As I am going abroad to Spain as a British Council Language Assistant I will be paid a wage, around 700 euros a month. The kicker is that this money will be paid into a British bank account meaning that I have to have £ but pay and live in €. Oh the dilemmas this is causing.
But I seem to have found the solution. After visiting many banks and asking their advice one seems to have solved this issue. Santander, my hero. Now this may seem an obvious solution, the bank is owned by a Spanish company, but it is still a slightly convoluted route to this answer. I have opened a student account with Santander (I didn’t previously have one) which gives me free worldwide gadget insurance for my phone, my laptop and two other gadgets - I’m probably going to insure my iPod and my Kindle.
Now this is only part one of the solution, the second is to ask for a Santander Zero credit card. This credit card is conversion charge free, atm fee free and it allows you to access your money for free. According to the advisor it is the only high street bank to do this. He also said that if you set up a direct debit with your main bank account then there is 0% interest. So basically it is working like a debit card but the money all comes off at once.
This is the only way that I have found to access my money for free whilst in Spain. Other than this banks have all been telling me about conversion fees and flat rates of withdrawal.
The next cheapest way I have found is to use Nationwide. They have a flat rate for withdrawal of £1 and a currency conversion of only 1%. This will be the preferential option for some of you.
I hope this helps.
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