Reply to: paid in euro's into my uk business account avoid charges

[psychocandy]

Interesting, I hadn't even come across that concept in terms of FX. But you mean way better than the highstreet banks, right? Definitely. But the FX brokers all seem pretty similar and very marginal differences to the interbank rate (say 20 pips on average, i.e. next to nothing).

Yeh. Obviously it depends from day to day but it is generally much better than the FX brokers.

For instance, at the moment on currencyfair I can get .8560. According to live-forex.co.uk the current rate is only .8538

[SueEllen]

Hi there,

Would it possible to create a personal banking account in europe (where
am temporarily based) and have my sales invoice paid into that account
here. Then I use Transfer Wise or Currency Fair to then convert my
euros to pounds and deposit it back into my business sterling account
in the UK?

Reputable agencies won't pay an invoice into a personal bank account regardless of the country the account is based in.

[IT_BOY]

Can i do this

Just open a EUR account with a bank in the Eurozone then, since SEPA transfers to it should be free, or nearly so. You can then transfer to your GBP account at a time of your choosing, which could be a lot better than CA's awful exchange rates.

In another forum some people were singing the praises of EUR accounts with the Allied Irish Bank in Dublin. Apparently you don't even have to travel there to open a business account, so it may be an option.

Hi there,

Would it possible to create a personal banking account in europe (where
am temporarily based) and have my sales invoice paid into that account
here. Then I use Transfer Wise or Currency Fair to then convert my
euros to pounds and deposit it back into my business sterling account
in the UK?

[jamesbrown]

CF is peer to peer exchange and in my experience the rates are way better. Of course, its a bit of hassle mind exchanging it all.

Interesting, I hadn't even come across that concept in terms of FX. But you mean way better than the highstreet banks, right? Definitely. But the FX brokers all seem pretty similar and very marginal differences to the interbank rate (say 20 pips on average, i.e. next to nothing).

[psychocandy]

Hadn't heard of CurrencyFair - I use Caxton or Hargreaves Landsdown to exchange - are the rates at CurrencyFair better than these kind of people and do you register as a business or an individual?

CF is peer to peer exchange and in my experience the rates are way better. Of course, its a bit of hassle mind exchanging it all.

[jamesbrown]

Hadn't heard of CurrencyFair - I use Caxton or Hargreaves Landsdown to exchange - are the rates at CurrencyFair better than these kind of people and do you register as a business or an individual?

Definitely needs a business account (in the same company name) - not an individual account! Not sure about the HL rates, but they're pretty similar amongst the various brokers (all being within a few pips of the interbank rate during periods of high liquidity, e.g. London opening hours), with a small transfer fee on top.

[geoffreywhereveryoumaybe]

I currently get paid in euros so I' ve got the linked accounts with caterallen. i.e. one sterling and one in euros. I think its 8E to recieve a euro payment.

BUT, even though its easy to transfer the rate is crap.

Instead, I use CurrencyFair. Basically, transfer the euros out into my CF account (costs me 29E - cheers Cater Allen). Then its like a peer-to-peer exchange rate thing as you convert to sterling.
Then its £3 to transfer back to sterling cater allen.

Sounds like a potch but I get £100s more a month sometimes. Also, I don't do a euro transfer every month so its not 29E every month.

Hadn't heard of CurrencyFair - I use Caxton or Hargreaves Landsdown to exchange - are the rates at CurrencyFair better than these kind of people and do you register as a business or an individual?

[psychocandy]

Open a Euro account. You'll avoid the worst of the charges. I have one with Barclays but the whole process of setting ne up seemd to be shrouded in secrecy. PRESUMABLY because they don't want you to have one so they can continue to charge you exorbitant commissions.

I found that too. Actually getting details of the charges is hidden in the small print.

All well and good having a euro account but you've usually got to convert to sterling at some point.

[zoco]

Open a Euro account. You'll avoid the worst of the charges. I have one with Barclays but the whole process of setting ne up seemd to be shrouded in secrecy. PRESUMABLY because they don't want you to have one so they can continue to charge you exorbitant commissions.

[psychocandy]

In my understanding, none of the FX brokers are covered by the FSCS so, in the unlikely event the broker went under mid-transfer, you would lose that money. It has happened before (e.g. Crown). However, some FX brokers are better regulated than others (e.g. authorised by vs. registered with the FSA), and you can always choose the company carefully.

Yeh. I looked into this and they are somewhat regulated and its all a bit confusing. Must admit I was a little concerned first off when I used CurrencyFair.

Been using them for almost 2 years now with no problems at all though.

[jamesbrown]

Transferwise don't appear to be covered by the FSCS ...

In my understanding, none of the FX brokers are covered by the FSCS so, in the unlikely event the broker went under mid-transfer, you would lose that money. It has happened before (e.g. Crown). However, some FX brokers are better regulated than others (e.g. authorised by vs. registered with the FSA), and you can always choose the company carefully.

[borderreiver]

Transferwise don't appear to be covered by the FSCS ...

[mooshld]

Transferwise sent me an email the other day. I have used them before for a contract in euroland.

Well, they now have a payment service so set-up a payment request and invoice your client with the account details and they will send it to your pounds account at some community matched rate, less a small fee.

Not used it but if it works as easy as that could be the death knell for foreign currency accounts.

PM me if you want a referral.

[borderreiver]

While the European bank may charge nothing to send the payment the UK bank is likely to charge a few pounds to receive the payment.

In my experience with CA, they don't charge to receive GBP if the sending (European) bank does the conversion. The sending bank will charge you a fee, of course, but it's likely to add up to a lot less to what CA would cost you if you transfer euros.

You'd have more control over when and where the conversion EUR/GBP takes place, especially if you transfer several invoices' worth of euros to sterling in one go. That will save you in the long run.

[Boo]

Hi there , flippen eck i get charged left right centre on sales i do work for in Belguim . I am a UK contractor with a UK business account . How can i get round these charges. Does anyone know any banks which can take in Euros without hefty hefty charges.

I don't know what they charge these days, but CA used to charge me £15 for accepting a monthly € payment into my £ account. Not really heft in the grand scheme of things.

Boo2