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

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

    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.

    Thanks

    #2
    Originally posted by IT_BOY View Post
    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.

    Thanks
    IIRC Cater Allen can link a Euro account to your Business Reserve sterling account. Take a look.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by IT_BOY View Post
      How can i get round these charges. Does anyone know any banks which can take in Euros without hefty hefty charges.
      If you are referring to bad for you (good for banks) exchange rates then you'll need euro account to get money without conversion taking place.

      Otherwise charges of getting money into your account should not be more than 20-30 GBP per transfer.

      Comment


        #4
        Cater Allen are pretty reasonable, as far as banks go. Transfers in to your Sterling account will cost you 8 euro, plus a differential on the interbank exchange rate (typically around 1%). Alternatively, as suggested above, you could open a linked Euro account with Cater Allen and receive preferential rates for a large transfer between your linked Euro and Sterling accounts (you'll still be paying the same differential on the interbank rate for smaller internal transfers, but it may otherwise help to have some money in Euros for expenses etc.). To squeeze that differential on the interbank rate is more of an effort (other than making a larger internal transfer with Carer Allen at preferential rates) and requires you to open an intermediate account with an FX broker.

        Comment


          #5
          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.
          Rhyddid i lofnod psychocandy!!!!

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by psychocandy View Post
            Sounds like a potch but I get £100s more a month sometimes.
            I doubt it. Cater Allen charge roughly 1% over the interbank rate, although it does vary from day-to-day depending on volatility, so you'd have to be invoicing considerably more than 20k GBP per month to save "£100s" more after transfer costs, unless you're very unlucky in a particular month (i.e. because the CA rate is volatile). A "typical" contractor perhaps billing 100k GBP for a foreign gig might save 1k GBP per year for all that hassle.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by jamesbrown View Post
              I doubt it. Cater Allen charge roughly 1% over the interbank rate, although it does vary from day-to-day depending on volatility, so you'd have to be invoicing considerably more than 20k GBP per month to save "£100s" more after transfer costs, unless you're very unlucky in a particular month (i.e. because the CA rate is volatile). A "typical" contractor perhaps billing 100k GBP for a foreign gig might save 1k GBP per year for all that hassle.
              £1000 year is good enough for me.
              Rhyddid i lofnod psychocandy!!!!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by psychocandy View Post
                £1000 year is good enough for me.
                Sure, not to be sniffed at, but also not megabucks. Sounds to me like they've changed their policy on external transfers.... last time I spoke to them, there were no bill payments, direct debits, standing orders or external transfers from their USD or Euro accounts, only internal transfers and debit card usage, and also no internet access (beyond viewing the balance). Are you required to maintain a minimum balance in your Euro account (other than whatever minimum balance is in place for your Sterling account, which is probably none if you opened via an accountant)?

                Comment


                  #9
                  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.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by borderreiver View Post
                    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.
                    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.
                    "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

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