On 27/05/2026 07:31, David Kastrup wrote:
Werner LEMBERG <[email protected]> writes:
However, if your UK bank supports SEPA, you can transfer money free of
charge to other SEPA countries like Germany (at least I assume you are
in the UK based on your e-mail address).
Only if both accounts are in EUR. And it is _not_ "free of charge" but
"same charge as in-country transfers". For example, I had someone from
France who would have been billed a ridiculous amount for a bank
transfer, but they would have been billed the same for an in-country
transfer.
Not every SEPA country has essentially free bank transfers.
British banking is a minefield. For personal accounts, GBP and EUR
transfers are free BUT.
If you're doing a currency conversion on top, are you getting market
rate (where the exchange rates match) or bureau rate (where they take a
cut each way). Are you then charged a transaction fee and/or a
conversion fee?
Tends to be credit cards you get stung - 5% isn't untypical for charges
on top.
So if I can get market rate conversion into Euros and transfer it, or
David got an account that receives at market and I paid GBP, then that
would be very efficient.
The other thing would be to look for a multi-currency account in
somewhere like Luxembourg or the Channel Islands, but they probably cost ...
Cheers,
Wol
