Money transfers

[magpie69]

We are in the process of selling our apartment in Menorca and are looking for advice on how best to get our money back from our La Caixa account to our U.K. bank.
We use Transferwise to move money from the U.K. to Menorca, but are not sure whether we can easily do so in the opposite direction.
Advice appreciated.

Bill

[kieronf]

Some banks only allow maximum transfer amounts within certain periods i.e. €50k transfer per day, so make sure what your bank will allow and also make sure you set a min € to £ exchange rate with whatever transfer service you use otherwise it could cost you a lot of money with the GBP fluctuating so much due to the political uncertainty

[magpie69]

Thanks Kieran
Do you know if the Spanish banks charge anything when you make the transfer of funds to e.g. Transferwise?

Bill

[kieronf]

Thanks Kieran
Do you know if the Spanish banks charge anything when you make the transfer of funds to e.g. Transferwise?

Bill

Like everything else, all banks will vary. I'd wait a day or two to see if someone pops up on here with direct experience of transfers out - my own experience is with transferring money in. I was with Barclays and their limit was £50k per day, no charges were made for transfers, and I used Transferwise. The pound was going up and down like mad at the time so I set a min exchange rate which meant having to transfer over a longer period, but had I not done so I could have lost as much as £500 per transaction.

[magpie69]

Thanks again. Sounds as if I should be ok.

Bill

[Keefyd]

La Caixa charge a fee for international money transfers and it’s on a sliding scale.
It starts at 0.40% and goes upto 0.60%. If you check their terms and conditions, it’s detailed here: https://www.caixabank.es/deployedfiles/ ... 00c80d.pdf

You will find that all banks will charge you a fee for transfers that involve a currency exchange, including using services such as TransferWise, who are essentially a money transfer service, not a bank.

My advice would be to monitor the exchange rate and make your transfer when the rate is favourable, but you won’t avoid paying the banks commission charge, whichever way you do it.

[Boycie]

Wonder how he got on with getting the money back to the UK.

[magpie69]

Sorry for not getting back on earlier but things have been a bit hectic.
Eventually went with Key Currency, quite a small outfit based in Truro but with good reviews. Set up an account with them by phone before we went over, then went to our La Caixa branch in Es Migjorn and transferred the sale deposit to KC Sabadell account. They arranged for one of their agents to meet us at the notary in Mercadal at the completion. She had to come over from Mallorca specially for this. She took the banker’s draft from our buyer and deposited it in the Key Currency account at Sabadell bank in Mahón. They have no-charge arrangement for this deposit which allows them to offer a better transfer deal. We then had to call the KC broker to arrange the transfer of all our funds to our U.K. bank. Agreed a favourable(?) rate (1.19) and confirmed. So far happy with their service - Hopefully funds will land in U.K. bank tomorrow. No hidden charges and a reasonable exchange rate (they claim mid-bank rate.
Dealt with a guy called Charles who kept in touch throughout.

Bill (former property owner in Menorca!)

[Boycie]

Can i ask did La Caixa charge you anything did you close your account with them. I take it none of your money from the sale went into La Caixa.

[magpie69]

The initial deposit payment went into our La Caixa account which cost us nothing. We transferred this to KC Sabadell account, which La Caixa charged €3 for, their standard charge for every transaction, as it was Spanish to Spanish accounts.
We have not closed the account as there may be outstanding utility bills, and it needs to be open to receive the repayment from the 3% the notary holds back for the Spanish tax man in lieu of capital gains (which we will not be liable for). Apparently this can take several months!

Bill