Europeans remitting funds back home or Brits with properties in the EU may be interested in Citibank’s fee-free euro transfer service to third party accounts across Europe.

Called SEPA (Single European Payment Area) transfers, the payments take three working days and can be made to any bank account in 31 European countries.

If you make the transfer from a Citibank euro current or savings account, it will be completely free of charge, but if from another Citibank currency account, there will be a conversion charge of up to 2 per cent.

UK banks  typically £9-£21 for cross border transfers, and those from sterling accounts will normally incur conversion charges as well. Cross border payments from UK banks can also be slow and often involve an intermediary, or ‘correspondent’ bank, with both banks deducting costs.

But the European-wide SEPA agreement, which came into force earlier this year, was designed to make cross border payments and transfers easier and quicker.

If you don’t want to pay any charges for such transactions, you will need a euro account with Citibank with a balance of at least €2,000.

The account also allows direct debits and comes with a debit card for overseas transactions. If the account has a balance of less than €2,000, you have to pay a £10 a month fee.   However, there is no charge on Citibank’s basic Euro Savings Account.

Fund transfers and payments made from a non-euro account with Citibank will incur currency conversion charges of up to 2 per cent and the receiving bank may also deduct costs.

For very large or regular foreign currency transfers or one-off payments, there are currency specialists such as Caxton and HIFX which allow you to hedge future currency transactions on payment of a deposit.

For withdrawing small amounts of foreign currency from cash machines while abroad, Nationwide’s debit card linked to its Flex Acccount, offers one of the best deals. There is no fee and no currency conversion charge. For purchases made while abroad, Nationwide’s Gold Credit card is similarly recommended.

For Polish nationals here are special UK bank accounts for Poles living in the UK. See our guide:

http://www.defaqto.com/consumer/current-accounts/polish-bank-accounts.aspx

Or visit:
www.citibank.co
www.nationwide.co.uk
www.caxtonfx.co.uk
www.nationwide.co.uk

Abbey’s latest credit card launch, the appropriately named ‘Zero card’ would appear to be every endebted household’s dream piece of plastic.

It charges 0 per cent on purchases and balance transfer for the first six months, with no balance transfer fee - an unusual feature as most credit cards now charge a one-off fee of 2-3 per cent for balance transfers.

In addition, there’s no exchange rate loading on foreign currency purchases or on withdrawals from overseas’ cashpoints, and no fee for ATM withdrawals. NOr is there an annual card fee.

This fee-free combination certainly makes Abbey’s Zero card look extrememly attractive. For anyone about to  book a summer holiday, this card could be a useful addition to their wallet.

The zero foreign currency loading, which can add up to 3 per cent to foreign currency transactions is particularly attractive as few cards, apart from the Nationwide credit cards, offer this for worldwide transactions, with Saga’s credit card providing it in EU countries only.

So what’s the catch? First, the no fee cash advances incur interest at an eye watering 25.9 per cent whether you take cash in the UK or abroad, and second, the 0 per cent introductory deal on purchases and balance transfers  lasts only six months.

Balances transfers that haven’t been paid off at the end of the six month introductory period will be charged at 18.9 per cent as will be purchases, whether in the UK or abroad.