transferring money from uk

[chrissy452]

We are in the process of buying an apartment in Calis (first time!!), and were quite shocked by the bank charges everytime we transfer money, especially charges in Turkey. The first time was charged £17 in Britain and £68 at Turkish end. Can anyone advise of banks with cheaper rates, or if there is a way round this. (WE are coming over later in the summer and want to send more money to cover buying furnishings, and feel it is too risky to carry large wads of cash over.) Thanks for any advice. Chris .

[LoubyLou]

We bank with First Direct/Finansbank - charged £21 by First Direct per transer and then Finansbank charge about 0.2% of what is being transferred, which I also thought was quite a lot. However - when I use this method I can log onto my Finansbank account on line, and the money is always through the same day I sent it. I have heard of stories where the money is stuck in limbo somewhere for ages, which must be quite worrying, so I think I would prefer to pay this amount at the end of the day than try anything different.

[Diverbaz 1]

HSBC account in UK and a HSBC account in Turkey, £10 per transfer whatever the amount.

Baz

[bewva]

We had a similar experience a few years ago with Barclays/garanti Banks.
There were a number of options on the form for charges apparently the one we had used previous was pay all charges in UK which was about £20. the second time we ticked another box which was pay charges in both banks. We paid about £12 in UK & about £48 in Turkey. We must have spent about £10 in phone calls to try to get refunded but got nowhere. Got it right third time though.
Paul

[badger]

Chris
     our first money transfers were costly( TSB) so we changed to Nationwide their charges are more realistic  

[pookie]

Abbey = £25.00 per transfer.

[glennat]

Chris,

We had the same problems.  No matter how much the various banks/building societies charged in the UK to send the money, the charge in Turkey to receive the money far outweighed it.
The only suggestions I can think of are:
1. Open HSBC account in Turkay (Sterling account) as well as HSBC account in UK (again - Sterling).  I think there is a minimal charge to make the transfer.

2. Take out a shovel-full of cash next time you go and deposit in the bank when you get there.

We took option two.  

Glen

[chrissy452]

Cheers everyone, I will think about changing bank account when I get to Turkey, after weighing up all the options. Will all be worth it though when I have my own little apartment!!
Chris

[Jules1]

Chris
I have seen a similar thread on here and I think the advice given was to get a Nationwide account as it did,nt cost anything to transfer funds to Turkey.  Not done it myself but if you search "Nationwide" on here it should come up with the thread hopefully or maybe whoever gave the advice originally might come on and tell you about it.
Good luck
Julie

[glennat]

Hi Julie,

It's the receiving bank in Turkey that's the problem.  The UK side tends to have a set fee (Nationwide is minimal), but the Turkish side charge as a percentage and so this can really add up if you are transferring enough to buy a villa!

That's why I think HSBC-HSBC may (MAY) be cheaper because the money transfer will not really take place.  It will just be a computer updating 2 accounts....but who knows!

Glen