Sterlings to Euro

mumairsharif

I'm working in Northern Ireland & living in Republic.
Converting money through banks is costing a fortune.
Is there a better way?

srsly78

Use an fx broker (fx is fancy abbreviation for "foreign exchange"). This will require id etc to sign up, but once you do you can get a much better rate.

There are lots of online ones, one example would be www.currencyfair.com

dublin daz

Danske Bank do not charge commission on transfers within the Group.

I don't know how easy it is now since the banks merged into Danske (probably a lot easier) - I used to have an account in Northern Bank and then my National Irish one and transfers were free. Check their rates also.

tomfoolery60

I use transfer wise to send money the other way (EUR to GBP) for trips, etc. Excellent service and really easy to use. Basically get the market rate and pay maybe €1 commission and you can use your debit card to transfer the funds.

Yggr of Asgard

tomfoolery60 wrote: »

I use transfer wise to send money the other way (EUR to GBP) for trips, etc. Excellent service and really easy to use. Basically get the market rate and pay maybe €1 commission and you can use your debit card to transfer the funds.

I second that one, I found that for smaller amounts it even works out cheaper than using my credit card plus you can pay anyone.

I.e. you could pay your Irish € bill directly via transferwise and charge the amount to your £ debit card or pay into their UK bank account.

That way you can keep your money in £ and only convert what you need to €.

Richard

Halifax UK do a credit card which doesn't charge any conversion fees. Don't know whether you'll qualify however.

[url]Http://www.halifax.co.uk/creditcards/low-rate-no-fee/clarity-card/[/url]

You can also withdraw from a cashpoint in the south (or elsewhere in the world) without an initial fee but you are then charged interest in quite a weird way which can get expensive. If you stick to purchases it's fine.

The rates are the standard rates - similar to http://www.xe.com

srsly78

Don't be fooled by phrases like "standard rates", or "commission free".

Currency changers make their money on the spread, which is the difference between the wholesale market rate and what they are willing to give you. Thus the ONLY thing that matters is how many euros you get for your sterling. "Commission free" usually means there is no extra charge, but the spread might be 2%.

srsly78

kooga wrote: »

my wife works in NI and her salary goes into her BoI account in the north and we have a joint account with BoI in the south.

All i do once a month is go into my BoI branch in the south and debit the NI account and transfer to the southern account. Rate is ok and never paid any commission.

You are throwing 1-2% of your salary away. The rate from the bank is lousy, never use the bank to do big or regular transfers - and never trust their advice!

When it comes to large amounts of money (like your annual salary) it definitely pays to shop around for a good rate. Yeah yeah 2% doesn't really matter if you are only sending a couple of hundred quid, but for your annual salary it definitely does.