Local vs international bank accounts

Hi 

I assume by "international bank" you mean the likes of Wise and N26, and also that your income is received in UK sterling?

I use Wise to convert from sterling to euros, and to pay direct debits. With Wise, your euros are held in an account in Belgium, which means you have an EU IBAN. Utility companies in general have no problem with that, but there may be one or two companies whose databases are hardwired to Spanish IBANs, or whose staff simply don't understand that EU IBANs are acceptable.

The overriding advantage of Wise is the exchange rate and charges - you'll struggle to find better from a local bank.

I can't comment directly about mortgage companies, but I can't see why they should insist on a Spanish IBAN.

ATM fees are a bit more of an issue, but with Wise you can have a debit card and use it in shops etc with no charges. Most ATMs will charge you - but it's the Spanish bank which charges you not Wise, although there seem to be some banks that don't charge. However if you withdraw more than £200 in a month then Wise will charge as well- so use your card to pay for purchases! 

Hope this helps!

Cheers 

Steve 

Thanks Steve, that's very helpful.  Yes the likes of N26 and Wise are what I would consider an international banks..  As I understand, these types of banks have clients that reside in "off shore" countries.  They enable transactions in various currencies and convert to their "home" currency using a market rate (not exchange rate markup or foreign transaction fees).  Mine is Capital One 360, based in the USA,  and they use the European Central Bank exchange rate to convert Euros to USD, don't charge atm fees, and enable mobile deposits.  Hopefully they will be allowed by Spanish companies for direct debit payments in instances where that is required or advantageous.  Good to know that merchants enable purchases using N26 and Wise without debit fees.   I have used N26 but transfers are painfully slow with them.  Will have to look into Wise.  Thanks again, I appreciate your info and time taken to read my post.

Greg

Hi Greg 

I've just opened a USD balance within Wise - when I look at the details it states that it takes 2-3 working days for money to arrive from the USA, 4-5 from outside the USA. By contrast, I can transfer GBP from the UK into my Wise GBP account in a matter of seconds!

I can't comment on N26 because I haven't got an account.

Cheers 

Steve 

Thanks Steve, good to know.  Last year when I was traveling in the EU, it took me 8 days to transfer from the US to N26 and then about the same in reverse when I decided to close N26.  

Regards

Greg

Hi all,

I have recently started swapping my direct debits over from Sabadell to N26 Bank.

I was just wondering if anyone has had a problem changing an "Endesa" direct debit to N26, I have tried entering the "N26" IBAN number several times now (which on the Endesa website is an easy process), but I just keep getting a message saying "this number is incorrect"

I don't understand it because it is an EU IBAN number.

Is it just me or has anyone else failed or succeeded in matching these two up ?

Thanks in advance

Gary

Hi Gary 

I don't have direct experience of Endesa and n26, but I do know that some utility companies have designed their websites to insist on a Spanish IBAN eg Hidraqua. I suspect your only option is to call Endesa or pop into an office.

Cheers 

Steve 

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your reply.

On reflection I've a feeling that although my N26 account has an ES IBAN number, Endesa seems to know its not actually a Spanish bank. Similarly I tried using my Wise account but that has a BE IBAN so they didn't like that either.

I've since decided to abandon the direct debit idea and in future pay all future bills by card.

Heaven only knows what obstacles Endesa will come up with in my endeavor to make these changes, they're not the easiest company to deal with.

Regards

Gary 

Well I have to say credit where credit due. I've recently discovered that Spanish Companies absolutely love Twitter and out of those who I've "tweeted" recently including Endesa, Sabadell, MasMovil and Bankinter have all replied within the hour.

Endesa cancelled my direct debit right away and I was even able to go online and use my N26 debit card to pay a bill, so well done them.

So if anyone is struggling to make contact with utility companies etc, try Twitter.

Regards

Gary