Transferring your money in Europe (natwest offshore)

Member Name: Jpdm

Product:	natwest offshore
Date:	07/05/01 (2399 review reads)
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I thought of writing this opinion about the difficulties (mainly) that a person can come across when wiring some money to another bank in Europe. From the last years, it is well known that in order to transfer money to a bank abroad there is a charge, which varies depending on the case. Usually it is around £20-£30 as far as I am aware, which makes the whole deal not a cheap one except when you are wiring a quite sizable amount of cash.

Now why should there be a need to wire money when a lot of banks in the UK offer their clients cards that give them the opportunity to withdraw directly money from their UK account (Cirrus)? Well after some research into the exchange rates that banks use for international transactions, I seem to have figured out ? hear hear! - that the only part of the transaction, which gets the worst deal is you! Even with the strong pound when going abroad it is expected that each country ?backs? its currency. Thus, you get less money for your pounds when using the ATMs directly when abroad.

This is purely the reason I looked into exchanging pounds into the currency I want in the UK and sending them in a bank abroad (ideally in another branch of the bank I used originally in the UK). From that point onwards, problems started emerging. Throughout the last months I had heard of the ?on-line? system to be used internationally by banks. Well, I went to my bank over here to query about its usage and how will this help me transfer money abroad. The answer I got was reassuring that there would be no cost when sending money abroad, as far as it is in a branch of the same bank. Reassured I had that in mind for the next time I would need it prior to going abroad.

After about three months from my previous visit to my bank and after frequent phone calls to get any updates as far as the service was involved, I had to travel abroad and especially to France, Greece and Italy. I went to my local branch and I went to the exch
ange desk to send my French francs (FF), Italian lira (IL) and Greek drachma (GD). The answer I got was mind-blowing! I was given the impression that the ?on-line? system only worked in France! In Italy and in Greece I learnt that there was no ?on-line? facility to any existing bank and that there would be a normal charge for transferring my money. I thought of asking what happens if I transferred my money to another branch of the bank in those countries. Right there and then I was puzzled by the answer I got. ?Those branches are not part of our bank!??

I cannot quite imagine how it is that branches of the bank in question are not part of the bank? Don?t get me wrong this was exactly the case in France but in Italy and Greece obviously that was not the case. I left the bank without making any transaction and I went to the central branch of my bank locally. I got the same answer there and asked to see the customer services manager. After about an hour I got to see her and I explained the whole situation. She answered me that certain branches of the bank abroad have changed hands, meaning that they are managed by someone else and you can not consider them as going to your bank in the UK.

To sum things up, you ought to check everything when considering transferring your money abroad. Never be sure about anything. Ask and ask again. Be sure prior to handing your cash. At the end of the day and because I was not going to stay for a long time in those countries I exchanged my money in the UK and took everything with me. When going abroad I realised that I got a better deal of about 5.4%. This might not seem much but when transferring a lot of money it can add up to thousands.

Hope you found this opinion useful for your future transactions with your bank, especially now when we get closer to our summer vacations.

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