Simplest way to pay Sterling into a UK account from Ireland

The Glass Key

I've an old Sterling account in the UK which I have some money in case I have to dash back to the UK anytime to see ailing relatives. In Ireland I only have a BoI euro account. The UK bank has said that if I don't make some transaction on the UK account in the next month the account will become inactive and the bank card I have with it won't work anymore.

To keep the account active whats the easiest and most cost effective way to pay a few quid into it from Ireland? BoI aren't in the least bit interested in helping. Ideally I need to make say 6 small payments a year to keep the account and bank card active.

JTMan

The simplest, make a payment of 1 EUR from your Irish current account directly into your GBP account using online banking. You will need the IBAN and BIC of the UK account. You can pay EUR into a GBP account, the receiving bank with FX the amount.

Alternatively, open a GBP account here and transfer the funds across.

GerardKeating

The Glass Key wrote: »

I've an old Sterling account in the UK which I have some money in case I have to dash back to the UK anytime to see ailing relatives. In Ireland I only have a BoI euro account. The UK bank has said that if I don't make some transaction on the UK account in the next month the account will become inactive and the bank card I have with it won't work anymore.

To keep the account active whats the easiest and most cost effective way to pay a few quid into it from Ireland? BoI aren't in the least bit interested in helping. Ideally I need to make say 6 small payments a year to keep the account and bank card active.

What UK Bank is it ?

Assuming you do not have friends in the UK to do it, a bus to the nearest Northern Ireland branch?

The Glass Key

I'm down in Waterford and my UK relatives are all so old its a major effort for them to get out at all, I often have to do a load of banking stuff for them when I go over, problem is I'm only over there 2 or 3 times a year and often there is a 6 month gap when the account isn't used.

No idea who they are now but originally my UK bank was the Yorkshire Bank.

I've asked a few times in BoI and they just say that there is nothing they can do to help.

I was thinking I could set myself up a paypal account using the UK account and pay myself from my Irish paypal account, but it gets a bit complicated for something that should be quite easy.

But I'll probably try what Fugus suggested even though BoI have told me on numerous occasions that I can't.

Yggr of Asgard

The IBAN method that Fungus mentioned is the easiest and BOI should allow you to do it for the same charge they ask you to pay for a domestic transaction.

I assume that to keep the account open you just need any transaction inbound, not necessary from you? In that case you could do a small transaction via for example transferwise which for small amounts (up to 200€) costs 1€.

Paypal also is risky because you are not supposed to have 2 different accounts in 2 different countries.

Richard

Yorkshire Bank is still Yorkshire Bank. They used to be in the same group as National Irish Bank until the latter (and Northern Bank) were sold a few years ago.

I wonder, however whether your local Danske Bank might be able to help.

Do you really need to keep it open? It might just be easier to close it and convert the money back to €. If you need to go to the UK in the future, get sterling out of the ATM.

The Glass Key

Richard wrote: »

Yorkshire Bank is still Yorkshire Bank. They used to be in the same group as National Irish Bank until the latter (and Northern Bank) were sold a few years ago.

I wonder, however whether your local Danske Bank might be able to help.

Do you really need to keep it open? It might just be easier to close it and convert the money back to €. If you need to go to the UK in the future, get sterling out of the ATM.

You are of course right but the big advantage is I'm not going to spend the sterling in a hurry so its there when I need it to go to the UK, the euros might not be

Marcusm

Why not simply take the ATM card to your local bank and withdraw €10. There'll be an fx charge but cheaper than an interbank transfer. Surely that will be enough if all that is needed is activity.

skippy2

Use Currency Fair........Once setup it works a breeze and simple to do. I have used them many times for transfers to UK and abroad and if you already have a UK account even easier. Good Rates and very low fee i think €3 per transaction

The Glass Key

Thanks guys, but as with all the best laid plans of mice and men nothing goes to plan and I discovered the plastic was out of date so have had to write to the bank requesting a new card and for them to if necessary reactivate my account.

One thing I did discover to my surprise was that I still had internet banking working, I set it up 4 years ago checked it once back then and never used it again till this week when I found the original documentation and tracked down the password and question answers needed for access. So I can now make online payments anytime (unlike my nanny BoI account where they want me to verify setting up new payees).

The current plan is to put some extra in the account next time I'm in the UK and then use it when I buy stuff online from Amazon (assuming the card will work with Amazon), at least that way I am actively using the account so I won't forget about it between trips to the UK which is what happens atm.