Cheapest way to send small Euro amounts to France?

Question

Over the years I've needed to send small amount of Francs/Euros to France for various reasons, mostly deposits for rent and things like that. The amounts range from, say, 10 to 200 Euros.

Once upon a time it was easy and relatively cheap using Eurocheques (they're nothing to do with Euros) but they were phased out a couple of years ago.

Now the alternatives seem to be:- Send the cash, if just five or ten Euros I take the risk, for more I send it registered. Works OK but it's a bit of a hassle and it does cost a bit (if registered).

Send travellers cheques, reasonably secure and not too expensive but an absolute pain in the backside if for any reason the cheques aren't cashed. Travellers cheques are *very* difficult to cash oneself if they have been made out to someone else even if they were your cheques originally.

A bank transfer of some sort, I've yet to find one I can do electronically and they all cost ten pounds or more.

Has anyone any better ideas? What I'd really like is to open a bank account in France so I can write cheques in Euros from a French bank but that seems pretty difficult too. (I know about CA's Britline, last time I looked at that it was pretty expensive).

Take a Walk · Accepted Answer

Western Union is convenient, but not very cheap, don't know the rates exactly they are on a sliding scale, but £25 to the states the other day cost £8 and I noted that £3000 would have been £125

HTH

Take a Walk · Answer

I meant to add that at the other end the payee just takes some ID and a 10 digit number that you give him to any Western Union office and is given his cash. Payment can be made 20 mins after you have given the money at your end. You can track the money online and discover when it had been collected.

usenet · Answer

I actually want to send money to someone's bank account (nearly always anyway) and Western Union (like PayPal, which is a lot cheaper) doesn't do that.

If I was sending £25 to the USA I'd stick it in an evelope and hope, you could lose one in four and still break even at those Western Union prices.

Take a Walk · Answer

Western Union can issue a cheque in the destination and mail it to the receiver, but I don't know how much this costs other than its on top of the normal fee

sunny edinburgh · Answer

will do SWIFT transfers for £10-£15. Watch their rates though, as their spread can be quite wide. However, their website lists rates for holiday money, and by calling them, you can often get a much better rate. Check  for intraday rates, but be aware that any dealer/bank you use will not get near these rates as they need a slice of the action too. I've used onlinefx quite often and they suit me well. SE

Peter Saxton · Answer

Can't you open a Euro account in the UK?

usenet · Answer

Yes, but it won't help at all because you still get hit by 'international transfer' costs even though both ends of the transfer are Euros.

Peter Saxton · Answer

Yes, I must admit I do remember a client receiving cheques and banking them and having a lot less credited to the account. Isn't this a bit crazy?

usenet · Answer

Not if you're a bank, but otherwise - yes.

There are moves afoot in the Euro zone to reduce the cost of Euro transfers between countries. I think the rule that has been introduced is that across border Euro transfer costs must not be more than within country transfer costs. The banks have responded by making it cost more to do within country transfers. (At least I believe this is what has been going on, I haven't followed it closely, does anyone know more detail).

I don't think the above helps us at all as the UK isn't in the Euro zone.

Cheapest way to send small Euro amounts to France?

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