What is most efficient way to receive EUR payments?

[Lumiere]

I need to receive a few payments in EUR from a customer in EU.
My business banking is with HSBC and from my previous experience with them (paying sub-contractors in EU, transferring USD to a personal account from abroad) receiving EUR to GBP account is going to be expensive, probably around 10-15% loss on fees and exchange rate.

Are there better options, like opening HSBC-EUR account, opening GBP+EUR account at Cater Allen (was considering moving business accounts to them at some point), but wonder if it is any better, has anyone done the math? I will need this money on business GBP account eventually - probably move it via a broker a the end of the contract if I go with EUR account.

Also what do I do with VAT if I work on week-on-week-off basis and then invoice monthly ?

Thanks

[northernladuk]

We had a question similar to this last week and a couple of others in the past so I've done a quick search that might help. Some of them are a bit old but the process could still be valid. See if you can find anything useful here?

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=EU...D-XOgAbGl5DoCA

[LondonManc]

A Czech in the post.

[Lumiere]

We had a question similar to this last week and a couple of others in the past so I've done a quick search that might help. Some of them are a bit old but the process could still be valid. See if you can find anything useful here?

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=EU...D-XOgAbGl5DoCA

No worries, I read all those threads from several years ago and the one from last week.
There are some useful bits on information but no definite answer, as usual.

[northernladuk]

No worries, I read all those threads from several years ago and the one from last week.
There are some useful bits on information but no definite answer, as usual.

Yeah, tends to be the way of the internet forum. I can't help any further though sorry.

[Platypus]

FWIW I receive payments in USD, have done for years. The US just sends the money to my Barclays UK GBP business account and the exchange rate seems pretty fair. It arrives next day as GBP in my account. Easy. I haven't bothered getting a USD account although over the years I daresay if I'd be savvy I could have timed my exchanges to get a few more quid.

Last time I did this (start of April 2016), the exchange rate the bank gave me was 1.4758 vs. the mid-market rate of 1.4205 so I guess they take about 5.5c. Now that I do the maths (for the first time in years) the bank nabs £260 per $10,000

I do remember talking to the bank when I opened the account and IIRC they'd get their 5c whether converted at the time of payment or if I put it in a USD account and convert it later.

Cost of sale I guess

[psychocandy]

Open EURO account with current bank. Get paid into this. Create currencyfair account. Pay euro total into this. Exchange. Pay sterling back into main account.

Be aware:-
1. Paying euros into sterling account will cost an arm and a leg.
2. Transferring from euro to sterling account for same bank will still be a crap rate.

[Lumiere]

Open EURO account with current bank. Get paid into this. Create currencyfair account. Pay euro total into this. Exchange. Pay sterling back into main account.

Be aware:-
1. Paying euros into sterling account will cost an arm and a leg.
2. Transferring from euro to sterling account for same bank will still be a crap rate.

Was told in HSBC chat that:

1. Paying euros into sterling account will cost an arm and a leg. - flat £8 given sender pays payment charges (I suppose they do).
2. Transferring from euro to sterling account for same bank will still be a crap rate. - she said no fee and market rate but couldn't tell what was the current one for today to compare. If you send an international payment you see it on screen, active for a few minutes to acccept .. that one was far from "market" as I remember.

[jamesbrown]

FWIW I receive payments in USD, have done for years. The US just sends the money to my Barclays UK GBP business account and the exchange rate seems pretty fair. It arrives next day as GBP in my account. Easy. I haven't bothered getting a USD account although over the years I daresay if I'd be savvy I could have timed my exchanges to get a few more quid.

Last time I did this (start of April 2016), the exchange rate the bank gave me was 1.4758 vs. the mid-market rate of 1.4205 so I guess they take about 5.5c. Now that I do the maths (for the first time in years) the bank nabs £260 per $10,000

I do remember talking to the bank when I opened the account and IIRC they'd get their 5c whether converted at the time of payment or if I put it in a USD account and convert it later.

Cost of sale I guess

Seriously, you should look into opening a USD account. It's straightforward. You can then decide whether you want to go to the next level and transfer via an intermediary (such as Oanda or HiFX) to get the best rate, but you may find that Barclays offer decent rates for larger transfers. If you don't want to bother with a broker, Cater Allen have decent default rates on their internal transfers between GBP and USD/EUR accounts (around 1%, typically, for Cable from the spot price, but the spot is fixed once per day, so you can sometimes get even better than spot on a volatile day ). I expect it has saved me thousands over the years and, once the account is open, it is no more hassle than managing any other account.

[geoffreywhereveryoumaybe]

Use a Broker to convert

I had a Euro account with HSBC (cost about £8 a month). Receive payments in Euro and when the rate is right, use brokers such as Caxton or Hargreaves Landsdown to transfer across and you get a much better exchange rate and you can convert when the rate is right.