Best way to pay a bill in euros
Discussion
I thought that the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) had automated this but apparently not.
I have a Metrobank account, which allows me to pay by card or withdraw money in Euroland for free, with a currency conversion at a pretty good rate, but found out to my cost today that paying a bill can only be done from a branch, at a punitive rate with a £17.50 fee.
Seems bonkers to me.
How can I do it cheaper if I cannot use the card?
Grateful for advice
Edited to add: I tried to look up Paypal's terms but they are (deliberately) very complicated and involve multiple fees/rates to arrive at the total cost of payment. Again, they use a poor rate so they make money on the rate as well as the fees.
I have a Metrobank account, which allows me to pay by card or withdraw money in Euroland for free, with a currency conversion at a pretty good rate, but found out to my cost today that paying a bill can only be done from a branch, at a punitive rate with a £17.50 fee.
Seems bonkers to me.
How can I do it cheaper if I cannot use the card?
Grateful for advice
Edited to add: I tried to look up Paypal's terms but they are (deliberately) very complicated and involve multiple fees/rates to arrive at the total cost of payment. Again, they use a poor rate so they make money on the rate as well as the fees.
Edited by tgr on Wednesday 11th February 21:56
You could try ukforex
They will pay you £50 if you sign up too. Ive used them for some USD and AUD stuff.
You can get a quote and pay direct into recipients bank account..
http://refer.ukforex.co.uk/v2/share/61147092534622...
They will pay you £50 if you sign up too. Ive used them for some USD and AUD stuff.
You can get a quote and pay direct into recipients bank account..
http://refer.ukforex.co.uk/v2/share/61147092534622...
Interesting thread, as I need to send someone €150.
For my purposes the best I've found so far is Halifax who charge a flat £9.50 fee.
https://www.halifax.co.uk/onlinebankinghelp/intern...
For my purposes the best I've found so far is Halifax who charge a flat £9.50 fee.
https://www.halifax.co.uk/onlinebankinghelp/intern...
Claudia Skies said:
Interesting thread, as I need to send someone €150.
For my purposes the best I've found so far is Halifax who charge a flat £9.50 fee.
https://www.halifax.co.uk/onlinebankinghelp/intern...
I use Halifax too.For my purposes the best I've found so far is Halifax who charge a flat £9.50 fee.
https://www.halifax.co.uk/onlinebankinghelp/intern...
Just butting in with a little fx advice.
Nothing is free. Ever.
First thing to note is that the physical fx operation is usually unregulated. The website may intimate an FCA license but this will be for the OTC operation and the physical delivery side is usually a separate legal entity. Even if the operation you are dealing with is actualy regulated they will be 'clearing' with an unregulated desk.
By doing so it permits certain activities. Primarily as it is an unregulated market and with no central exchange you can rip punters a new hole on rigging the spread.
The way physical forex works is that the customer always tells you which way they are trading and so you can quote in that direction. So, I can quote you a really nice looking 20 pip spread but my whole bid and offer is offside to you by 100 pips. So, the layman thinks they are paying just 20 pips when in fact I'm billing them 120.
When an entity charges a fixed commission it is for one of two reasons:
Either the firm isn't the fx broker but a skin and so levies an admin fee for themselves on top of the spread being charged so the client is billed twice but is deceived into thinking this low additional fee is a great deal.
Or, it is a marketing ploy to make an expensive firm look cheap by showing a low fixed comm value to mask the spread.
The key here is that in the world of finance where you have an unregulated market and a customer base you genuinely don't understand what they are doing then you have a shark pool. Almost all the chaps who work in physical fx are the same sleazy little creatures who used to fish for clients for Soho strip clubs.
Another basic rule is also that if a financial service that charges low or no commission is being advertised on TV then it is charging infinitely more than it is letting on.
And there is always, always a commission. It is the spread that you pay and it is enormous.
Banks look like they charge more but their desks are regulTed and they quote a two way spread evenly over their true mid. A forex broker will basically charge the same but quote a tight spread away from the mid. In short.
Nothing is free. Ever.
First thing to note is that the physical fx operation is usually unregulated. The website may intimate an FCA license but this will be for the OTC operation and the physical delivery side is usually a separate legal entity. Even if the operation you are dealing with is actualy regulated they will be 'clearing' with an unregulated desk.
By doing so it permits certain activities. Primarily as it is an unregulated market and with no central exchange you can rip punters a new hole on rigging the spread.
The way physical forex works is that the customer always tells you which way they are trading and so you can quote in that direction. So, I can quote you a really nice looking 20 pip spread but my whole bid and offer is offside to you by 100 pips. So, the layman thinks they are paying just 20 pips when in fact I'm billing them 120.
When an entity charges a fixed commission it is for one of two reasons:
Either the firm isn't the fx broker but a skin and so levies an admin fee for themselves on top of the spread being charged so the client is billed twice but is deceived into thinking this low additional fee is a great deal.
Or, it is a marketing ploy to make an expensive firm look cheap by showing a low fixed comm value to mask the spread.
The key here is that in the world of finance where you have an unregulated market and a customer base you genuinely don't understand what they are doing then you have a shark pool. Almost all the chaps who work in physical fx are the same sleazy little creatures who used to fish for clients for Soho strip clubs.
Another basic rule is also that if a financial service that charges low or no commission is being advertised on TV then it is charging infinitely more than it is letting on.
And there is always, always a commission. It is the spread that you pay and it is enormous.
Banks look like they charge more but their desks are regulTed and they quote a two way spread evenly over their true mid. A forex broker will basically charge the same but quote a tight spread away from the mid. In short.
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