Virements

[idun]

NormanH, there has to be somewhere to add new payees on your account with all the details. That has always been the hardest bit with my french bank incidentally and I have sometimes had to wait for them to 'accept' the new payee.

As you have mentioned the CA Languedoc, I looked at this

Virement SEPA occasionnel externe dans la zone euro :

En agence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,85 € /virement

Sur Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . gratuit

 

That means that a virement SEPA can be made and via the internet. The UK is actually classed as 'la zone euro' too, and I would always transfer in euros. In my bank there is a limit of 5000€ per transfer, or is that per day, not that that affects us.

[NormanH]

Thanks both but when I got to the point of actually sending it (having gone through the SMS business  and umpteen attempts to get them to accept the BIC and IBAN in  a form they could understand  I  finally got a message which said 'vos équipments ne permettent pas un virement hors de la France'  or more or less that (I am quoting from memory)

Sounds as if I need an extra bit done to extend the arrangement I carefully made last month. As this facility is not automatic I went in and explained signed to action it, and got an additional 'contract'

What  is the betting they will say  'But you didn't say it was to send money abroad (although of course I did, and that is the only use I make of non-standard virements!)

 [:@] [:@] [:@]

[allanb]

There's some confusion here.  The UK is not in the euro zone, but it is in the SEPA; even people who work in banks sometimes get this wrong.  The rules generally known as the SEPA rules apply to transfers between two euro accounts within the SEPA.

So you can transfer euros to the UK in accordance with the SEPA rules, provided that the recipient in the UK has a euro account, which is quite possible although a bit unusual. 

If the receiving account is not in euros, so that a currency exchange is necessary, a virement is still possible but it won't be subject to the SEPA rules.  

[idun]

Are you not doing this via your puter NH? Have I misunderstood, as I wouldn't do such a transaction on a phone, my old eyes are probably not up to such a small screen and I also prefer a bigger keyboard than any phone would offer.

[NormanH]

No idun. The system has a security check that sends an SMS code to your mobile phone to confirm that it is you that wants to make the transfer, not just someone who has gained access to your account. You then have to enter that code before proceeding.

It is similar to the SMS code sent when you make  an on-line purchase, also a security check.

I got past all that and had the IBAN code and the BIC code accepted only to get the message I quoted above when I actually tried to send.

Am going into the bank in a minute and will report back.

[Hereford]

If your family have paypal accounts then send them the money that way. On French paypal I just choose personal payments and click that it is a gift. I then pay the small transaction charge and the family get the money immediately. I get paypal to debit my French debit card for a payment within the euro zone and my Barlcaycard for a transaction to Canada so that it is only subject to one currency change.  Works brilliantly - they get the money before it even shows upon my account and can withdraw it or spend it.

Mrs H

[andyh4]

[quote user="allanb"]There's some confusion here.  The UK is not in the euro zone, but it is in the SEPA; even people who work in banks sometimes get this wrong.  The rules generally known as the SEPA rules apply to transfers between two euro accounts within the SEPA.

So you can transfer euros to the UK in accordance with the SEPA rules, provided that the recipient in the UK has a euro account, which is quite possible although a bit unusual. 

If the receiving account is not in euros, so that a currency exchange is necessary, a virement is still possible but it won't be subject to the SEPA rules.  
[/quote]

 

Not sure quite what the last sentence is supposed to imply but I can confirm that I have made many SEPA transactions to my UK stirling account - whether these were under SEPA rules or not, I do not know, but I do know it was the cheapest way of doing it (including exchange rate losses) and cost the standard 55c charge from my German bank for a transfer transaction - which is required under the EU legislation for Euro transactions.

[NormanH]

Well the latest news is that the bank had given me the option to send virements from my on-line account, but only to France, this despite the fact that when I asked for the facility (which is not advertised) I was sending money to the UK, as I do frequently as they know!

The lady on the counter has added the UK as a destination, but I won't be testing it  for a few weeks so I can't be sure it will work even now  [:@]

[idun]

Norman H, it is advertised as on that little bit I posted, sending money overseas is mentioned. So if 'they' mention it, then they are advertising it.

 

The assoc I helped run was with our local CA, we had nothing but problems with them, leaving me knowing that I'd never use them.

 

Surely if you go into branch then you can still send the money, you'll just have to fill in a form and it will cost 3.85€ if you send in euros. Which I always do as it is the cheapest option. And with iffy exchange rates, I think it's quite good, it used to be a lot more.

When I do transfers, I have a little thingy doofer at home that I put my bank into and then after I've put my pin number in it, gives me a random number to confirm my transaction.

[NormanH]

Yes I have sent the money as I always do from the branch.

The point is that I asked for the facility (because Debra and others had told me about it here) but they gave me a limited version despite the fact that I was sending money to the UK at the time of asking..

[HoneySuckleDreams]

Does that mean that each time you want to send money to another country in the EU zone, that you would have to go in initially to ask for it to be setup?

Job protection I think. I mean to say, if they allowed you to do stuff yourself, why would they be needed in the branch?

[allanb]

[quote user="andyh4"]

[quote user="allanb"]If the receiving account is not in euros, so that a currency exchange is necessary, a virement is still possible but it won't be subject to the SEPA rules.  

[/quote]

Not sure quite what the last sentence is supposed to imply…[/quote]

It wasn't meant to "imply" anything – it's just a statement!  Certainly a bank

can, if it wants to, make a transfer into another currency for the same

fee as if it was subject to the SEPA rules, which you illustrated.  But

it isn't obliged to; it may charge more.  Some do, some don't.

[sid]

I've re-opened this thread to give an update: My electricity bill arrived yesterday, which is what prompted me to raise the question last time; the electricity company, Seolis, show one of the methods of payment to be "virement" and they give the IBAN and BIC. So, back to square one, I thought I should try once again to set this up. As you may (or may not [Www] ) remember, I'm with CA Britline, which is an online and telephone bank... no branches. As Debra pointed out last time there is a facility to pay by virement from my online account, but definitely no provision to add payees, which is where I gave up last time.  I contacted CA yesterday and it turns out that I have to write to them, "a signed request" together with the RIB for the payee, which I don't have, I only have the bill!  This is a real failure in the "online" service; a joke really!  Security can be dealt with online, it works in many other countries.

Back to the chequebook then, and the cost of a stamp. They can wait a bit.  [:@]

[Bellac87]

Hi, I had cause to contact CA Britline on this same kind of issue as French accommodation for Lille braderie sent me their RIB details for payment of deposit.

Phoned CA Britline and received this response "Thank you for your email. You can send us a scanned request to us by email, fax or post.

Please find attached a model form for you to complete and return to us".

As the sum involved was only circa 26 euro and was only a one-off payment it made more sense to just send a cheque to the payee. Also looked into the Klixo option but this requires "tying" to a French mobile number.

Kind regards

Mike

[sid]

Mike,

 Thanks, I probably would have done it if they had suggested emailing, after all that's more "online" than posting a request! Oh well, maybe next time.

I don't want direct debits as I prefer to control my payments, but it's for my electricity, 4 monthly, so it would make things easier for me.

Sid

[NormanH]

Thanks to your thread and the advice of several posters I can now send virements not only between my accounts, but also straight from my computer and even set up new recipients both in France and in Europe.

In addition I can set up regular repeating payments if I wished to.

For this I had to go into my Branch and sign an extra 'contract', and stipulate that is was for any country in the EU.

I am with CA, but not with Britline, so I do have a local branch.

Anyway thanks for the thread and I hope you can get to something similar.

[mint]

Norman, can you please tell me whether you have received my PM, EVEN IF you don't know the answers and can't reply?[:D]