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Moneycorp will set up a direct debit from your UK bank to you Spanish bank. The monthly charge is £4 and you get the commercial rate on the day of the transfer.
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Dear morerosado
I wonder if I could ask you some questions. From reading your posts, would I be correct in thinking that you now use Banco Halifax as your Spanish bank as with them you pay no charges as long as you stay E600 in credit and for regular transfers you use Currencies Direct to pay money into your Banco Halifax account for similar reasons.
If the above is correct my questions are these:
- Does Banco Halifax make any charge for receiving funds into your account from Currencies Direct?
- Do you get a better rate of exchange by using Currencies Direct instead of using the free transfer option offered when using Halifax UK to transfer to Banco Halifax?
- Can I ask the reason you decided that Currencies Direct was the best money transfer company to use?
I ask you the above as reading your posts you strike me as person that researches well the thing you do and as I would like to set up similar, it would be helpful to benefit from you knowledge and past research.
Thanks & Regards
Phil
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Hi Phil, thank you for your kind words, it makes my postings worthwhile.
Yes, we use Banco Halifax as our bank now & have done for a couple of years I would say. We only learnt about the benefits for us using Banco Halifax from a forum member in another forum. When we decided to open an a/c with them it had just been disclosed that there was going to be a branch opening in Guardamar, around a 5 mins drive from our property with parking right outside, how great was that !
No charges for maintenance as long as 600€ kept in a/c generally, otherwise 18€ per 6 months. (You need to open a/c with 600€). 3€ per debit card annually. As long as you only use ATMs displaying the Servired logo you have free withdrawals. No charge for declaration of non residency either  saving around 18€ each person named on the a/c every two years compared to Cambank ( who we were with before Banco Halifax) & every other bank we know.
The only time we've used Currencies Direct is when we were transferring the stage payments to pay for our property & that was when we were using Cambank. We chose Cambank at the time as CD had an arrangement with them (& others) to receive payments without receiving charges. We used CD as we were recommended them by our agent & we were so naive in those days we weren't aware there were other currency banks. CD worked well for us but I have no knowledge of MoneyCorp, HiFX, FC Exchange etc. I've heard other members say they've set up accounts with at least two currency banks & on the day they want to arrange a transfer, they ask all & choose best deal.
As we haven't a mortgage, & go to Spain every two months since my OH retired in March, we have no need for regular transfers & indeed Halifax in our hometown here in the UK gave us such a poor rate last June when we wanted to boost our Banco Halifax a/c we stopped using them to transfer free, preferring to open a Nationwide Flex a/c. We put money into that just before leaving for Spain & use our debit cards to withdraw from VISA ATMs in Spain & get the best possible rate. Sky yesterday said bank rate (not tourist rate which was 1.207) ) was 1.26 & a resident of La Marina said, using his Nationwide debit card in a Visa ATM, he got 1.258 & that's our experience too. In June we got 1.2460 which was just under bank rate.
Halifax info >> HERE so look at that for anything you may need to know.
Click below for fees.
You certainly would get a much better rate transferring through any currency bank rather than free transfers between Halifax branches but all currency banks have a minimum of likely £5000 often with a £15 charge for the transfer so only advisable for large amounts.
Hope I've covered everything, just ask again if I've missed something I can help further on.
This message was last edited by morerosado on 8/5/2008.
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Hi More,
What are the terms for opening a Nationwide Flexi Account.?
Do you need to maintain a minimum amount?
When you use your debit card here do you have to
wait till you get back to england to find out what rate you
have been given?
Also because you use Nationwide Flexi how do you
top up Halifax to pay bills ect?
Sorry for all questions but am thinking of opening a
Nationwide Fexi when we get back to england.
By the way More THANKS for trying to help AND hope
you enjoyed the sandwiches BUT the second filling
I have NEVER tried together.
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GYPSY
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Gypsy, I think we'll have to have our own thread "Gypsy's questions for overworked More "
What are the terms for opening a Nationwide Flexi Account.?
We opened with NOTHING ! We took £100 to local branch thinking we needed to put something in but manager said nothing was needed !! Took around 10 days to get debit cards, PINs, cheque books through post.
Do you need to maintain a minimum amount?
Nope ! We keep £5 maximum in as we withdraw cash from local Halifax a/c just before going to Spain & put it into Nationwide Flex a/c. On our return we withdraw anything over £5 & put it back into our high interest Halifax current a/c.
When you use your debit card here do you have to
wait till you get back to england to find out what rate you
have been given?
If you're online in Spain, you have access to your a/c online if set up with security. It shows you rate on that. We have to wait till we return as we don't have a PC in Spain & never use internet cafes or check up on it on friends PCs. We know N/wide Flex a/c gives us the very best rates & proved this again after our June withdrawals. As I've just posted in this thread " Sky yesterday said bank rate (not tourist rate which was 1.207) ) was 1.26 & a resident of La Marina said, using his Nationwide debit card in a Visa ATM, he got 1.258 & that's our experience too. In June we got 1.2460 which was just under bank rate."
Also because you use Nationwide Flexi how do you
top up Halifax to pay bills ect?
We just ensure when in Spain we get funds out of N/wide via Visa ATMs & give the cash to Banco Halifax. If we do forget or need funds in Spain before going again we just have to transfer free between our Halifax UK & Banco Halifax a/cs. Unfortunately, we don't do brilliantly but sometimes needs must.  Halifax currently don't operate a regular transfer or we'd be tempted to transfer a very small monthly amount to top up, with electricity & water bills being paid every two & three months respectively (as long as the rate was acceptable to us, of course).
You just need to think about what you need re funds long before going over & plan well, as we think we do.
Sorry for all questions no problem but am thinking of opening a
Nationwide Fexi when we get back to england. Good thinking.
This message was last edited by morerosado on 8/5/2008.
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Hi More,
I think you should be my adviser with all questions I ask you!!
Anyway thanks for all answers re Nationwide, will DEFINETLY
now open a flexi account as soon as we get back to england.
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GYPSY
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No problem, Gypsy. Read 96 reviews on Nationwide HERE
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Hi More thanks for the info on both banks (via answers to Gypsies questions) as l am with cam bank at the moment.Pat.
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Hi there,
Thanks for the masses of information but just to help the less clued up - meaning me  and to save me reading everything written on the subject......................
Is Currencies Direct equally good for sending out a large some of money as for monthly conversions ?
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Gilly & Ralph
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We used CD, Gillian but at the time made no comparisons. 2003 - 2005
Heard others say since that they set up with 2-3 currency banks then check rates when they need to send over. As rates change often every 10 mins I really fail to see there's much benefit in doing that. What one says ten mins ago isn't necessarily what you'll get from them 10 mins later if you understand what I'm on about. Also we set up a DD between our bank & CD as once you've arranged rate you need to get money to them within 48 hrs. So if others do the DD way that means setting up a DD for each company.  It takes a while to set up a DD too. This message was last edited by morerosado on 8/9/2008.
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I use World First - ask for Toby (mention my name Simon Longster). They offer a best rate guarantee - they will beat anyone in the market and they pay all transfer fees - Spanish banks charge as much as ,5% to receive !,
They are the only fully FSA authorised broker to offer 'hedging' strategies - if you have sleepless nights worrying about currency movements then you should check them out.
http://www.worldfirst.com/?ID=292
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www.CostaBlancaHomes.biz
Finding Properties, Businesses and Rentals
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Not technically about money transfers, but another nice bonus with Halifax Spain is that the debit card they issue is a visa electron. So what you may say? Try booking a flight online with Easy Jet or Ryanair, or anyone for that matter and you will see that they even now charge a 'handling fee' for debit cards.......except visa electron. We travel to Spain a lot and believe me it saves us quite a bit. Our account costs 25 euros per year, but it is well worth it as you don't get charged for using your card and there are some useful services for non residents.
Ken.
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Has anyone tried the money transfer price comparison site SendMoneyHome.org It compares the cost of all FX currency specialists
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when will we see 80p a euro again?
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Have you tried using the site Compare currency? Here you can compare different banks and currency brokers to find the best way to transfer money to Spain.
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Yesterday i had to make two transfers one with the bank giving me the exchange the other through a currency exchange company .
I could not believe it but i got a better rate with the bank taking into account the mid point spot price for the Euro.
So it is well worth checking out your bank
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I must admit I didn't find the rate given to me by Currencies Direct a lot better than my bank last month. The best rate I ever get is through my credit card (post office) where I get no charges and a rate almost as good as the quoted rate (I was getting 1.21 euros to the pound in August). Unfortunately you can't use it to transfer money.
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Little difference on any given day between Moneycorp, Hifx and currencies direct-however all will outperform a british bank by a long way-if you want service details and contact tels then please pm me.
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Nobody plans to fail, many fail to plan, sadly the result is the same.
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This making me think why I use my bank for so long!! I def gonna check out these companies. Damn I hate bankers!
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