# Bank Robbery (Sorry...Charges!!!).



## jamtart98 (Jun 3, 2010)

Hi Fellow ExPats.
I think I,m beyond help on this one but possibly someone might have good advice for me.

Today I deposited a cheque from HMRC for 30 pounds to my Banco Popular Andalucia account.

On receiving a receipt I noted the 30 pounds had converted to 36.82 euros.

The horror part of it was the deduction of 15 euros "Commision Negocio"(Business Commision) Minimum charge plus 4 euros "Commision Cambio de Divisa"....changing from pounds to euros.

19 euros taken from 36.82 euros.

No doubt it is perfectly legal but in my opinion these charges are absurd.

Can anyone advise me as to whether I could appeal these charges? The 4 euros I could accept but 15 euros minimum is in my book akin to robbery.

What would happen if the cheque had been for less than 15 euros?Would I then have had to pay THEM the difference?

I have for some time now been thinking of changing to Lloyds Bank here in Spain and will go to their office on Monday to see how they compare overall with Spanish Banks.

If anyone is banking with them and can offer pluses and minuses I would much appreciate it.

Thank You.


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

...and all done without asking you!!! Robbers perhaps was the right word.


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## Twain (May 24, 2009)

The key here is that you did it by cheque.
That's very expensive today.

Also, you should have sent EUR and not GBP.
As the cost for the exchange is not that high in your british bank I guess.

For me, using my internet banking,(norwegian bank) it'll cost me ca 3 euros to transfer NOK to EUR, within 3 banking days.
If I need it express (same or next day) it cost me ca 47 euro, still electronical and done by myself.

If I went to the bank and asked them to do it for me, a normal transfer would cost me ca 20 euros.
And express as much as 54 euros.


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## whitenoiz (Sep 18, 2012)

We use La Caixa and on an intermittent basis pay in cheques from both the UK and the USA.
We get the going business exchange rate of the day on the day that the cheques are paid in and we pay 4€ per cheque commission. 
There is however a 20 working day period until we can actually draw on the funds deposited.
When we first started paying in cheques other than Euros we were charged 12€ total on the total value of the separate cheques. This changed in January 2011 to the 4€ per cheque we now pay.
Branch managers or sub-directors as they are known over here do have a degree of latitude regarding commission charges, but like all banks whether here or in the UK they will do whatever they can get away with unless you negotiaite a better rate. 

wn


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## Twain (May 24, 2009)

Why would people use cheques?
You pay 4€ and don't see your money in 20 days.
It's cheap for a cheque, but not a good deal since you part with your money for a very long period.

I pay 3€ and get the money in 3 days.


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## whitenoiz (Sep 18, 2012)

Twain said:


> Why would people use cheques?
> You pay 4€ and don't see your money in 20 days.
> It's cheap for a cheque, but not a good deal since you part with your money for a very long period.
> 
> I pay 3€ and get the money in 3 days.


Because UK HMRC and all other UK public departments use cheques as their preferred method of payment...

Also in our case with USA cheques, this is the cheapest way to re-imburse people acting as sales affiliates for US derived businesses. These cheques normally have a 60 or 90 day validity period, so unless one is actually desperate for access to the funds, one can choose a date to pay them into the bank when the exchange rate is favourable...

wn


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## jamtart98 (Jun 3, 2010)

Many Thanks for all the replies.

As one person says HMRC is a Govt. Dept. and uses cheques....only in UK pounds.

I,ll speak with the manager but I,m very doubtful if he,ll help.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

The simplest way is to keep a small free bank account in the UK into which you have paid those smaller incoming items that it is not worth the cost of processing to send them to your Spanish bank. You can then, either use the money to buy stuff through Amazon (free courier delivery if over 25€) or let it build up and then transfer a largish lump to Spain often for free or for the same as a smallish lump.

For example I have three small pensions which amount to just £230 per month. If I were to have each of these sent direct to Spain their value would reduce to about £150 so by using the above method I get fairly close to the full value.


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## jamtart98 (Jun 3, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> The simplest way is to keep a small free bank account in the UK into which you have paid those smaller incoming items that it is not worth the cost of processing to send them to your Spanish bank. You can then, either use the money to buy stuff through Amazon (free courier delivery if over 25€) or let it build up and then transfer a largish lump to Spain often for free or for the same as a smallish lump.
> 
> For example I have three small pensions which amount to just £230 per month. If I were to have each of these sent direct to Spain their value would reduce to about £150 so by using the above method I get fairly close to the full value.


Thanks, that,s a good idea and I do still have an account in Scotland.

I,ve got abigger cheque coming from HMRC and I,m having that sent to the Scottish bank and will transfer money later.


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## Monkey Hangers (Jan 8, 2009)

Lloyds International do charge quite hefty fees for accepting cheques also. Can't give you a figure, but we lived in the US before here and had closed all our US accounts. We got a refund from the US bank in dollars, 36 I think it was. Lloyds told me it would cost as much to process it as it was worth!!
US bank wouldn't send me the refund in Euros or GBP's so I had to sign the cheque on the back and donate it to a friend who still lives over there.


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## Twain (May 24, 2009)

whitenoiz said:


> Because UK HMRC and all other UK public departments use cheques as their preferred method of payment...


Sorry, didn't know that.

Here in Norway everything is digital. (has been like this for many years now)
Not even used to use real money anymore, just the regular debet card (or credit cards if needed). Everything takes cards these days, even the parking lot machines.
Was a bit confusing to start counting the euro coins when I was in Spain


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