i’m going to be spending a lot of time in france in the coming years (job), and as such i want to avoid bank charges as much as possible.

i’ve been advised not to bother opening a french account, as the charges for simply owning them can be quite high (and my french isn’t good enough if anything goes wrong)

I would consider a premium account (where you are expected to pay in £1000 per month) if they offer the neccessary benefits (although i don’t need breakdown/phone/travel insurance), given that i can just set up an automatic transfer from some savings to the current, and then back again, in order to ensure £1k payed in/month.

am looking at money supermarket/money saving expert etc, but their searches aren’t great…

what would you suggest?

money supermarket reckon a halifax clarity – no FX fee, and a low interest rate on cash withdrawals. i’ve had a halifax CC before, so i reckon i can get another, and i’ve got halifax online banking, so transfering money other, to pay it off in full should be easy.

anyone had the pre-pay cards? how were they?

A Nationwide current account – zero exchange fees for withdrawals and based at the interbank rate at the time of the transaction (EU only). This is the best tourist exchange rate possible, so just use a hole in the wall, or pay by debit card.

Nationwide credit cards also used to operate under the same rules.

Best check this is still the case.

I’d get a French account if i lived in France, but see an accountant because you could find yourself in a tricky predicament over tax.

Some financial institutions were really baffled when I said I’d moved overseas, but Barclays were fantastic. No problems whatsoever. Thoroughly recommended.

French banks are nightmares tho. If you go overdrawn they come and arrest you, according to my Mum.

molgrips – exactly why i don’t want a french one!

i used to have a nationwide account, but i was informed that they had stopped the free abroad service, and so cancelled the account. nothing mentioned about them on moneysavingexpert.
i’m hoping to keep is as simple as possible. i’m going to be ’employed’ in the uk (taxed etc), but will be living in france whilst i work. i need to work out a whole host of things…!

I’ve just been looking into it for myself. They all seem to sting you for cash withdrawals in foreign currency but its not a massive amount as long as you take a reasonable amount out. Best to use cards anyway. I settled on Barclays, they have reduced fees for using certain cash-points and other features that seemed generally ok

maybe have a look at a CatxonFX Card for cash and debit payments
good exchange rates and no fees at the cash machine

santander zero account,
although you need 10k in savings i think.,

Nationwide current account isn’t what it used to be:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2010/07/nationwide-kills-cheap-overseas-spending-for-current-account-customers

It will introduce a new 2% load for European currency and it will double its load for worldwide currency from 1% to 2% (the 1% charge came into force last year). This means £100 of foreign spending actually costs you £102.

Currently, using ATMs in Europe costs nothing. From November, it will cost £1 per cash withdrawal (plus the loading fee).

Some useful info on using cards abroad.

the interest on the halifax CC for cash withdrawals is about £1/month if you take out £100 of FX – thats a cost i can live with! i’ll betrying to avoid taking out too much cash (will take quite a few euros cash with me anyway, and spend as litle as possible/pay by card).

may look into that 29erkieth, thanks

don’t quite qualify for the santander at the mo (only just graduated!)

thats where i found the halifax card already spongebob 8)

I’ve just used a Travelex pre-paid Mastercard whilst travelling. A Euro version is available. It’s really an alternative to carrying cash, but the benefits are basically that you transfer money onto the card at an agreed rate. The balance then sits there in Euro and can be withdrawn as cash or spent without fees/charges. If you lose the card a replacement is delivered to you in 48hrs and emergency cash withdrawals are possible via Western Union outlets.

I must admit I was quite impressed by how well it worked.

You can order the card on-line through the Travelex website and pick up at airports etc. The exchange rate is OK as long as you pre-order. In theory you can then re-load, but I’m not sure on the exchange rate mechanics of this.

Worth investigating: http://www.cashpassport.com

fwiw nationwide are hammering me/my employer for charges on my credit and debit cards ….. but im withdrawing from banks in west africa …..

doesnt bother me just now as i can claim it back i found my bankofscotland current account was charging me less to use in houston than my nationwide cards ….

Have a look at citibank, pretty good for international transactions, but maybe not what youre after.

I’ll be moving from Nationwide when I change my mortgage next year. Only branch near me is a total hassle to visit and they have gradually worsened the terms of every single product or facility I have with them.

Yup, Nationwide are now no longer worth it. In theory they’re still a mutual, but frack knows where the profits are going, cause they sure as heck ain’t givin them back to me!

We lived for a year in Germany and tbh had to open a local bank account to be able to pay rent/bills etc. Only moved enough in from my UK account (where I was paid), and if needed extra just used my switch card and accepted the costs. Used a credit card for all other purchases.

Not sure on current rules, but I had an NT tax code – paid no tax in the UK, nor in Germany.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/faqs_sa.htm

If you are not resident in the UK and all the duties of your employment are carried on abroad then you can have NT (no tax), code operated against your earnings.