Transfer Money to France - or somewhere else
First they collect an exorbitant flat fee of typically £25, where the postal bank in Luxembourg charges €0.20 for the same service and Danish banks typically €2. Next, they charge a known or hidden commission on the exchange rate. This typically costs you 3% of the money transferred to France. Transferring £100,000 to France, for example, would cost you close to £3,000. Ask your bank for an exchange rate quote and compare their rate with the European Central Bank rate to check this. You cannot trust that the commission rate they give is correct, as they don't base it on the ECB rate. They may well tell you there is no commission, yet - if you were to transfer money to France and back again - you might find out that in addition to the flat fees, 6% of the original amount has evaporated. Compare this with Danish banks where you lose only about 0.2% commission. Ask yourself what happens to the 2.8% that somehow disappears in the murky waters of British banks. Unfortunately, you can't easily use a Danish bank to transfer money to France from the UK, so the next best solution is a currency broker. An estimate of the typical savings is in the region of 1% to 2% of the money sent to France, or £1,000 to £2,000 saved for every £100,000 transferred to France. It is typically possible to reduce the exchange rate commission to just over 1% compared with the ECB rate. Another question to consider for larger amounts is the future development of the exchange rate. If you are to pay a large amount, for example for a property in France, in the future, you risk that exchange rate fluctuations make the purchase significantly more expensive. Some currency brokers propose various options to secure the exchange rate in the future (forward contracts), in some cases protecting you against less favourable rates while allowing you to profit partially from more favourable rates. Currency ExchangeSelling and buying currency is not a complicated deal. It's mostly a question of finding the places where you get the best rates. In France, many high-street banks don't change currency, and if they do, their fees are generally prohibitive. The best is to find a specialised currency exchange office and check if their rates are good. The best deals you get will give you an exchange rate that is about 4% less favourable to you than the daily European Central Bank rate with no fixed fee. If you change in an airport, you risk losing 8% instead of 4%. Outside city centres, it may be difficult to find currency exchange offices. In that case, you may consider online change. If you send them foreign currency to be changed to euros, you pay the cost of a recorded letter, a colissimo packet, or a special envelope they will provide for large amounts. They pay you by cheque or bank transfer. If they sell you foreign currency, you pay the cost of posting it to you. But keep in mind that you save the cost of driving around to find a currency exchange office. Of course, there is an element of trust involved. Be sure to verify that there is a genuine company behind the web site. You can do that on one of the business information sites. Also verify their business results as posted on these sites. Only trust a company that has posted decent results the last couple of years. If it makes you feel more secure, you may also want to scan or take photos of the notes (bills for Americans) before posting them. Be sure to scan or take photos of the sides with the serial numbers. You will find several web sites offering currency exchange, but one I will recommend is Comptoir des Tuileries (CDT) in Paris. Their rates are slightly better than their competitors, their procedures are simple, and they are quick. The Euro
Andorra, Montenegro and Kosovo also use the euro as currency, without being members of the Eurozone. See the European Central Bank and Wikipedia for more details about the euro. Other FinanceDisputes: look under either banking disputes or insurance disputes on this site.
Banque de France. Succession
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Bail Actea.
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