# Banks with best FX rates or waiver on FCY withdrawal?



## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

As I will be in the position of choosing a corporate and personal bank account this year, I am wondering if someone has gone through the hassle of comparing FX rates of UAE banks? Which banks have the lowest margin when it comes to foreign currency exchange?

Does any bank, or perhaps some kind of special / preferred status within the bank, offers ability of FCY cash withdrawal (EUR to be exact) over the counter free of charge?


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

None - they are all terrible.

Unless the sums are huge, you're better of taking the money out in cash and doing a money transfer from one of the dozens of places like Al Ansari etc.

Nothing is free in Dubai. Nothing is free from a bank. 'Commission free' just means 'we have already built it into the rates so you will pay for it anyway'


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

So starting from which amounts you can get preferred FX rates in the bank? Which bank would be best in this scenario?

I understand that nothing is free in Dubai, in fact nothing is free anywhere these days. I was just curious if there are some kind of preferred / premier banking statuses that could perhaps allow you to have certain fees waived, such as FCY cash withdrawals.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Refer to the bit where i said about 'fee free' being included in the rates. They may say you get preferential rates (mine does) but I can still walk into a certain branch of Al Ansari with cash and beat it every time.

I have only transferred money from my bank once - and only because I really had to, for reasons associated with a relocation. All other times I take a large slug of cash out and store it in the safe, and when I have enough, go looking for a decent rate, which is never the one on the board. I always get a better one with a bit of haggling.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

I don't mind taking out cash and going to best money changer for FCY exchange. The issue however is that whole operation might be pointless considering 1% FCY cash withdrawal that banks impose (at least NBAD does it when I checked).


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Why would you withdraw foreign currency from a bank ?

Take out Dirhams and get the money exchange people to do it, when they do the transfer.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

twowheelsgood said:


> Why would you withdraw foreign currency from a bank ?
> 
> Take out Dirhams and get the money exchange people to do it, when they do the transfer.


I am talking about a situation where you have a company which gets paid in FCY to UAE bank account. You need to convert FCY to AED at some point, be it bank or money changer. Hence my thread on this.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Sorry, you post says you are choosing a bank account. 

Are you talking about a company bank account or a personal one, as I understood from your original post that it was a personal one ?

Just get your clients to pay in Dirhams.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

It doesn't matter if personal or corporate bank account so long I can get the best FX rates or FCY cash withdrawal waiver. If you have both corporate and personal bank account within the same bank, you can most probably send payments internally back and forth free or charge regardless if it is AED or FCY transfer.

I can't be paid in AED, I wouldn't even want to. I prefer to keep FCY.


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Malbec said:


> II can't be paid in AED, I wouldn't even want to. I prefer to keep FCY.


So how do you expect to do business in the UAE ? Why would you have a business here then ?


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

twowheelsgood said:


> So how do you expect to do business in the UAE ? Why would you have a business here then ?


For residency purposes. Are you a spy?


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Malbec said:


> For residency purposes. Are you a spy?


To be a resident, you either have to be employed by someone else, or set up a company. If you set up a company, you will either need to give up 51% to an Emirati, or set up a Freezone company, which will require you to pay regular large sums in Dirhams. Either way, you are going to need a lot of Dirhams to pay your way.

I don't think you have thought all this through very well - you're worrying about an exchange rate and trying to avoid all liabilities in dirhams, when what you need to do, to be here, is to spend a lot of money locally.

Do you think the UAE will allow you to live here without contributing something to the local economy ?

I'm not a spy, but we do have quite a few optimist posts on the forum from people who think they can arrive, make a lot of money and breeze out without recognising that our hosts do extract their pound of flesh for the privilege of living here.

Being Polish, you won't even get a Visa on arrival so you'll need a good business plan .


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

Correct me if I am wrong, but you are not very helpful and I would rather say rude to some extent.

Rest assured that I have business setup experience in few countries already and forking out money to setup a company in UAE is not a problem for me. If you would have your own business and trade a lot in FCY, you would understand the reason why I created this thread.

I don't need visa on arrival, I am in UAE few times per year and I can pay US$50 for visa issuance which takes 1-2 working days. What makes you thinking that granting visa on arrival to UK citizens make them better contributors to UAE society?

Looks like you are the kind of person who like to talk but have nothing to say on this particular subject. You have wasted 6 posts in this thread to leave me in the same position of knowledge I was before creating this thread.

Less than AED 40,000 can get you a free zone company up and running with investor visa. Is this the "large" amount you were talking about when it comes FX preferred rates? Large, big, expensive, rich are subjective words especially in UAE


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

So why exactly can you not even do the basic work of working out how to select a bank account then ? Not the actions of an experienced person is it ? If you have set up previous companies, then you'll know exactly how a multi-currency international account works. I work in a business which trades in every GCC currency, bar Kuwait (because they never pay).

I am not rude, just trying to understand your fixation over getting things small items for free when from the other thread, you seem to apparently know so much. the posts are not wasted as you have shown that you are apparently asking about something which you now claim you have experience in.

No offence intended or taken I assure you.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

I have not done UAE bank research yet when it comes to what they offer and charges. I do know how the banks are operating in countries I have dealt with, but even the same banks in UAE will have different conditions and fees. Beside, I would prefer to "go local" and deal with local UAE banks, as their deposits seem to be guaranteed by central bank of UAE up to 100%.

Considering there are entrepreneurs contributing on this forum, I simply thought someone has done a proper research in this regard and can share his thoughts.


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

Alright, bringing the thread back on topic:

@OP The sums that you receive are they in several different foreign currencies or are they in the major ones only ?

The reason I ask is because you can open different currency accounts with the bank that you choose. I currently have multiple currency corporate accounts with ENBD. You can choose to have as many as 4 I believe, AED (primary of course), USD, GBP and EUR. 

If you are going to be dealing with only these currencies then you might as well open up these separate currency accounts and then just withdraw that currency without conversion from the bank. After which you are free to use any of the money exchanges to get the preferred rates.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

@saraswat, I will be receiving payments in EUR currency. Do you pay any fees for FCY cash withdrawal from ENBD?


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

No as long as the account is denominated in that currency then there is no issue.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

saraswat said:


> No as long as the account is denominated in that currency then there is no issue.


Thanks. I have quickly checked ENBD website and there are indeed no FCY cash deposits/withdrawal fees for personal accounts according to their tariff, however corporate accounts are deemed to be charged for the same.

So one way to avoid the charges would be to have both corporate and personal account with ENBD and transfer FCY between them which I believe should be free and perhaps instant.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

From from the big trio: ENBD, NBAD and ADCB, only ENBD doesn't charge FCY cash withdrawals / deposits fees in case of personal accounts. The rest charge 0.5% ADCB and and 1% NBAD for both deposits / withdrawals.

Is it me or there are no FX rates on ENBD and ADCB websites?


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

Malbec said:


> Thanks. I have quickly checked ENBD website and there are indeed no FCY cash deposits/withdrawal fees for personal accounts according to their tariff, however corporate accounts are deemed to be charged for the same.
> 
> So one way to avoid the charges would be to have both corporate and personal account with ENBD and transfer FCY between them which I believe should be free and perhaps instant.


Yes that is one way to do it. Also do remember that when they mention corporate accounts, they mean business accounts for entities that have more than one owner. Basically, if you were a sole proprietor you would have a business account with ENBD, but for all intensive purposes the rules for a personal account would apply (although the account is in the companies name, there is only one beneficiary listed on the account). The corporate bit comes in where there are partnerships/p.j.s.c's/multi-nationals involved. 



Malbec said:


> From from the big trio: ENBD, NBAD and ADCB, only ENBD doesn't charge FCY cash withdrawals / deposits fees in case of personal accounts. The rest charge 0.5% ADCB and and 1% NBAD for both deposits / withdrawals.
> 
> Is it me or there are no FX rates on ENBD and ADCB websites?


You might be right about the charges part, I have experience with only ENBD so wouldn't know. About the FX rates being listed, yeah most of the banks don't have them on their websites...


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## earthworm88 (Jun 14, 2013)

Malbec said:


> Is it me or there are no FX rates on ENBD and ADCB websites?


There is for ADCB. The FOREX rates is on the main page. If you fit their membership criteria, ADCB Excellency will give you quite a bit of perks and their customer service is decent. We had transferred funds between Dubai and US, and their rates were good with no transfer fees, compared to other major banks (at the time of my research and transfer). I have no experience in the FCY accounts with them, so can't say on the charges for withdrawals.

Good luck with your search, hopefully you will find the bank that works for you.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

earthworm88 said:


> There is for ADCB. The FOREX rates is on the main page. If you fit their membership criteria, ADCB Excellency will give you quite a bit of perks and their customer service is decent. We had transferred funds between Dubai and US, and their rates were good with no transfer fees, compared to other major banks (at the time of my research and transfer). I have no experience in the FCY accounts with them, so can't say on the charges for withdrawals.
> 
> Good luck with your search, hopefully you will find the bank that works for you.


Thanks but the FOREX rates are obviously not the rates ADCB is using for buying / selling currency or for international remittances.


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## earthworm88 (Jun 14, 2013)

Malbec said:


> Thanks but the FOREX rates are obviously not the rates ADCB is using for buying / selling currency or for international remittances.


Sorry my bad! You are right. You will have to call and confirm the rates anyways(even if listed on their website), sorry can't help you with Euro FOREX and FCY withdrawal fees, but to give you an idea on buying USD for international outward remittances for personal account:

ADCB Excellency - [email protected] 3.66 - Fee: 6 free transactions/month on shared option
Mashreq Gold - [email protected] - Fee: 55dhs at branch/25dhs online + others
RAK Bank - [email protected] - Fee: 75dhs + others

I would imagine rates wise across major banks should be somewhat competitive, so the fees and charges will probably be a big factor if you do a lot of transfers. 

Cheers!


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

Bringing this up after some time.

ENBD has no longer free FCY withdrawals. The only bank I know that still have free FCY deposits / withdrawals over the counter is Arab Bank.

Regarding FX rates, it is annoying that most banks hide them and you have to give them a ring to check what do they offer. Now correct me if I am wrong but Union National Bank seems to have the best FX rates from all banks here. They are on par or even better to ADCB Excellency:
Exchange Rates

Any experience with UNB?


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