Best UK bank account for liveaboard in med

[oriettaxx]

Which UK bank would you suggest for a bank account while living in the med (mainly Greece)?

Our needs are:

* web e-banking of course (but I guess all banks should be ready for that)
* cheap access to our cash: so low commissions while using ATM, paying restaurants, etc.

We are about to choose Lloyds just because some friends have their bank account with them, but I see commission are pretty high (5%)

suggestions?
are there other ways to access cash then ATM?

thanks

[mikethedane]

Originally Posted by oriettaxx

Which UK bank would you suggest for a bank account while living in the med (mainly Greece)?

Our needs are:

* web e-banking of course (but I guess all banks should be ready for that)
* cheap access to our cash: so low commissions while using ATM, paying restaurants, etc.

We are about to choose Lloyds just because some friends have their bank account with them, but I see commission are pretty high (5%)

suggestions?
are there other ways to access cash then ATM?

thanks

Hi i have done some research on it even do i¨m not from the UK but Denmark and i found either HSBC or Citibank "i chose Citibank" since i can transfer money around the globe free of charge and also get "local" citi banks account were they have branch office and you can transfer money in a sec to any country you have an account and to top is all up you get some great bonus and offers from there Credit cards

[mikethedane]

just checked you can get an ATM card in Greece via Citibank if you have an Account with them in the UK and that means only local charges wont get any cheaper than that and you can transfer money from the UK to Greece free of charge up to 8 times per month and the money is in the account at the moment you transfer it

[FilBrown]

Ive recently got a Halifax X credit card. Theres no exchange charges and better still theres no extra charge for using the card to get cash out.

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[savoir]

One factor to watch out for is the rate they charge to convert Euros to Pounds. The brochures never tell you that. It might be 5% or so of the published exchange rate.

[AshleyandEmma]

Barclays do a foreign currency Acc so you can just transfer the money from your current Acc to that and the money doesn't alter with the fluctuations of the money markets


Ashley & Emma

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by oriettaxx

Which UK bank would you suggest for a bank account while living in the med (mainly Greece)?

Our needs are:

* web e-banking of course (but I guess all banks should be ready for that)
* cheap access to our cash: so low commissions while using ATM, paying restaurants, etc.

We are about to choose Lloyds just because some friends have their bank account with them, but I see commission are pretty high (5%)

suggestions?
are there other ways to access cash then ATM?

thanks

I believe you should consider setting up a euro account with Citibank or HSBC. That is the account you will use to make payments, withdraw cash, etc while in Euroland.

Then the question is: How do I convert pounds to euro without making a banker rich? IMHO the best solution is Oanda FX Global Transfer fxglobaltransfer.oanda.com. It will take a couple days to move money from your sterling account to your euro account, but you will be paying wholesale exchange rates that will save you 2 or 3%.

Cheers

C

[Triumphant]

I use Nationwide Flexplus for ATM cash withdrawals and Nationwide Select Credit card for credit card purchases

Both have no charge for foreign currency transactions.

Even with the charges on the Flexplus account, the saving on the forex and the interest on the account still show an overall saving

Other Nationwide debit cards typical cost £4 per transaction