Money transfers, Bank a/cs & Peage Tags

Hi all. I am currently selling my UK house and hopefully buying a French home shortly (if Brexit doesn’t ruin my plans too badly!).

Will need to send circa £500k over at some point so any advice on firms to use? Transferwise??

Also I’ve not opened a French bank account yet - so any tips on who is best? I will live in France but flit back regularly. I have UK accounts with Barclays and TSB.

Many thanks, M

Hello Martin and welcome to the forum…

I’ve moved your thread into the Banking and Financial… this subject was discussed towards the end of last year… just click on the link below…

[Banking recommendations for new arrivals?]

How good is your French?

I would normally recommend Transferwise - both as a multi currency bank and as a means of transferring. AT 500k it may be worth shopping around - all the big FX companies do haggle when the sums are big,

Set up an account or two do the security checks now - then get a total figure via TW then ring round. Its not worth the hassle for monthly figures but the rates quoted will jump when you make them compete.

But said it before - ignore “fees” - the only figure that matters is how many Euros you get the rest is just smoke and mirrors

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Im learning but pretty basic right now :-/

In which case you might want to look at Britline - they are a branch of CA Normandie aimed at Brits and have an English speaking customer services line, though on-line stuff needs at least a smattering of French as they just use the normal CA Normandie website.

The main disadvantage - apart from the fact that CA are not the most modern or progressive of French banks is that they are one of the regional franchises so your local CA branch, unless you buy property in Normandy, won’t be able to do much for you.

We are with Britline - they seem fine and ability to ring them up in English is a godsend.

Also worth considering Revolut for easy best rate small transfers.

Thanks Paul. We are looking to buy in the Alps and there is a little CA in the village we like - but understand they work regionally.
Main purpose right now is to start a small account for regular spending when we are over house hunting so I have a debit card that doesn’t stiff me with charges every time I use it like my UK ones! So if Britline mainly just works online then that’s probably fine.

CA are generally very helpful… and arrange an English Speaking member of staff/liaison for such customers as may need it. you will probably/possibly find it useful to have them/similar as a local bank that you can pop into once you decide where you are living.

Happy house hunting…

Revolut sounds perfect for this.

The application process for Britline is a long winding road!

I must admit it didn’t strike me as much more long or winding than average - there was the usual prove where the funds are coming from thing but other than that reasonably straightforward.

I seem to remember the application form was OK but there were many supporting documents required. It tool about 2 weeks in 2014 - I think the process may take longer now?

I think Revolut took about 2 minutes!

We opened the Britline account in late 2014 as well - yes they did want a few things but not difficult to get together.

Just had a look. They do need a pile of docs but all scanable so no big issue. Main barrier is they need a min deposit of £2500 to open an account which I don’t have sitting around just now! Have opened a Revolut though - and yes took 2 mins.
Thanks Gents

The Good News … is that it is now very easy to change Banks… very easy By Law… as in the past, some Banks charged excessively…delayed things… all sorts of ploys… but they are not allowed to be naughty/unhelpful nowadays… :hugs:

Oh, yeah - forgot that, they want a minimum in the account as well. Pain in the tush given that French current accounts don’t pay interest.

Mind you I moved a bit over in case Brexit does down the “no deal” route so don’t have to worry about that for the moment (except for the lack of interest).

My advice would be to have a local bank that gets to know you as an individual not just an account. I’m with Banque Populaire and my ‘personal banker’ can be contacted by email. I’ve even received answers from her on a Sunday. Posters often complain about being unable to access their own money due to card limits etc, I’ve never suffered that and have presumed it’s because I have a Livret A in addition to my current account plus other investments with the bank. I would guess it’s the same with most banks these days but their online banking is really good.
La Poste is a popular choice as well.

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+1 for Revolut

As I understand it, Revolut is not covered by FSA protection so don’t use it for anything other than small sums. Certainly not for the house transfer!

Britline worked fine for us, and when we moved Departments the local CA branch were helpful despite not having the account with them. So much is online that you hardly need a branch anyway.

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REVOLUT:

Is my money safe?

Client funds are stored under a segregated account at Lloyd’s or Barclays, depending on the type of account you hold. Your money is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. As an FCA authorised institution, Revolut safeguards your funds as per FCA requirements, the Electronic Money Regulations 2011, and the Payment Services Regulations 2017. In the event of an insolvency of Revolut, you will be able to claim your funds from this segregated account and your claim will be paid above all other creditors.

All your card transactions are processed by the Mastercard, Maestro, or Visa network and are protected by Mastercard, Maestro, or Visa rules.