Sun, 22 November 2009
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Harriet Meyer explains how to move your money to Spain for lessMoving money abroad can be a costly business, with transfer charges and exchange rates eating into your hard-earned cash.
Some banks in Spain even charge to receive electronic transfers, adding to the cost, while others don't. Those that do usually apply a EUR 10- 15 charge.
Fortunately, there are options available from companies which don’t apply 'transfer' charges, and they invariably offer better exchange rates to expats.
It pays to do your research, as Laura Loosmore, 30, an English teacher in Barcelona, is discovering.
She was frustrated to find she faced a GBP 21 charge from HSBC to move any sum up to GDP 2,000 to her Spanish bank account, and that it takes five days to access the money.
"I don’t understand why it costs this much, and like many expats I would like to make regular transfers, so I have to find a cheaper alternative", she says.
Some of the big banks and building societies charge as much as GBP 30 to transfer money abroad, she discovered.
There are various methods of making the transfer, including producing an international cheque which the customer simply sends to the foreign bank, to electronic transfers.
Ms Loosmore chose to take advantage of a specialist currency exchange, Travelex, to avoid transfer fees and exorbitant exchange rates.
To use the service, customers have to set up an account and prove who they are - this can be done by post or email - and once it is set up the transfer is done on the phone.
When you want to move some money, you ring the call centre and agree the "deal" rate.
Once it has your money it moves it directly into the foreign account nominated at the start.
One of the big plusses is that Travelex says there will be no charges to pay from the receiving bank.
It also allows those wanting to send a large sum - for example buying a house - to pre-buy their currency for sending, and paying for it, at a later date.
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