Hello All. I run a small translation business and we often have to pay small invoices (in the £100 - £500 range) to our translators in Europe.
We either have to use PayPal or Moneybooker (but no ones like it as their rates are bad and fees are high) or an independent money transfer bureau. All this is expensive for small invoices as we loose on the rate of exchange and on the transfer fee (£10).
Does anyone know of a UK bank not charging a fortune for a Euro a/c? Or has anyone opened a cheap to run Euro a/c? Eurozone now has SEPA for EU transfers, they cost no more than a BACS.
I don't know about business accounts but I have personal Sterling and Euro accounts with Citibank in the UK, I've just paid for the rental on a villa in France by transferring GBP to EUR at a good rate (about 10 points off bank mid-rate) and then a free SEPA payment to the French bank account. Accounts are free to run as my salary is paid into the Sterling account.