Can anyone let me know how to and what the most convenient procedure is for transferring pension to Spain and how to keep a bank account in England? We are due to move shortly to Spain
and are concerned with what we are reading in the British press stating that we will no longer be able to have one!! And Spanish banks charging for monies transferred.
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:16pm
Super helpful member
My State Pension is still being paid directly into my Spanish bank account without any charges. Any company pension and/or annuities that I also have are paid into my UK bank account which, at the present time, is not being cancelled by the 'powers that be'.
Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:28pm
Legendary helpful member
Hi Elvira,
There's no problem with you retaining an existing UK bank account, so keep it or, if necessary, switch it to one with a good online presence before you leave the UK - much harder to try and open a UK account once you're living in the EU. However, some UK banks and financial institutions no longer allow customers to have an account if they don't have a UK address, but it's very few and if your existing bank account is affected, your bank won't allow you to change your registered UK address to a Spanish one, so worth double-checking that with them sooner rather than later.
It may be possible to have your pension paid direct to your Spanish bank account - your pension provider can advise whether this is possible, but you should also check with your Spanish bank whether this will attract additional charges. If you prefer to be in control of how much you want to transfer and when, I'd recommend using Transferwise to make currency transfers as and when you need to:
Transferwise has a European (Belgian) IBAN and this prevents the additional charges that some Spanish banks have started to apply to customers sending money direct from UK banks.
Kind regards,
Kim
Kimmy11 wrote on Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:28pm:
Hi Elvira,
There's no problem with you retaining an existing UK bank account, so keep it or, if necessary, switch it to one with a good online presence before you leave the UK - much harder to try and open a UK account once you're living in the EU. However, some UK banks and financial institution...
Read more...
...s no longer allow customers to have an account if they don't have a UK address, but it's very few and if your existing bank account is affected, your bank won't allow you to change your registered UK address to a Spanish one, so worth double-checking that with them sooner rather than later.
It may be possible to have your pension paid direct to your Spanish bank account - your pension provider can advise whether this is possible, but you should also check with your Spanish bank whether this will attract additional charges. If you prefer to be in control of how much you want to transfer and when, I'd recommend using Transferwise to make currency transfers as and when you need to:
Transferwise has a European (Belgian) IBAN and this prevents the additional charges that some Spanish banks have started to apply to customers sending money direct from UK banks.
Kind regards,
Kim
Thank you soooo much for your quick response to this.
Very much appreciated Kimmy.
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