Money

is it possable to pay sterling into a spanish bank or a english check in pounds

yes but there will be a small charge.

Has anyone done this my bank in chatham said i carnt. Is the a limit of how much . Confused dot com

I didn't think you could. Ive used HIFX for larger amounts ie over £500, but if its a small amount I just get Euros over the Post Office counter. It would be interesting to know if you can do this and what the charges are. Who wants to be taking Euros on a flight at the moment, they may be worthless when you land!
Another point is, when we have traveled by ferry the customs have money sniffer dogs to make sure you are not taking large amounts of sterling out of the UK.

Dave wrote:I didn't think you could. Ive used HIFX for larger amounts ie over £500, but if its a small amount I just get Euros over the Post Office counter. It would be interesting to know if you can do this and what the charges are. Who wants to be taking Euros on a flight at the moment, they may be worthless when you land!
Another point is, when we have traveled by ferry the customs have money sniffer dogs to make sure you are not taking large amounts of sterling out of the UK.

You can legally take as much Sterling or Euro's in Cash, Cheque or Draft either out off or into the UK providing you are staying with in Europe. Google HMRC, UKBA or Directgov and you'll get all the details. You need to travel with proof of where the money has come from.

You can pay sterling cheques and drafts of any amount in to a Spanish Bank, amounts over 2999 or equivalent in Euro's needs a code attached by the bank, which is reported to the Hacienda against your NIE number in order to calculate tax liability if any. Cheques and Drafts take up to 6 weeks to clear as they are processed firstly by Madrid Clearing then UK Clearing.

On-line International transfers bank to bank are now limited to 500 Euro's per transfer.

There are no limits on international Bank to Bank transfers providing you visit your branch, but costs are high. Transfers below 50k receive less charges so for larger sums its more economical to carry out multiple transactions.

Points to Note

When travelling in Spain with more than 6000 Euro in Cash you MUST have a withdrawal receipt in case stopped by the boys in Green if not they will confiscate it until you prove where it has come from.

When Paying more than 2999 Euro's into a Spanish bank account in cash the Bank MUST INFORM the Hacienda so always make multiple deposits below this amount.

Simples

we bank in Cullar Caja rural, about 2 months ago we paid a uk cheque in and had no probs with doing it, the charge was about 10 euros.

the young ones wrote:we bank in Cullar Caja rural, about 2 months ago we paid a uk cheque in and had no probs with doing it, the charge was about 10 euros.

Yip its not a problem but I should have said the charge for paying in a UK Cheque or Draft is normally 0.35pc of the face value or if a large amount you can sometimes haggle

Im just trying to work out the best way of paying sterling in to our spanish acount. Wot do you advice

I like others use HIFX. You can do the whole transaction online. You can pay using a UK debit card and the transfer to the Spanish bank takes only about 4 days. They can also handle regular monthly transfers if you are paid to a UK bank and want it transferred to a Spanish Bank.

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Interesting thread, but I wonder, is it best to leave your sterling in a UK bank at the moment? Will the exchange rate improve due to the fun and games with the Euro?
You haven't said if its a large or small amount, which I wouldn't expect you to. But maybe that makes a difference?

I dont havto but i wonder if i am best to pay in small amounts and leve most in my uk acount

Its interesting to note that during the whole euro crisis of the last few weeks sterling never got above 1.175 even thought UK Government bonds where seen as a safer option. This low exchange rate, those of us who have been here for years will remember 1.49, is due to the UK seen as isolated by the markets, with little or no growth.

In terms of the euro, should Greece default and fall out then the Euro would initially be strengthened, however if Italy where to do the same you could expect a total devaluation, or possible 2 tier monetary system both of which would impact on sterling so again the exchange rate wouldn't really improve much.

The best thinking at the moment is to simply follow the market and buy euro when at 1.17, if you can get that rate, try moneycorp. AND KEEP YOUR MONEY in a UK bank but only because its better protected and an easier process to recover should the back go belly up.

Its also worth mentioning that there is a potential problem looming for Spain after the 20th when as is expected the current administration is ousted in the elections and a new Government is formed.

Similarly to the UK it is thought that when the new powers investigate the books thoroughly the extend of the real Spanish Finances will be revealed, resulting in more austerity, more protests and worst of all more German interference.

Spain is one of the few countries petitioning Germany heavily to stop its vito on the ECB which would be fantastic for the euro as they should have a licence to print money and buy bonds, will it happen probably not as Merkel is determined to rule Europe with unelected ex European ministers etc.

Interesting !!!

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