# Bank transfer



## Flavos (Mar 6, 2014)

Hi, we are coming to spain in May to sort out a spanish bank account, using our Nie numbers and also hopefully view some long term rentals, we are also going to the town hall to sign on the padrone, we wish to start a monthly bank transfer from our uk account to our new Spanish account so that when we apply for residency there will be a track record of my pension going into the account, we are both pre normal government pension age but i am receiving a government SERVICE pension which can only be taxed in the UK, we intend to have € 10k in the spanish bank account on top of the normal monthly transfer(to show we wont be a financial burden to Spain) we will also have private medical insurance in place! So.......... My questions are can i do a straight bank transfer from my Nat west or lloyds account to the spanish account? And can i set up a standing order from either bank to my spanish account? So that we can show a history of€1500 per month going into the Spanish account ,And is this the best way of doing it? ( once we are settled i will get my pension payed directly from the government to my spanish account) .thanks for any advice


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Flavos said:


> Hi, we are coming to spain in May to sort out a spanish bank account, using our Nie numbers and also hopefully view some long term rentals, we are also going to the town hall to sign on the padrone, we wish to start a monthly bank transfer from our uk account to our new Spanish account so that when we apply for residency there will be a track record of my pension going into the account, we are both pre normal government pension age but i am receiving a government SERVICE pension which can only be taxed in the UK, we intend to have € 10k in the spanish bank account on top of the normal monthly transfer(to show we wont be a financial burden to Spain) we will also have private medical insurance in place! So.......... My questions are can i do a straight bank transfer from my Nat west or lloyds account to the spanish account? And can i set up a standing order from either bank to my spanish account? So that we can show a history of€1500 per month going into the Spanish account ,And is this the best way of doing it? ( once we are settled i will get my pension payed directly from the government to my spanish account) .thanks for any advice


you can't & mustn't sign on the padrón until you are living here

but yes, you can have a regular transfer set up from your UK bank to your Spanish one

if you have a look around the forum though, I think there are more cost-effective ways of doing it - there have been a lot of discussions about it


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

It's worth looking at specialist currency transfer services like CurrencyFair, because they usually offer much better exchange rates than the banks. The money goes into your CurrencyFair account from your UK account and they pay it into your Spanish account in euros.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Your service pension can be paid directly into your Spanish account and will be paid at the exchange rate at the time of the transfer with no fees.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

I second the suggestion of using Currency Fair. I use them to make regular transfers from my UK account to the Spanish one and the service has always been excellent. They offer a much better exchange rate than the high street banks (the bank rate right now is around 1.1950, I would get at least 1.19 with CF) and charge a flat fee of €3 per standard transfer, no matter what the amount. There is a faster transfer available for a higher fee (€12 I think) but the funds have always been received in my Spanish account within 24 hours anyway using the standard one.

Compare those rates and fees with what NatWest would charge.

It is very easy to set up an account with CF, everything is done online.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

Don't use a U.K. bank, they are not competitive, use a currency exchange company, I have been using Smart in London, there are many all pretty much the same, they will dave you money, better in your pocket than the U.K. Banks


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## Flavos (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks for the replies.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Forget all this business of using currency exchanges, if the paying authority are prepared to pay it direct to your Spanish bank account with no fees then that is the best way to go. You will get the official exchange rate of the day (the best rate you can get). When you get your OAP it can be also paid direct to your Spanish account and is there the same day that it would be in the UK, at the daily rate of exchange and no fee.


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## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

Hi Flavos,

We moved to the Mijas area, last year, February 2013.

We first obtained our Residencia - then, signed on the Padron, which is the correct procedure in these parts.

We opened a non resident's bank account, prior to moving to Spain & arranged for our various pensions, including my Civil Service Government one, to be paid directly into our Spanish account.

Once resident, we changed the account to that status. It creates more work, though - they give you a new account number !!

Best of luck for the future..


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

baldilocks said:


> Forget all this business of using currency exchanges, if the paying authority are prepared to pay it direct to your Spanish bank account with no fees then that is the best way to go. You will get the official exchange rate of the day (the best rate you can get). When you get your OAP it can be also paid direct to your Spanish account and is there the same day that it would be in the UK, at the daily rate of exchange and no fee.


Having the pension paid direct is fine, but when the time comes for me I won't want all of it transferred straight to my Spanish account. I still have a UK credit card and visit a couple of times a year, so I use the funds in my UK account to pay for stuff whilst I'm there or online shopping from here. Using a currency exchange firm means I can choose how much to transfer month by month, at low cost.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> Having the pension paid direct is fine, but when the time comes for me I won't want all of it transferred straight to my Spanish account. I still have a UK credit card and visit a couple of times a year, so I use the funds in my UK account to pay for stuff whilst I'm there or online shopping from here. Using a currency exchange firm means I can choose how much to transfer month by month, at low cost.


Yes, I have a couple of small pensions which, individually, would be too costly to have paid in Spain so I have those paid into my old UK account for UK shopping. Occasionally, if the balance builds up into quite a healthy amount (e.g. > £1500) then I transfer say £1000 to our Spanish account.


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