# Problem trying to open Euro bank acc in UK



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

My bank and the others I have tried so far will not open a personal Euro bank account for me.

Existing accounts may still be running, but it seems difficult to open a new one - even some still eing advertised on their websites.

Has anyone opened one recently and with which bank please?

Geoff


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

I do believe that the present rule is that you must reside or be a resident in that country.
However you may be able to get your own bank to allow you to have an account if they have a branch in that country.

cabby


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

I'm not surprised that a shady character like you has been rebuffed by Financial Institutions Geoff. Your reputation precedes you. :roll: 

You may be looking in the wrong area. I used to have a US Dollar Account with Barclays in Jersey. A google might find a Euro Account there.

I will invoice you for the helpful information, mates rates apply of course. :wink:


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## camallison (Jul 15, 2009)

I have a Euro account with Barclays opened 8 years ago, and one with HSBC, opened last year.

Colin


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## MoocherMcGee (Oct 24, 2013)

I had one with the Yorkshire bank, absolute nightmare, have now opened one with Lloyds bank international, brilliant, you can access it online, transfer money, you get a Euro debit card, cannot fault it.


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Try HSBC - it seems opening a bank a/c in Switzerland was easy-peasy!


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

I had no trouble with Barclays either

tony


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Can all of you that have been successful tell us if this was with a bank you already had an account with.Or did you walk in off the street and apply.

cabby


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Was already a customer

tony


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## mikeclowes (May 30, 2012)

Hi We have a Caxton euro card and can top up funds online or phone


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## camallison (Jul 15, 2009)

> Can all of you that have been successful tell us if this was with a bank you already had an account with.Or did you walk in off the street and apply.
> 
> cabby


Already a Barclays customer, but last year opened a new account at HSBC for Sterling transactions and asked for a Euro account to be opened at the same time. No problem.

I suspect the problem is to do with the money laundering regulations - some banks apply them too indiscriminately and get it wrong. Also, opening an account in a country in which you are not resident is fraught with problems.

Colin


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## BrianJP (Sep 17, 2010)

If you go to Spain get an NIE (Foreigners registration) number then you can open one there. Also have you tried Bank of Ireland,that may be possible


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## alhod (Nov 1, 2010)

We moved all our bank accounts, private and business, last year to the local UK branch of Handelsbanken. No problem at all including Euro and USD accounts.

Very efficient service. The accounts are, however, ultimately held in Sweden and come under the Swedish Deposit Protection and Financial Authority, not UK. But that is not really a concern as the bank seems to be one of the soundest in the world!

Alan


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Gentlemen - (I think all respondents were male)

Thanks for the responses.

I will try to consolidate my responses to you all here.

I have been an HSBC customer for 50+ years. They state that they will not open Euro accounts for Personal clients, despite the fact they advertise one on the website - they say the site is out of date.

With my attempts so far 'Residency' has not come up to be an issue, but I still have a London address.

I had a Sterling account in Jersey, because I worked there for 5 years in the '70s. HSBC have just closed that account because I do not live there.

The Caxton card does not enable me to make Euro transfers via the internet.

I will follow up on the other suggestions of 

LLoyds
Barclays
Handelsbanken
Bank of Ireland

Thanks again

Geoff


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

To go further on this topic.

I do have a Euro account in Poland and we normally just draw cash to pay on holiday.

Howeve,r when collecting a hire car from the Rep at an airport CP, he was not allowed to accept cash so for the € bill we used the Euro account debit card.

The problem arose when the bill hit the bank, because it was in Polish Zloty, which the bank then converted back to Euros, so two exchange rate transactions for a bill originally in Euros.

The Polish bank claim this is because the way the Car Hire company operated their (hand-held) card terminal, and that in future we should specify that the card is on a Euro-denominated account.

My questions to the audience who have Euro accounts in UK are :-

1 Have you ever had the double conversion into Pounds and back to Euros?

2 To avoid this, do you specify at point of sale that the account is in Euros?

I am not certain that the bank has not got a bit of a scam going, either officially or just by some of its employees, maybe in IT - because it was very difficult to get answers that satisfied me.

The bank's parent is Dutch and if necessary I (as an ex-Complance Officer) be contacting their Compliance dept.

Your help will be appreciated.

Geoff


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## rael (May 1, 2005)

I have both a US dollar and Euro Mastercard from FairFX and both are brilliant (no I don't work for them!) Both are 'top up' not credit cards. I can top them up online, even have an iPhone app. It's possible to do a 'real time' transfer, for example: Standing outside a shop in France, realise there are not enough Euros on the card, do an online transfer via the phone app, then go into the shop and spend! I don't think there is a limit how much you can top up either. Now I'm not sure what would happen if you walked into a motorhome dealer in Belgium or Germany and tried to pay for a motorhome with the card, but in reality if you have enough credit on the card, why not?

Good rates as well, official pound/euro rate today is 1.41 I've just got 1.39.


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