I'm in the UK, clients in EU: best way to transfer Euros? Paypal? Thread poster: Joanne Parker
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Joanne Parker 
Local time: 22:26
Member (2002)
German to English
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Hi,
I operate as a small limited company in the UK, and have a company bank account. At the moment, I invoice all my clients in the EU in Euros, and they pay them into my bank account in Britain. This is costly for me, as my bank charges a hefty fee for converting "foreign payments".
I've been thinking about setting up something like a PayPal account specifically for my business, and making a single transfer payment at the start of each month.
Can anyone ... See more Hi,
I operate as a small limited company in the UK, and have a company bank account. At the moment, I invoice all my clients in the EU in Euros, and they pay them into my bank account in Britain. This is costly for me, as my bank charges a hefty fee for converting "foreign payments".
I've been thinking about setting up something like a PayPal account specifically for my business, and making a single transfer payment at the start of each month.
Can anyone comment on the best way for me to operate, suggest a PayPal/Nochex account, and give me any other tips and tricks?
Thanks in advance. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ralf Lemster
Germany
Local time: 23:26
English to German
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| Euro account? | Apr 5, 2007 |
Hi Joanne,
Have you talked to your bank about opening a euro account for your business? Judging from my own experience with banks in the UK, I wouldn't expect this to be cheap, but most likely cheaper than converting each single incoming payment.
Best regards,
Ralf
| | | | Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:26
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam | moneybookers? | Apr 5, 2007 |
Maybe this would suit you better? I find moneybookers far easier to deal with than PayPal. Get money paid in there and you can draw it out as you want with only a small charge each time you do so.
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I'm an Italian translator and I've recently created an account on Moneybookers (www.moneybookers.com) on the advice of a UK agency, just to receive any amount in Euros.
When I want to trasfer money on my real bank account, Moneybookers charges only 1 euro fee.
Just have a look at the website!
Have a nice day,
Daniela
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Adam Burman
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:26
Spanish to English
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| Moneybookers or currency account | Apr 5, 2007 |
Hi Joanne,
I am also based in the UK and, like you, I have a company account that I use for all translation/business related income and expenditure.
Most of my clients are based in the US and Europe. I have found that Moneybookers is a cheaper alternative (certainly for Euro payments) to Paypal. I am, however, still mostly paid via the latter.
I have also recently been looking at other cost-effective alternatives. Depending on your monthly income, you mig... See more Hi Joanne,
I am also based in the UK and, like you, I have a company account that I use for all translation/business related income and expenditure.
Most of my clients are based in the US and Europe. I have found that Moneybookers is a cheaper alternative (certainly for Euro payments) to Paypal. I am, however, still mostly paid via the latter.
I have also recently been looking at other cost-effective alternatives. Depending on your monthly income, you might be able to open a Citibank currency account. Worth checking out anyway. Without wanting to sound like one of their sales team, they also have one of the highest interest rates on their savings account (I have one but not much goes in it at the moment ))
Just a couple of ideas.
Best regards,
Adam ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daniel Bird
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:26
German to English
| If you're happy with online banking... | Apr 5, 2007 |
Hi Joanne
I can recommend my (Sterling) small business account with the Abbey which charges no fee for receiving foreign transfers; their exchange rates are highly reasonable too. You could e.g. run it alongside your existing account just for the purpose of receiving payments then move the cash out as and when required
DB
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 00:26
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| Generally shop for better service | Apr 5, 2007 |
In order to get some better service from UK banks you should follow Daniels advice and open an account elsewhere. There must be international banks in England, which do not rip you off every time someone sends you a handful of Euros.
Cheers
Heinrich
| | | | Joanne Parker
Local time: 22:26
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Moneybookers it is! | Apr 5, 2007 |
Thank you everyone for your help - I had been thinking along the lines of PayPal, but Moneybookers seems to be a much cheaper alternative. Are there any other hidden fees that I need to be aware of? Are there any annual or other fees that are "hidden"?
I am happy with my existing bank in all other respects as it offers good interest rates and free banking up to a certain number of transactions (which I never exceed), so in general I would like to stay with them for now.
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| Free euro account with English bank | Apr 5, 2007 |
Ralf Lemster wrote:
Have you talked to your bank about opening a euro account for your business?
Yes, I used to have a Euro account with Barclays Bank which was a free add-on if you had a current account there. I don't know if it's still available, as it goes back to the time when the Euro was introduced. Might be worth checking out.
| | | | Özden Arıkan
Germany
Local time: 23:26
Member
English to Turkish
+ ...
| Not only cheaper, but faster, as well | Apr 6, 2007 |
Hi Joanne,
When you are withdrawing money, Moneybookers is also much faster than PayPal: it takes no longer than 2 business days to have the money in your account (typically the next day, in fact); but with PayPal, this may take up to a week. In fact, I am now trying to encourage my clients to switch to it from PayPal
And, no, there are no hidden fees, as far as my experience is concerned.
Be... See more Hi Joanne,
When you are withdrawing money, Moneybookers is also much faster than PayPal: it takes no longer than 2 business days to have the money in your account (typically the next day, in fact); but with PayPal, this may take up to a week. In fact, I am now trying to encourage my clients to switch to it from PayPal
And, no, there are no hidden fees, as far as my experience is concerned.
Best of luck,
Özden ▲ Collapse
| | | | Joanne Parker
Local time: 22:26
Member (2002)
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Do I open an account in EUR or GBP? | Apr 7, 2007 |
I have another question: if I open a Moneybookers account and am in the UK, but want to use it for receiving EUR, does it make more sense to open a Moneybookers account in Euros or British Pounds?
The reason I'm so confused is that I want to use the MB account to accept Euros, but my bank in the UK charges me £7 for accepting transfers of Euros - so if the Moneybookers account were held in Euros, then I would still have to pay £7 each time I transferred money from MB to my bank ac... See more I have another question: if I open a Moneybookers account and am in the UK, but want to use it for receiving EUR, does it make more sense to open a Moneybookers account in Euros or British Pounds?
The reason I'm so confused is that I want to use the MB account to accept Euros, but my bank in the UK charges me £7 for accepting transfers of Euros - so if the Moneybookers account were held in Euros, then I would still have to pay £7 each time I transferred money from MB to my bank account.
Can anyone with experience of MB advise me on this please? Thanks! (And Happy Easter too) ▲ Collapse
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