Euro bank account

[maser_spyder]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a personal Euro bank account.

UK resident but have addresses in France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Ireland.

I've already got a business Euro account with HSBC, but the charges are horrific, and the online banking is hopeless.

Looking for an account where we can deposit cheques and make internet transfers. Will be used for investment properties, rent, outgoings etc.

I'm half way through opening a Postfinance account in Switzerland, but they are so slow, cumbersome and hard work. I'm sure I'll get it opened eventually, but time is of the essence. I've now got to the stage where I have cheques building up and nowhere to get them cleared!

I tried Citibank, but the application was declined because of my credit rating (!!), no idea why, I must have upset somebody at Citibank in a previous life, as my CR is pretty good!

Any other suggestions? Doesn't have to be in the UK, can be Ireland/France/Anywhere in Europe.

I won't be holding a lot of cash there at any given time, mainly using it for clearing cheques and a slush fund.

Thanks in advance!

[The jiffle king]

My information is not going to be very helpful to your specific situation, but I have just set one up in Spain. To do this, I had to get a Social Security number and also an NIE number. Once I had this, I just walked into a branch and set one up. This may well be specfic to Spain, but I'm sure one of the countries you have a house in can help?
I pay 1 euro for the book per month and nothing for internet banking. Not done a transfer yet, but will do once I get paid at the end of the month

T-J-K

[anonymous-user]

Your own PERSONAL bankers would be my first port of call.

If you are going to pay in cheques drawn on banks in other countries it can take weeks for the funds to clear, far better getting is send direct - same day payments are now possible and don't cost the earth.

HTH

[maser_spyder]

MRSNEAK said:

Your own PERSONAL bankers would be my first port of call.

If you are going to pay in cheques drawn on banks in other countries it can take weeks for the funds to clear, far better getting is send direct - same day payments are now possible and don't cost the earth.

HTH

Thanks for the suggestion, but HSBC wickedly expensive!

Unfortunately the French are very attached to their cheques and don't like transfers, bank transfers are favoured by the Germans (which makes things easy for me), who oddly avoid cheques!

Any other suggestions?

[nsa]

Citi could be more to do with policy than your individual history. I know their presence here is more of a trial than a full blown strategy, in which case they probably would have bought an established player by now. Have you tried appealing to a branch manager? S/he should at least be able to provide a better explanation. I've got a euro account on my account with them but I never use it. Nice of the "world's local bank" to slap high charges on a simple euro account.

[anonymous-user]

maser_spyder said:

MRSNEAK said:

Your own PERSONAL bankers would be my first port of call.

If you are going to pay in cheques drawn on banks in other countries it can take weeks for the funds to clear, far better getting is send direct - same day payments are now possible and don't cost the earth.

HTH

Thanks for the suggestion, but HSBC wickedly expensive!

Unfortunately the French are very attached to their cheques and don't like transfers, bank transfers are favoured by the Germans (which makes things easy for me), who oddly avoid cheques!

Any other suggestions?

[anonymous-user]

maser_spyder said:

MRSNEAK said:

Your own PERSONAL bankers would be my first port of call.

If you are going to pay in cheques drawn on banks in other countries it can take weeks for the funds to clear, far better getting is send direct - same day payments are now possible and don't cost the earth.

HTH

Thanks for the suggestion, but HSBC wickedly expensive!

Unfortunately the French are very attached to their cheques and don't like transfers, bank transfers are favoured by the Germans (which makes things easy for me), who oddly avoid cheques!

Any other suggestions?

what are the charges?

[maser_spyder]

MRSNEAK said:

maser_spyder said:

MRSNEAK said:

Your own PERSONAL bankers would be my first port of call.

If you are going to pay in cheques drawn on banks in other countries it can take weeks for the funds to clear, far better getting is send direct - same day payments are now possible and don't cost the earth.

HTH

Thanks for the suggestion, but HSBC wickedly expensive!

Unfortunately the French are very attached to their cheques and don't like transfers, bank transfers are favoured by the Germans (which makes things easy for me), who oddly avoid cheques!

Any other suggestions?

what are the charges?

Not sure on transfers, but paying in a cheque is about £9.

Ridiculous.