Gardener Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Has anyone used this method for transferring money? http://www.escape-prepaid-card.com/share-money-abroad-for-free.htmlI'm still reading the website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Sounds similar to Fairfx prepaid card only their's was free saving you £4.99.Having a Nationwide account still beats all of them, it's free for the card, it's free of transaction charges and the rate is better than anyone. Cheers again Ernie [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzer Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 There's a lot of these cards about. Main problem is that you have to UK resident to obtain one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardener Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 [quote user="Jazzer"]There's a lot of these cards about. Main problem is that you have to UK resident to obtain one.[/quote]Yep,so it seems. How about the nationwide bs, do they allow them to be opened by none UK resident? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Not as far as I know, must be able to use a UK address. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 [quote user="Gardener"][quote user="Jazzer"]There's a lot of these cards about. Main problem is that you have to UK resident to obtain one.[/quote]Yep,so it seems. How about the nationwide bs, do they allow them to be opened by none UK resident?[/quote]No, no UK address, no account. Don't mean to be blunt but you might as well know the bottom line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Streason Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 I have an escape card purchased from Phones4U. It is a prepaid mastercard and I have already saved quite a bit using it for Ryanair flights.I think its the sort of card that would be handy to give your child when they go off travelling for 6 months, (rather than a high limit credit card which is what I did). You can control how much you top it up but can also add big amounts for the emergency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keni Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 If you are transferring money to a French bank using a Nationwide account - to save even more money, make sure you do it in euros, not pounds. You get a good rate, plus the charge is only £20 with no charge from the french bank for receiving the cash.In pounds, it's still £20 plus a charge at the French end for receiving it and I belerive a charge at the Uk end for transferring! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereford Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 For day to day money needed I think most of us just draw 300 or so euros via a cash machine from our Nationwide accounts. The just keep it in cash or pay in to a French account (in our case via a "cash pay in" machine in our CA) Done it loads of times and never a query.Mrs H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keni Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Yeh, understood, but for those larger projects where you need more cash...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Depends on the amount. Might be that a foreign exchange company is the only viable choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 It's funny - every time I try another money changer to avoid using my bank, something goes wrong. So I'll be staying with my bank, and hang the extra charges as it's cheaper in the long run...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardener Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 [quote user="sweet 17"][quote user="Gardener"][quote user="Jazzer"]There's a lot of these cards about. Main problem is that you have to UK resident to obtain one.[/quote]Yep,so it seems. How about the nationwide bs, do they allow them to be opened by none UK resident?[/quote]No, no UK address, no account. Don't mean to be blunt but you might as well know the bottom line?[/quote]I'll cross that one off then. I don't know why it's so hard for a UK national living abroad to change UK bank accounts though. I had no probs opening a french one before I moved here and it's french bureaucracy that's supposed to be a pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 It's funny - every time I try another money changer to avoid using my bank, nothing goes wrong. So stuff my bank, and I'll pocket the extra charges as it's cheaper in the long run...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 [quote user="Théière"]It's funny - every time I try another money changer to avoid using my bank, nothing goes wrong. So stuff my bank, and I'll pocket the extra charges as it's cheaper in the long run......[/quote]I'd [prefer to spend £25to be sure rather than loose about £3000 in return transfers - which is what happened last time.........! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 [quote user="Judith"]I'd prefer to spend £25 to be sure rather than loose about £3000 in return transfers - which is what happened last time.........![/quote]It shouldn't cost that amount if you ask for a SEPA transfer. Mine costs £9 with First Direct and the transferred money usually arrives in my French account the next day. Of course I could pay £25 and have it arrive the same day, but I am too mean !Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbles Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 mean is good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 [quote user="suein56"][quote user="Judith"]I'd prefer to spend £25 to be sure rather than loose about £3000 in return transfers - which is what happened last time.........![/quote]It shouldn't cost that amount if you ask for a SEPA transfer. Mine costs £9 with First Direct and the transferred money usually arrives in my French account the next day. Of course I could pay £25 and have it arrive the same day, but I am too mean !Sue [/quote]Sue,Many thanks, but in this case SEPA was not possible because of the amount - and the whole thing was much more complicated than required to be explained here. But, as I said, each time I have tried alternatives (and I have) I have been unhappy with the result, whereas with the bank the money has always arrived on time and with no problem. So, I am no lover of money exchangers - and FD has always done the job well for me, so better the devil you know...... though there will be less to come across now we've bought the house.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I use my HSBC account, £9 for the transfer, and my French bank charges nothing to receive it[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margate1 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 We have been transferring money to France and found that our HSBC bank account in England was charging us around £19, then when it went into our HSBC bank in france they charged again.But now we have found a really good way to top up our French bank account and that is by using Paypal.All you do is sign up to Paypal fr , then add your French bank account. My wife sends me the money from our uk Paypal account (this is set up to be attached to our UK bank account) as a gift into my paypal account then I put it in our French bank via Paypal.It works out really cheap compared to how we were doing it before.You can pay anyone in the world as long as they have an E Mail address Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 If you regard Paypal as a cheap conversion medium I dread to think what you were doing before [:-))]https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/?cmd=p/gen/fees-outside"** If your transaction involves a currency conversion, it will be completed at a retail foreign exchange rate determined by PayPal, which is adjusted regularly based on market conditions. This exchange rate includes a 2.5% spread above the wholesale exchange rate at which PayPal obtains foreign currency, and the spread is retained by PayPal."So thats a 2.5% fee on top of what is not a particularly competative rate to start with, today it's a miserable 1.14 !My latest transfer was a good un. Somebody I know wanted to pay several thousand pounds for something in the UK quite quickly but didn't have that amount readily available in sterling so I offered to pay for him and he gave me Euros at the spot rate at the moment the money was sent which was 1.18 [;-)]With what I already had in my French bank A/C that will do me for the best part of the next 6 months before I need to transfer anymore [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margate1 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 It is very good compared with how I WAS doing it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
margate1 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/foreign-currency-exchange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Belle Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 For money transfers, i use www.RationalFX.com. They're a trusted service and are registered by HMRC and FSA. I've used banks before based on what you mentioned in your thread, but to be quite honest, i've lost a good sum of money due to their transfer fees and the inability to keep minute-by-minute checks on the currency rates.They will be doing a Happy hour tomorrow from 4PM UK time - they will provide market rate transfers for USD/EUR amd GBP/EUR and will only be able to have access to this by registering with them and getting hold of their password for this offer by liking and gaining access to their facebook page located at www.facebook.com/rationalfxIf anyone's interested, now would be a good time to sign up as i would imagine tomorrow getting very busy since i've yet to see any similar offers at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrose Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Don't know if there are any LTSB customers out there but it is now possible to do International Transfers online for £10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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