How do I make the most of my money? 

One of the recurring questions we get from clients looking to move their money to Spain is how do we do it? Which service do we use and recommend?  After all if we use it then the client reckons it must be pretty secure right? 

The first answer is obvious, We never ever use our banks directly. We always use a third party supplier as we have no desire to be royally ripped off. However depending on the amount and the speed needed we use one of two methods. For smaller transfers, and by smaller we mean under 6000 Euros, we use Transferwise. The key here is speed and a great exchange rate for lower amounts. Today we transferred 2500 Euros and got 1.27 Euros to the pound. My bank were offerring me 1.23,5. That is a pretty huge difference in my book. We also got the transfer free because many of my clients have used the service and we got a bonus of not paying charges on this transfer. Very easy to sign up it is worth your while if you need to make periodic transfers such as mortgage payments to Spain and it is very useful too for initial deposit payments

Our other choice for larger amounts, and the service we recommend for people buying a property and sending the money for the purchase is through Currencies Direct. We have been working with them for many years now and their personal service to our clients is second to none. They also give great rates, much better than the banks of course but also beating services like Transferwise on larger amounts (Transferwise usually wins on smaller amounts). The great advantages of Currencies Direct are the personal touch through their on the ground broker both here in Valencia and in other areas of Spain, the guarantees they provide in the case of misplaced funds (Although we have never had that problem) and again the ease and speed of signing up with them. 

Currencies Direct also have an agreement in place with La Caixa bank for when you are selling your property in Spain that if you want to transfer funds back to your home country then La Caixa will not charge for either receiving the funds in your account or for making the transfer. This alone can make a hefty difference on the amount of money you eventually receive in your home country bank account. 

Anyone transferring funds to Spain should be very wary of using their own bank. Despite their promises they are always beaten on price by these third party services and when the services are established, like the ones mentioned here, they are just as secure.  

If you have any questions just send us a mail and we will put you in contact with someone to speak to. You WILL save hundreds or thousands of Euros/Pounds/Dollars like this. 

Best Wishes

Graham

PS The image is from Transferwise's Nothing to Hide campaign to demonstrate how banks rip people off totally.