# Transfer money abroad



## Paz amor (25 Jan 2006)

Am booking hotel in Spain (deposit approx €500) - they dont have secure internet site to pay via credit card so they have suggested 'bank transfer' as another option. 

I am a BOI customer & have never used this option - how do I go about doing this & what info do I need from the hotel to be able to facilitate payment? Is the payment immediate?


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## TarfHead (25 Jan 2006)

Your branch would give more accurate information but, from my experience ..

I had to make a payment to someone in Switzerland to settle an ebay transaction. I went to the branch looking for a draft and they suggested SWIFTPAY. I needed the beneficiaries IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and his branch's BIC code (either 8 or 11 (preferably 11) characters). After that it was all straightforward.

Until ..

The charge on my account was more than twice the value of the amount remitted. They hammered me for charges. I complained and got most of them refunded.

So, ask about all charges before you commit to it.


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## moneyhoney (25 Jan 2006)

If you have the recepient's IBAN & BIC then it shouldn't cost you more than a few cents.


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## Cati76 (25 Jan 2006)

With Bank of Ireland it won't cost you anything, they have a special form you'll have to fill with the IBAN, address of the Branch, and account holder name there and it will take 2-3  days for the money to get there. I use this service on a regular basis to transfer money to Spain, where I am from, to pay my credit card and save some money for my hols, and I think is fab.


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## TarfHead (25 Jan 2006)

Cati76 said:
			
		

> With Bank of Ireland it won't cost you anything, they have a special form you'll have to fill with the IBAN, address of the Branch, and account holder name there and it will take 2-3  days for the money to get there. I use this service on a regular basis to transfer money to Spain, where I am from, to pay my credit card and save some money for my hols, and I think is fab.



I disagree.
It was Bank of Ireland Kill o'the Grange and Bank of Ireland Global Markets who hammered me for charges, not all of which were refunded - none of which were advised in advance.


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## pernickety (26 Jan 2006)

For an amount under ~10,000 euro my bank UB charged me 51cent!!! but I did have to sign to say if I or the other party would pay the foreign bank's charges. I said I would but as far as I know I was never charged. I think the 51 cent was for same day or next day transfer and it may have been free for 2 or 3 day's wait.


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## Cati76 (26 Jan 2006)

TarfHead said:
			
		

> I disagree.
> It was Bank of Ireland Kill o'the Grange and Bank of Ireland Global Markets who hammered me for charges, not all of which were refunded - none of which were advised in advance.


 
I don't know why that happened, but I do transfer money using Bank of Ireland every month and I have never been charged, nor here or in my account in Spain. You have to go to the Bureau of Change and ask then for "Application to transfer funds abroad", or and "Interpay" form. I don't usually transfer that much, I think max I did was 1000 on a go, but if you don't tick any of the box that says Type of Payment, there is no charge. Unless of course this change from branch to branch.


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## MugsGame (26 Jan 2006)

Switzerland aren't in the EU or the Eurozone! That's why it cost more in TarfHead's case.


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## Max Hopper (26 Jan 2006)

Umm, did we transfer euro or francs?

All Swiss bank accounts have IBANs since 2002 and all Swiss banks have BICs (aka SWIFT code). If the transfer is to a private account, BoI charges €0.75 (IIRC) and €20.00 to a commercial account (care to explain that, Mr. Goggin?). They also have some nonsense about adding extra details to the SWIFT message, such as Payee's & Payer's addresses, etc. A bit of data entry attracts additional fees? Yup.

People transferring funds to the new EU states (and they are become legion) should open euro-denominated accounts (e.g. Poland and Latvia, which also have mandated IBAN codes) to avoid extra costs.


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## Perplexed (2 Feb 2006)

You can transfer money to Spain & anywhere in the Eurozone (including the new countries like Poland, Lithuania etc ) in Euros up to €50k for no fee whatsoever in BOI, as long as you have the Swift/BIC code plus IBAN & other details like addresses. Even if you don't have the BIC & IBAN the charge is still just €12.70.         
Switzerland is not in the Euro currency zone & that is the problem. The whopping charge you got for your transfer Tarfhead was probably mostly from the Swiss bank. You'd be amazed at how much foreign banks can charge !    And yes.........I do work in BOI & we can be accused of a lot of things but our FX charges are really reasonable......I promise !
Business customers may pay charges but if you're a personal customer & you have all the details you don't..........Don't know where you bank Max Hopper ! 
Transferring to places like US, China, UK etc are very different.  We were advising our customers to tx to UK in Euro as there were no costs on this side. Customers came back & decided to take our cost instead as their UK banks were charging them a min of £25 on the other side.
Need any clarification......get back to me.


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## Max Hopper (2 Feb 2006)

Uhh, I am Preplexed, now.

BoI has a _per transaction charge_ of €0.28 for holders of it's Standard Current Account.

But what does the location of Switzerland outside the Eurozone have to do with anything as the 10 new EU nations are also -





> anywhere in the Eurozone (including the new countries like Poland, Lithuania etc )


This from the _Business_ section of the BoI website (and curiously no hits on 'IBAN' in the _Personal_ section, though!?!) -

*Important  Notice for Bank of Ireland Customers*​ 
*Re: Change to Bank of Ireland's Cross-Border  Electronic Euro Credit Transfers within EU/EEA States* *

In line with EU Regulation 2560/2001, Bank of Ireland wishes to advise that from 1st January 2006, all cross-border electronic euro payments to EU/EEA countries for value amounts up to €50,000, will be processed for the same charge as the equivalent domestic euro payment. Currently Bank of Ireland processes all cross-border electronic euro payments to EU/EEA countries for value amounts up to €12,500, for the same charge as the equivalent domestic euro payment.
To  avail of the lower charge, payments must quote a valid IBAN and BIC. If you are in receipt of inward Euro payments, please inform the sender of your IBAN and BIC. Your IBAN and BIC are available on your Bank of Ireland account statement and online for Business On Line customers.

Eurozone is not the same as EU/EEA States. Switzerland is in the EFTA but failed to ratify it's EEA membership in December 1992.

Some serious bank mumbo-jumbo here, methinks.


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## Perplexed (2 Feb 2006)

Yes, sorry you do pay the tx charge of 28c if you're opting for a "pay as you go" current a/c . You can also send from a savings a/c which has no fees ....

I'm just going by what's written on the Interpay form....
"Free to BoI personal current a/c customers" the 50c charge that is.

Perhaps Switzerland do not give the option of sending in Euro ??

It's possible to send to Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Sweden, UK, Czech Republic,Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,Malta, Poland, Slovakia & Slovenia as well as the Euro currency countries in € without costing a cent apart from the tx cost.

I'm only guessing here but I think these countries all have an agreement on this ..some countries which actually surprise me ..... but obviously Switzerland is not included in this group.

The 10 new accession countries are hoping to go Euro when the achieve the criteria......

It seems like you're reading the business section from the website.  

Even at 50c our business customers find it a wonderful service. Other option is to buy a draft  & then post it which is much more messy. 

Ask any of our foreign workers, who transfer to Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania etc weekly and they certainly have no complaints.

So many notices these days have to be so careful of the legality of the wording that yes, it can sound like mumbo-jumbo. Plain English can be misinterpreted it seems.


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## THE SPANIARD (2 Feb 2006)

I have been trying to transfer money to a bank in Italy for the past week and have met a brick wall in both AIB and BOI.

I want to transfer funds into a holding account until I go over to open my own account which I must do in person. T'm led to believe the holding account does not have an IBAN as they only apply to personal accounts.

I have the BIC and address of the bank in Italy but both AIB and BOI have refused to transfer without an IBAN. I only have a couple of days in Italy to conclude business and need the money available on arrival. 

What to do?


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## Perplexed (3 Feb 2006)

Spaniard. You can't transfer money into an account that doesn't exist yet. 
You must need a large amount of money otherwise you could just get cash with your cirrus card.....
You could get a Draft drawn on an Italian bank to open your a/c there with, but then they probably won't let you draw on the money for about a wk. Will whoever you're doing the business with not accept money directly into their a/c ?


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## THE SPANIARD (3 Feb 2006)

Perplexed,

An a/c does exist - the bank's suspense/holding a/c - it doesn't have an IBAN as it's not a personal a/c. I have already given the Bank in Italy all details necessary to open a personal a/c; I transfer money into their holding a/c and when I arrive in Italy sign the relevant documents to open my own a/c, transfer funds into it and thereby have immediate access to them.

The money is to buy a house so will be handed over in a notary's office when the deal is signed. A draft is not acceptable.

You previously stated (must learn how to use quotes) that up to €50K could be transferred free of charge but that a charge of €12.70 applies in the absence of BIC or IBAN. I have no problem with the fee but both branches I've approached wouldn't proceed without the IBAN ( I have the BIC).


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## Perplexed (4 Feb 2006)

Even if you don't have the IBAN you still have to have an a/c no.
I've worked in FX for a while & have never heard of anyone transferring to a holding a/c.
Perhaps that's just my bank.
Best solution as I see it is to sign a from in your existing bank branch here giving them authority to act on your Fax/Phone instructions. Then when you get the a/c opened in Italy you can phone/fax them the instructions including your IBAN no. Transfers can be done same day for a fee ( around €25 )
You normally won't get an IBAN till day after a/c is set up, so will take about 2 days.
Will you be in Italy long enough to do this ?
Hope this is of some help to you.....


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## podgerodge (5 Feb 2006)

Perplexed said:
			
		

> Transfers can be done same day for a fee ( around €25 )



Perplexed - can you explain the reasoning behind the tiny charge for a 3 day transfer and the large fee for same day - It is my understanding, but I'm open to correction, that the only difference between the payments is one goes by SWIFT MT103+ and the same day transfer goes by MT103.  The 103 with the plus has less information on it I think - is this why it's cheaper?

Also, if the 103+ does not have information for recipients (e.g invoice number) how do recipients know who the money is from?

Thanks


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## Petal (5 Feb 2006)

Last time I came across this situation I faxed them my card details, in two different faxes, it's another option.


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## Perplexed (6 Feb 2006)

I'm not quite sure of the exacrt method of transfer. I know if you want a tx sent urgently, it costs you to get ahead of the queue.The volume of transfers going through is probably what takes it so long.
 Also has to be sent earlier in the day, before  12 midday. 
Less urgent can be faxed up till 3 but will take 2 working days to arrive in a/c. 
different banks prob work differently .....I can only speak for mine.


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## Zoidberg (20 Jul 2006)

Doe's anyone know about "Sterling Exchange Limited" in London?
I want to transfer about €5000 to Manila, Philippines and they seem to be offering a great deal.


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## moneyhoney (20 Jul 2006)

Maybe check with FSA in London to see if they're regulated?


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