Another help please

I need to make a payment to a UK bank account and of course today is Monday. I bank with Credit Agricole and have online access but I have looked and looked and just cannot see where I can make a Swift payment...Anyone have any ideas of how to do it or must I go to the bank tomorrow??


Thanks

Hi Sheila, yes I know there is a limit on the cash-point, that is normal but not to be able to spend what is in our account, unbelievable !!!!

It's a security issue, and is quite common in banks in many countries. There's a limit to how much you can take out of the Distributeur. You are free to move money around by online banking. If you wish to withdraw a large sum at your local branch, you might have to give notice, unless you are in a city. With Credit Agricole, you have to add the beneficiary first which with my branch, required that I enter a code sent via SMS.

When we opened our account here in St. Girons with CIC, they told us the same exact thing -- that we are only allowed to withdraw a certain amount each month. I never heard of such a thing in any other country we have lived in! For heaven's sake -- it is OUR money and if it's in the account, we certainly should be able to access it fully the way we do in the UK or Australia. It may be the 'French way' of doing things, but I think it's crazy.

Thanks deborah, just phoned the English speaking section of Credit Agricole and the reason we cant use our debit card is the bank has put a monthly limit on how much we can spend!!!! I've never heard anything like it...we have the money in the bank and are unable to use it via our debit card...what is that about??? It cant be money laundering as they can see where and who from the money came and they know we sold our car...just as well I asked and didn't just use it, that could have been embarassing....

Here's a direct contact person for you, Maria -- the Associate Director of Currency Fair.

Hi Deborah,

Thanks for your email and thanks for the referral – glad you like the service! Feel free to pass on my contact details to anyone who is having any issues. I would be happy to talk to them directly about CurrencyFair.

Thanks again and if you ever have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch.

All the best
Tim

Tim Porter - Associate Director
M +44 7803 922 776, T +44 20 3384 6290
E: timporter@currencyfair.com W: www.currencyfair.com
CurrencyFair Limited CRO 469391 (Incorporated in Ireland)
Registered Office: 26 Pembroke Street Upper, Dublin 2, Ireland

They are lovely folks, Maria. Any question that I have ever asked has always been answered via email within 24 hours and usually within a very FEW hours. Just write to them at theteam@currencyfair.com and they will walk you through all of the steps. AND if you need to speak with someone, you'll get a phone call that takes you point by point through the procedures to add accounts, etc.

Thanks for that Brian and Deborah, I've always been a bit dubious about transferring money on the internet, scared it might disappear into cyber space but am going to study the website now....

Will confirm Deborah's estimate, averages 3 days.

I can't state with utmost certainty because I am not running the bank, but in my personal experience it has taken between 2 to 4-1/2 business days for every single transfer I have made -- whether to and from Australia or to and from France & UK.

The last time I did a transfer from my French account on a Monday night, it was in my UK account by late Wednesday afternoon. That seems to be the norm in my own case. Hope that helps.

How long does it take to get into the English bank account please Deborah??

You are very welcome. I did a 'proposed' test run on €4,000 to £s and the figures came up over €100 cheaper than using the banks both from the exchange rate (which is always better) and the fees. Just so you know, I have no association with Currency Fair other than being a happy little customer who didn't appreciate the high costs of the bank fees.

Thanks Deborah for the tip....

We transfer money back and forth between Australia, the UK, and France quite safely and CHEAPLY every month via Currency Fair. http://www.currencyfair.com/ We got rather tired of feeling ripped off by the bank fees for money transfers at our bank in Australia AND at Barclay's who charged us to receive money.


Once you have set up your account with the details from your account in France and your account in the UK, you can transfer money from account to account for about 4 to 6 pounds total per transaction. This is a reliable and very safe company that has been written up in The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian in the UK and I have had simply wonderful and reliable service from them. Good luck!

Thanks Brian, there is no other way we can do it. It is to buy a car and although the money is in our CA account and we have a Visa debit card the lady at the bank said we are only allowed to spend 4,500euros per month???? I just couldn't understand this...if my hubby was to buy a car on the last day of the month he could spend 9000 euros, 4,500 for the last day and 4,500 for the 1st day. We want to buy an english car in pounds so that is not enough...have you ever heard of anything like that????

Maria be careful about allowing for the charges for exchange. My OH sent some money to Switzerland though CA recently and got a message back saying she had paid X too little. She allowed generously on about €1650 to pay CHF2000 and then found that although she had allowed €30 in case, they had charged her €34! For what?

Hi Tracy, Thanks, that is what I was worried about, hope it doesn't take too long....OMG wish we were in the euro, would make like so much simpler...

Hi, we have a CA des Savoie account and the only way to set up a new international payee is to ask the bank to set it up, then we can make transfers afterwards.