Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Top 5 Euro currency accounts
Kamal Khurana
1st Feb 2017
Looking for a euro currency account but not sure which one to choose? Fear not – here at MoneyMagpie we’ve compiled a list of the top five euro currency accounts so you can pick the one that’s most convenient for you.
- Who should have a euro currency account?
- Best for business
- Best for convenience
- Best for those who travel often
- Best for everyday banking
- Best for transferring money
You might wonder if it’s even worth having a euro account, given what’s happened in Cyprus. However, it can be useful to have – just make sure that whichever one you go for, you don’t have any more than €100,000 in it at any one time so that it’s covered if the bank fails.
Who should have a euro currency account?
Do you travel around Europe often or transfer money to friends or relatives in the Eurozone? If the answer is yes to any of the questions you should have a euro currency account for easy banking, convenience and most importantly to save you time and money. Opening a euro currency account will allow you to receive and make payments in the Euro and transfer your money with ease.
Best for business
Barclays Currency Current Accounts
- Offer both euros and international currency accounts in a range of currencies
- Currencies: euros, US dollars, rupees, yen
- Able to conduct business in a foreign currency as easy as in pound sterling
- Settle transactions in euros on the same day
- Write cheques in your account’s currency
Best for convenience
Citibank Plus – Euro Current Account
- Accounts linked to just one card
- No monthly fee
- Access to three currencies
- You can purchase and withdraw cash overseas in euros without worrying about charges on foreign currency purchases and fluctuating exchange rates
- Charges may apply to cash withdrawals made on your card in foreign currencies
Best for those who travel often
Co-op – Euro Currency Account
- Must have operational current account for six months
- Can open a currency account in euros and 13 other currencies
- Transfers between currency accounts and pound sterling accounts = £6
- Maintenance fee = £20 per ½ year (April – October)
Best for everyday banking
HSBC – International Personal Current Account
- Manage your foreign currency quickly and conveniently
- Monthly fee of £5 (or currency equivalent)
- No minimum balance
- 24-hour automated service
- Choose from a range of currencies
Best for transferring money
Lloyds TSB – Premier International Account
- Free on balances over €2,500
- Free international transfers – send and receive money internationally for free
- 24/7 worldwide access to your money
- Account holders only
- Recipient and corresponding banks abroad may charge a fee for receiving payments
- Manage your money in pounds, euros and US dollars
Useful articles
- Cheapest foreign currency for your holiday
- Sending money overseas: a great way to send money abroad
- Ask Jasmine: Euro exchange rate
- Changing sentiment towards the Euro?
With Brexit coming up I thought of opening up a Euro account to hedge against a fall in sterling. The High Street Bank exchange rates are so punitive that to hedge against a 15% fall in the £, you would lose money because the difference between sell and buy is over 15%. Anybody know a bank with reasonable buy/sell differentials?
HSBC is free
Citi one is free… if you have ove £150k across all your accounts with them… Otherwise, £75 per month. No thanks
Santander only offers its Gold Account – offshore based in Jersey
It seems to be a choice between Barclays and HSBC
You’ve got a point there. It’s a shame that the banks have cut back so much on their foreign currency accounts.
The original article referred to monthly charges, but now neither HSBC nor Barclays levy these (or they are easily avoided by keeping a small balance in the account).
Sad thing is neither give you a card so there’s no way to actually get something you can use to pay for things when travelling. Barclays talks about cheques but really in 2020?
Hi Jasmine,
Is there a more up to date version of this article, as I am currently trying to find the best Euro current account and have been looking for the Citibank Plus account but the only option Citibank seems to give is the Citibank Gold account which is very expensive.
Many thanks
Jess
Thanks for pointing that out Jessica. I’ll get one of our team to update this.
Just for info, PayPal does a Euro element which can be handy. I think it’s also worth looking into Santander as they are Spanish, but I haven’t looked recently so I’m not sure what their offering is like.
You need to keep at least €75000 in Santander Gold or they charge you interest so not a great option
Hi Jasmine,
I can’t seem to find this free Citi bank Euro account. Maybe they’ve added fees to it now.
Thanks
Richard
Well they say “The accounts are free of charge if you hold a Citi Plus or Citigold Current Account in Sterling, or your foreign currency account holds an average monthly balance of £2,000 (in foreign currency equivalent) or more. If you don’t meet these criteria, a monthly fee of £5 per account will apply.”
Well, that’s scarcely free, is it Jasmine ?