Revolut any day.

When exchanging Euros into GBP, all companies will take a cut. Either through an explicit fee, or through the exchange rate, or both.

PRAISETHESUN

+1 for Wise, as long as you mean to convert the EUR to GBP relatively quickly rather than holding a EUR balance. If you want to hold EUR, then you're better off looking at the FSCS protected options with HSBC or other high street banks.

PloughmansLunch

Accepting Euros with no immediate requirement for conversion to GBP? Both Barclays Euro account or HSBC Currency account will do the job. NB. HSBC Global Money doesn't accept direct Euro deposits, you'll end up with a slightly nibbled GBP balance.

ForumUser7

PloughmansLunch said:

Accepting Euros with no immediate requirement for conversion to GBP? Both Barclays Euro account or HSBC Currency account will do the job. NB. HSBC Global Money doesn't accept direct Euro deposits, you'll end up with a slightly nibbled GBP balance.

Accepting Euros with immediate requirement for conversion to GBP.

In other words, a company is issuing a payment to me in Euros and needs my sort code and account number etc. to process it. I don't need the Euros, but I would like the pounds, ideally without a fee - if that makes sense.

wmb194

ForumUser7 said:

PloughmansLunch said:

Accepting Euros with no immediate requirement for conversion to GBP? Both Barclays Euro account or HSBC Currency account will do the job. NB. HSBC Global Money doesn't accept direct Euro deposits, you'll end up with a slightly nibbled GBP balance.

Accepting Euros with immediate requirement for conversion to GBP.

In other words, a company is issuing a payment to me in Euros and needs my sort code and account number etc. to process it. I don't need the Euros, but I would like the pounds, ideally without a fee - if that makes sense.

Have a look at Zing. If you Google you might find a referral offer. The first £500 of conversions each month are fee free and it offers rates similar to Wise’s.

penners324

friolento said:

Starling, but they are not accepting new applications for their Euro account at present.

Revolut still hasn't got FSCS protection. If this doesn't matter to you, you could consider Wise. I would use Wise in preference to Revolut any day.

When exchanging Euros into GBP, all companies will take a cut. Either through an explicit fee, or through the exchange rate, or both.

Revolut does now have a limited banking license, so FSCS protection. But it's been limited at £50k I believe

lon_don

T212 (not a bank) also accepts EUR SEPA transfer in without charging.

WastedWords

T212 does not accept from third parties, only accounts in own name.

friolento

penners324 said:

friolento said:

Starling, but they are not accepting new applications for their Euro account at present.

Revolut still hasn't got FSCS protection. If this doesn't matter to you, you could consider Wise. I would use Wise in preference to Revolut any day.

When exchanging Euros into GBP, all companies will take a cut. Either through an explicit fee, or through the exchange rate, or both.

Revolut does now have a limited banking license, so FSCS protection. But it's been limited at £50k I believe

I understand that they don't yet have / offer FSCS protection. Part of their "limit" is that they "safeguard" your money, like they did before, and like Electronic Money Institutions do.

Googled today:

friolento

ForumUser7 said:

PloughmansLunch said:

Accepting Euros with no immediate requirement for conversion to GBP? Both Barclays Euro account or HSBC Currency account will do the job. NB. HSBC Global Money doesn't accept direct Euro deposits, you'll end up with a slightly nibbled GBP balance.

Accepting Euros with immediate requirement for conversion to GBP.

In other words, a company is issuing a payment to me in Euros and needs my sort code and account number etc. to process it. I don't need the Euros, but I would like the pounds, ideally without a fee - if that makes sense.

A company outside the UK can't do anything with a sort code and account number. They would need the BIC and your IBAN. Their remittance would then land in your GBP account as GBP, with an exchange rate and possibly fees determined by one or more of the banks involved in the transfer.

If you have a Euro account, you simply give the company the IBAN of the euro account. Then hope you will actually be sent Euros, though sometimes the sender or an intermediate bank decides that you want the money sent in GBP, so they convert the Euros into GBP, and the receiving bank credits it in Euros to your Euro account............. This recently happened to me with a payment I received into my HSBC Currency Account. I got charged just over 40 Euros for a payment of around 800 Euros. HSBC denied it was them who charged me but eventually provide me with the exact details of the transfer and the double exchanging, and did credit the charge as a gesture of good will (so they said). I still have the account but am no longer using it as I can do without the complications.

If you use Wise, none of this will happen, as the IBAN on your Wise Euro account starts with BE (for Belgium, i.e. EU - so no need for any currency exchange). Whilst the IBAN of your HSBC Euro account starts with GB, and the sender does not know the currency of your account.

Another advantage of Wise is that it takes you but 5 minutes to open an account with them. You should also complete account verification before you start using the account. This can be completed in no time if they are able to verify your ID electronically, and takes longer if they can't. Opening an account with HSBC can be a long drawn out exercise, not least because you need one of their current accounts before you can get the Currency Account.