Accepting Euro payments (Brit Bank Holder) Thread poster: jerrie
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jerrie 
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:16
German to English
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This week I received my first job(s) from an agency via Proz (Thank you, Proz). I am to be paid in Euros (cheque), and am British Bank Account Holder living in Britain. I know you can get foreign currency accounts, but could anyone advise me on the most financially beneficial (to me) way of banking euros but having them ready to draw in GBP. ie do some banks have preferably transfer rates etc
| | | | | You could either ... | Aug 10, 2002 |
just pay it into your British bank. I have two accounts - one \"bank\" used to be a building soceity and have only just heard about the euro but wouldn\'t know what one looks like or what do with it if it hit them in the face. The other one is fine, just pay it in and they charge you a commission.
Or you could open a German bank account. That\'s what I did - over the Internet with Volksbank (choose any!) and ask the agencies to pay by transfer. If they send you a cheque you ... See more just pay it into your British bank. I have two accounts - one \"bank\" used to be a building soceity and have only just heard about the euro but wouldn\'t know what one looks like or what do with it if it hit them in the face. The other one is fine, just pay it in and they charge you a commission.
Or you could open a German bank account. That\'s what I did - over the Internet with Volksbank (choose any!) and ask the agencies to pay by transfer. If they send you a cheque you could send it to your German bank. (Tales a bit longer because of the post) then you check your German account over the Internet and when there\'s money there you go to a cashpoint and pay it into your English account. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dave Greatrix
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:16
Dutch to English
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| Beware of small cheques | Aug 10, 2002 |
Don\'t forget that a minimum commission of at least 6GBP is charged for cashing a Euro cheque by most High Street banks.
Coupled with the fact that when you hand a Euro cheque into a bank in Blighty they look at you as if you are Mars resident.
I handed my first Euro cheque in about a year ago, and the cashier went white to the lips. I lived in a town (pop: 150,000) and it was the first one they had seen. I was in the bank for over half an hour.
... See more Don\'t forget that a minimum commission of at least 6GBP is charged for cashing a Euro cheque by most High Street banks.
Coupled with the fact that when you hand a Euro cheque into a bank in Blighty they look at you as if you are Mars resident.
I handed my first Euro cheque in about a year ago, and the cashier went white to the lips. I lived in a town (pop: 150,000) and it was the first one they had seen. I was in the bank for over half an hour.
Try and get it paid in a more acceptable form in England - like salt, eggs or fruit and veg.
I have been very pleased with the PayPal service BTW, but it\'s not used by everyone.
Good Luck
[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-08-10 06:45 ] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:16
German to English
+ ...
| Paying in Euros | Aug 10, 2002 |
Hi Jerrie,
Life would probably be easier for us translators if we had joined the euro  , but failing that, we have to stick with the situation as we have it!
Basically you can either pay the cheque into your Sterling account. How much this costs depends on the bank, some charge per cheque, others charge per deposit, so you can collect up a few cheques and pay them in at once.
You can open... See more Hi Jerrie,
Life would probably be easier for us translators if we had joined the euro , but failing that, we have to stick with the situation as we have it!
Basically you can either pay the cheque into your Sterling account. How much this costs depends on the bank, some charge per cheque, others charge per deposit, so you can collect up a few cheques and pay them in at once.
You can open up a Euro account at the high street banks. But the benefits of this are pretty negligible unless you are likely to spend a lot of money in Euros. Basically, if you want to pay money into your Euro account, you still get stung for all the charges because it\'s an international transfer!
If you think (or hope) this is likely to happen a lot, then the best thing is, as Gilian suggests, to set up an account in Germany. Most of my customers are in Germany, so I just wait for a reasonable amount to accumulate in my German account and then transfer it over to my British account. The charges are then very reasonable.
It\'s worth noting, as well, that a Euro account is not a Euro account. If you have customers in, say, Austria, it will still count as an international transfer for them to transfer monies to a German account. One of my German customers recently set up an Italian branch, and they are now in the process of setting up an account in Germany to pay their German freelancers (and me). And they call it a single currency  .
The main rule of thumb is not to accept jobs that are too small. Or, if you do, see if you can accumulate a few jobs on one invoice to make the charges worth paying.
Hope this helped
Regards
Mary
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Just had another thought (ouch!). German companies are *much* happier paying by transfer to a German bank account. Cheques are pretty much unheard of. So for you to get a cheque takes more effort for them, and means you\'re likely to have to wait longer for your money. I\'ve found that since setting up a German euro account, most of my invoices are paid directly into my account within about three weeks! So I can\'t really complain!
[ This Message was edited by: on 2002-08-10 10:21 ] ▲ Collapse
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