# Small Cash Transfers / Withdrawls



## Dave and Anne Galicia (Nov 15, 2008)

As a Nationwide BS customer now facing the 2% commission plus £1 charge for cash wihdrawls in Spain, am I correct in thinking that for small sums this method is still more economical than using the likes of Xe.com to transfer small sums direct to my Spanish bank?

I appreciate that there are several new UK based accounts/cash cards that offer free withdrawls from cash machines here, but they require UK residency to open.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Dave and Anne Galicia said:


> As a Nationwide BS customer now facing the 2% commission plus £1 charge for cash wihdrawls in Spain, am I correct in thinking that for small sums this method is still more economical than using the likes of Xe.com to transfer small sums direct to my Spanish bank?
> 
> I appreciate that there are several new UK based accounts/cash cards that offer free withdrawls from cash machines here, but they require UK residency to open.


Let me know if you find a better system, because I haven't yet

Hepa


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## fourgotospain (May 4, 2009)

Outrageous isn't it?? I only realised when I took out the money that the kids were given by their UK relatives!!


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

To combat the commission, one has to wait until the exchange rate is favourable, and then withdraw daily until the exchange rate drops. Because of the charges I shall wait a little longer it was at 1.20€ today,
Hepa


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## Dave and Anne Galicia (Nov 15, 2008)

You will regretably always be losing approximately 7 euros for every 300 euros you withdraw compared to the good old days with Nationwide or those who have one of the more recent accounts - Halifax Clarity, Metro Bank, Santander, Norwich and Peterborough BS etc. Perhaps not a lot for one tranaction but will work out at 200 -300 euros each year - thats about 150 bottles of wine to me which hurts! 

I was very surprised when I recently looked at the cost of using HiFX to transfer money from my UK Nationwide account to my Spanish account - it was very expensive unless you were looking at very large sums i.e. it was still better to withdraw 300 euro chunks from the cash machine using my Nationwide account. 

Xe.com apparently offers better rates but I have no experience with them.

I suppose if you have a UK address even if you are not UK resident you could open one of the above mentioned accounts!


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## MacRov (Oct 26, 2010)

Are nationwide happy for you to continue using your account even when you're no longer a UK resident ? I do all my banking through them and will be happy enough to continue using them. It's a pity about the commission but as posted it's probably still cheaper than using a transfer company.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

MacRov said:


> Are nationwide happy for you to continue using your account even when you're no longer a UK resident ? I do all my banking through them and will be happy enough to continue using them. It's a pity about the commission but as posted it's probably still cheaper than using a transfer company.


Nationwide allow us to use ours, also HSBC, Halifax, we do not have a UK address.

Also the daily amount you can draw out in Euros fluctuates with the exchange rate

Hepa


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## MacRov (Oct 26, 2010)

what about transferring from nationwide to a spanish bank to pay local bills, rent etc. Is that simple enough, I would imagine you would get the rate that nationwide is using that day ?


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

At 2% +£1 , you've only got to withdraw 600€ to make it worthwhile to use HSBc's bank transfer at £9 charge for up to £2k, surely ? The rates normally good as well, Plus the money is in your account before you can get to the bank.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

gus-lopez said:


> At 2% +£1 , you've only got to withdraw 600€ to make it worthwhile to use HSBc's bank transfer at £9 charge for up to £2k, surely ? The rates normally good as well, Plus the money is in your account before you can get to the bank.



Do not forget that most Spanish banks charge to receive a foreign currency transfer, whereas the don't charge for a cash deposit,

H


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## MacRov (Oct 26, 2010)

gus-lopez said:


> At 2% +£1 , you've only got to withdraw 600€ to make it worthwhile to use HSBc's bank transfer at £9 charge for up to £2k, surely ? The rates normally good as well, Plus the money is in your account before you can get to the bank.


Don't HSBC charge some ridiculous monthly fee for international accounts though ?


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

MacRov said:


> Don't HSBC charge some ridiculous monthly fee for international accounts though ?


The only accounts we have are the UK accounts with Hsbc & lloyds/tsb which we had in the Uk & when we moved here we just changed the address over to here in spain. we just use internet banking to transfer money ( what's left over there ! ) in to our spanish account with "La caixa". Arrives in minutes,no charges for receiving.We don't pay anything in the way of bank charges in the UK & the accounts are still at the branches in Devon.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

gus-lopez said:


> The only accounts we have are the UK accounts with Hsbc & lloyds/tsb which we had in the Uk & when we moved here we just changed the address over to here in spain. we just use internet banking to transfer money ( what's left over there ! ) in to our spanish account with "La caixa". Arrives in minutes,no charges for receiving.We don't pay anything in the way of bank charges in the UK & the accounts are still at the branches in Devon.


I also have a Lacaixa account. The bank manager told me that for me to transfer from the U.K. he would charge me. I shall have to rattle his cage some more,

Hepa


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## mazlester (Oct 30, 2010)

Hi,

Have you checked out a pre paid card which you load up at a fixed exchange rate? You get the 'spot rate' which is more than any Bank rate it currently stands at 1.18Euros to the £. You are however charged 1.50Euros per transaction, so if you withdraw 50 or 5000 you are charged 1.50Euros. There is a card we use and I have posted on another thread and it's the FairFX card. we use it all the time but you have to have a UK Bank account to use it. 

Maria


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

mazlester said:


> Hi,
> 
> Have you checked out a pre paid card which you load up at a fixed exchange rate? You get the 'spot rate' which is more than any Bank rate it currently stands at 1.18Euros to the £. You are however charged 1.50Euros per transaction, so if you withdraw 50 or 5000 you are charged 1.50Euros. There is a card we use and I have posted on another thread and it's the FairFX card. we use it all the time but you have to have a UK Bank account to use it.
> 
> Maria


I have just tried and failed, you have to be a U.K. resident

Hepa


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Hepa said:


> I also have a Lacaixa account. The bank manager told me that for me to transfer from the U.K. he would charge me. I shall have to rattle his cage some more,
> 
> Hepa


I never said anything in our bank here. It just happened that I was looking to transfer some money back in april 2009 & was on the hsbc site which had up & running the new system of inter-european transfer ahead of it's launch. As long as you've got the IBAn/ Bic code for the receiving bank , which in my la caixa book is printed inside the front cover ,you're away. Just a point that concerned me was the Iban is for the head office in Barcelona which threw me to start with as I was expecting it to be the local office but the money arrived ok. The thing I did wrong with the 1st payment was where it said put in phone numbers ( so they can contact you. Something to do with money laundering .) I didn't & went on to the next page where it then told me that as I hadn't it could take up to 4 days while they did manual checks. There was no way of going back & altering it. It didn't matter as the money arrived the same day. I had to do 2 transfer shortly after & with the last one I clicked send & then drove to the bank. Less than 15mins & the money was already there & able to be drawn on. I've never paid anything this end just the £ 9 & click sender to pay all charges , which I assume covers everything.


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## MacRov (Oct 26, 2010)

mazlester said:


> Hi,
> 
> Have you checked out a pre paid card which you load up at a fixed exchange rate? You get the 'spot rate' which is more than any Bank rate it currently stands at 1.18Euros to the £. You are however charged 1.50Euros per transaction, so if you withdraw 50 or 5000 you are charged 1.50Euros. There is a card we use and I have posted on another thread and it's the FairFX card. we use it all the time but you have to have a UK Bank account to use it.
> 
> Maria


I have 2 of these pre-paid cards, 1 is a mastercard and 1 is a eurocard which would be fine for using on a day to day basis I suppose but don't think I'd be able to use them for bills n direct debits etc.
I know my pre-pay mastercard I can set up direct debits to it but i have a feeling it'll be uk ones only as you have to be a uk resident to get these cards.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

gus-lopez said:


> I never said anything in our bank here. Snip drawn on. I've never paid anything this end just the £ 9 & click sender to pay all charges , which I assume covers everything.


That is most interesting! might just be the answer, I shall give it a go, and say nowt,

Thanks,

Hepa


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## Donna773 (Dec 12, 2010)

*Faith, hope and Clarity...*

I took MoneySavingExpert.com's advice when Nationwide started charging for withdrawals - and took out a Halifax Clarity credit card. They don't charge for cash withdrawals, but you have to pay daily interest on the money. The first time I used the card I withdrew 300 euros and tried to pay it off online straight away. My online Halifax account would not allow me to do it and I have since ended up with all sorts of problems. It seems we lose out on our own money everywhere these days. Last October I started feeding my Cam Spanish account with £200 a month from my Halifax Ultimate Reward account via Foreign Currency Direct and have no idea whether I am getting a reasonable deal. (Last month's £200 ended up as 231.58 when it reached Cam on December 16th). I have another payment due in this week and I'm very apprehensive about it.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Donna773 said:


> I took MoneySavingExpert.com's advice when Nationwide started charging for withdrawals - and took out a Halifax Clarity credit card. They don't charge for cash withdrawals, but you have to pay daily interest on the money. The first time I used the card I withdrew 300 euros and tried to pay it off online straight away. My online Halifax account would not allow me to do it and I have since ended up with all sorts of problems. It seems we lose out on our own money everywhere these days. Last October I started feeding my Cam Spanish account with £200 a month from my Halifax Ultimate Reward account via Foreign Currency Direct and have no idea whether I am getting a reasonable deal. (Last month's £200 ended up as 231.58 when it reached Cam on December 16th). I have another payment due in this week and I'm very apprehensive about it.


Be very wary of Halifax, or Lloyds as it is now. The "free" transfer between UK and Spain used to be a couple of percentage points below the official exchange rate; this has been getting worse and worse and yesterday it was five points lower - 1.15 compared to 1.20.


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## mazlester (Oct 30, 2010)

Hi,

I've just had an email from FairFX about a new service available which may be of use to some: It's called FairPay and here is the low down!

'FairFX has now taken its revolutionary approach to foreign exchange to the next level, offering clients the functionality to transfer Euros and US dollars internationally with the release of its new International Online Payments facility.

Clients can now send money overseas to any number of beneficiaries (family, friends and range of commercial enterprises or organisations). The facility offers a simple, transparent and automated approach to making smaller currency transfers more efficient and convenient. Clients can transfer any amount from £500 - £10,000.

# Free Currency transfers - No transaction fee! No Payment fee!
# Competitive online exchange rates - Transfer funds at business level rates of foreign exchange.
# Low minimum transfer size - Transfer from as little as £500.00 

Hope it's of use!

Maria


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## Gorky's Mum (Jan 26, 2012)

Hi all, I'm new to this forum so it's good to meet you all!
We have been living in Extremadura for 3 years and have always used Exchange Companies (TorFX or OmnisFX). The reason is simple. I transfer money to TorFX online (free) into my named account. They offer me good rates e.g. if the inter-bank rate is 1.20 I will get approx 1.185. TorFX send money same day by SWIFT Transfer (free) and it arrives same day. The UK banks and Building societies would offer 1.15 max and charge for SWIFT Transfer about £15 or £25. If you are transfering say £12,000 per year that gives an extra £600pa. I'd be interested to know if anyone has found anything better - as we live on pensions every euro counts!!
It would be great to hear from you,
Regards
Gorky's Mum (Gorky is our oldest cat!)


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Hi Gorky´s Mum - now I'm wondering what the younger cats are called ! Did people ever mistakenly call him Gawky?

We use HiFX which is similar to what you describe. The larger the amount the better the rate, so I usually wait till we've got five grand or so in the UK pensions account then move it over when the exchange rate is good. But I realise not everyone can do that.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I use Foreign Money & Currency Exchange Services, Euro Exchange, UK Currency Converter :: SmartCurrencyExchange.com I set the exchange rate, say for example 1.25 to the pound and wait until it gets there, then they buy me the currency and transfer the same. No commission over 3000 pounds. Extremely professional, I cannot fault them.


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## Gorky's Mum (Jan 26, 2012)

Alcalaina said:


> Hi Gorky´s Mum - now I'm wondering what the younger cats are called ! Did people ever mistakenly call him Gawky?
> 
> We use HiFX which is similar to what you describe. The larger the amount the better the rate, so I usually wait till we've got five grand or so in the UK pensions account then move it over when the exchange rate is good. But I realise not everyone can do that.


What Ho! You may regret the question but here goes:-
We have Gorky, Dizzy, Pickle, Jaffa, Kojak and Fluffy all of whom we brought from the UK, Dottie and Sheba who adopted us last year and the latest addition the puppy Alfie.

Re money, I agree and usually move similar amounts BUT last week a transaction has got lost! I am assured it has left the UK but as yet has not found my account. The problem I am encountering is that I can't find out who is responsible for it once it has been sent. I'm thinking of learning to swear in spanish so I can let off some steam!!! I'll let you know what happens.

So where are you living? You'll have to be a bit specific as I don't know southern spain well other than Malaga airport! We are in Extremadura and absolutely love it, it's old spain, no-one speaks english, no crime, beautiful countryside and lovely people - (mind you no central heating, no take-ways either!!!)
Anyway, good to hear from you
Regards
Eddie (Edwina) Richards


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## Gorky's Mum (Jan 26, 2012)

*Thankyou.*



Hepa said:


> I use Foreign Money & Currency Exchange Services, Euro Exchange, UK Currency Converter :: SmartCurrencyExchange.com I set the exchange rate, say for example 1.25 to the pound and wait until it gets there, then they buy me the currency and transfer the same. No commission over 3000 pounds. Extremely professional, I cannot fault them.


Hi Hepa, thanks for that.
I am very envious of you living in el Hierro. We always wanted to go there but never made it. We had many holidays on La Gomera which is where we fell in love with the old spanish lifestyle but alas it was beyond our pocket to buy and live there, so we chose Extremadura in mainland spain which has proved a great choice.
How long have you been there and what is life like, I'd love to hear more about it if you have time,
Regards
Eddie (Edwina) Richards


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Gorky's Mum said:


> Hi Hepa, thanks for that.
> I am very envious of you living in el Hierro. We always wanted to go there but never made it. We had many holidays on La Gomera which is where we fell in love with the old spanish lifestyle but alas it was beyond our pocket to buy and live there, so we chose Extremadura in mainland spain which has proved a great choice.
> How long have you been there and what is life like, I'd love to hear more about it if you have time,
> Regards
> Eddie (Edwina) Richards


Life is warm and sunny, we have been cycling today!

P.M. en route,

Hepa


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Gorky's Mum said:


> What Ho! You may regret the question but here goes:-
> We have Gorky, Dizzy, Pickle, Jaffa, Kojak and Fluffy all of whom we brought from the UK, Dottie and Sheba who adopted us last year and the latest addition the puppy Alfie.
> 
> Re money, I agree and usually move similar amounts BUT last week a transaction has got lost! I am assured it has left the UK but as yet has not found my account. The problem I am encountering is that I can't find out who is responsible for it once it has been sent. I'm thinking of learning to swear in spanish so I can let off some steam!!! I'll let you know what happens.
> ...


How lovely, if and when I am a dotty old lady living on my own I am going to have a houseful of cats. We just have one at the moment, Dippy - she will be 20 in May. We lost her sister last year, aged 18.

We are in the Province of Cadiz, in Western Andalucia, due south of you. If you click the link on my signature you can find out more. We've driven through Extremadura a few times and been to Mérida to admire the amazing Roman buildings. When the cat permits, we will come and explore some more. Did you see the recent TV show all about food in Extremadura? You can watch it here:
'Un país para comérselo' descubre la Extremadura de los productos ibéricos - RTVE.es


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

My sister who is temporarily living in Spain uses the post office in England to do all her foreign exchange and swears by them. See below a bit from their website. Incidentally I believe that DWP uses the post office to pay pensions directly to Spain.

International Money Transfer | Post Office

why:
There are no fees

It costs you nothing to transfer your money. And with no hidden extras our international money transfer service is way ahead of the competition. We guarantee no transfer charges, no commission fees and no overseas bank receiving fees. If you’re charged receiving bank fees just send us a copy of your bank statement as proof of payment and we’ll give you a full refund.
A service you can trust

You’re transferring money with someone you can rely on. We’re a member of SWIFT which is the world’s largest payments and settlements network so its systems are highly secure.
Our exchange rates are competitive

You can fix your exchange rate for up to a year to protect your money from fluctuating currency values.
Get great customer service

Talk to our money transfer experts.


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## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

+ 1 for the Post Office


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## natalieml (May 9, 2010)

We have UK bank Accounts with Santander as we are still paid in £ we can draw €300 a day from the cashpioint machine in Spain (as longa s i8t si a Santander machine) for no fee and as long as we choose the option to be charged in Euros we get virtually the bank to bank rate. So if it is 1.20 we will get approx 1.185 - 1.19

WE have 3 accounts his, mone anda joint s can take €900 a day if required. It saves us a fortune as we also have Lloyds International (HAlifax) account but the rate is horrendous.

Hope this helps?

Nat


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Just done a search and this thread came up. just wondering how do some of you go about transfering either your pension and or savings in a drip feed to a spanish account. which is the best and cheapest way to do it as when the parents retire they will have savings and a lump sum but prob wont want to out it into a spanish bank. is. there a way to have it in a uk bank and have x amount srnt to a spanish account on a regular basis


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Lucie123 said:


> Just done a search and this thread came up. just wondering how do some of you go about transfering either your pension and or savings in a drip feed to a spanish account. which is the best and cheapest way to do it as when the parents retire they will have savings and a lump sum but prob wont want to out it into a spanish bank. is. there a way to have it in a uk bank and have x amount srnt to a spanish account on a regular basis



Yes, probably any bank, but it is expensive. I used Smart currency exchange only this week, I transferred over £3000, the Euro was 1.21 to the pound, they gave me 1.2050 to the pound and because it was an amount over 3000, no commission charged. They are very reliable, the money was in my Spanish account the same day. The first transfer is tedious, you have to provide details of your Spanish account, but after that it is easy, all done by email.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lucie123 said:


> Just done a search and this thread came up. just wondering how do some of you go about transfering either your pension and or savings in a drip feed to a spanish account. which is the best and cheapest way to do it as when the parents retire they will have savings and a lump sum but prob wont want to out it into a spanish bank. is. there a way to have it in a uk bank and have x amount srnt to a spanish account on a regular basis


the pension can be paid directly into a Spanish account - this is apparently the best/most cost-effective way to do it


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> the pension can be paid directly into a Spanish account - this is apparently the best/most cost-effective way to do it


I've heard that too - you get a better exchange rate than if you transfer small amounts yourself.


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Hepa said:


> Yes, probably any bank, but it is expensive. I used Smart currency exchange only this week, I transferred over £3000, the Euro was 1.21 to the pound, they gave me 1.2050 to the pound and because it was an amount over 3000, no commission charged. They are very reliable, the money was in my Spanish account the same day. The first transfer is tedious, you have to provide details of your Spanish account, but after that it is easy, all done by email.



thanks for that. and the pension commments so would it be posssbible to set up some sort of direct debit from a uk bank to a spanish one or would that be like doing an international transfer and you would get charged £20 think its that with our bank) everytime you do it.

the easiest way would be just to do it as you have said above?. can that be done online the same as if you do online banking in the uk


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

My pension has to be paid into a U.K. account, I have no choice, so I let it accumulate and when the rate is good I transfer a lump sum, with Smart Currency. Like I said over £3000 no commission and you can pre set the rate of exchange that you want the transfer to go through at. It is all done online or by Email.

Another way is to use Nationwide and use the hole in the wall, you get a reasonable rate of exchange, but they charge and you can only draw about £300 a day.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Just reading this jogged my memory that someone posted on another forum today that Halifax , or whatever they are called these days, have changed some of their IBan/bic codes.


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## ruefguet (Dec 8, 2011)

I have been using an online service for changing currencies, they also charge a very low amount when you transfer to your account. I have been very happy with the rates and the ease of use once you have your account set up. www.currencyfair.com


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## casa99 (Oct 19, 2010)

ruefguet said:


> I have been using an online service for changing currencies, they also charge a very low amount when you transfer to your account. I have been very happy with the rates and the ease of use once you have your account set up. CurrencyFair - Peer to Peer Foreign Exchange | CurrencyFair


I use a company called World First, my pension is transferred from my u.k. bank to my spanish bank every month with no charges at all , and you get a rate better than the tourist rate and its very easy to set up an account with them


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## mazlester (Oct 30, 2010)

gus-lopez said:


> Just reading this jogged my memory that someone posted on another forum today that Halifax , or whatever they are called these days, have changed some of their IBan/bic codes.


Lloyds have just changed theirs too I think it's connected.


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## mazlester (Oct 30, 2010)

Lucie123 said:


> Just done a search and this thread came up. just wondering how do some of you go about transfering either your pension and or savings in a drip feed to a spanish account. which is the best and cheapest way to do it as when the parents retire they will have savings and a lump sum but prob wont want to out it into a spanish bank. is. there a way to have it in a uk bank and have x amount srnt to a spanish account on a regular basis


I use FairFX there are 2 ways of getting cash over. The first one is on it's free paid card if you use it like a credit card then you're nit charged anything. If you draw out of an ATM then you're charged 1.50euros no matter what amount. The other way is straight into your bank account no commission with a £600 minimum transfer. The rate is better than the tourist rate I think it's currently 1.20eutos to the pound. All transactions are done online. Hope this helps!


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## Lucie123 (Dec 7, 2011)

Thanks


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