Which business bank account for Euro/US$ deposits?

You might want to consider citibank.co.uk, who offer both USD- and EUR- denominated accounts, both current and savings, and make transfers between them trivially easy.

For non-GBP current account products, be warned of a $20/E20 monthly charge if your average balance falls below £2000 equivalent, total of all accounts, so you'd want to keep a deposit or three on account at all times to avoid charges. Easiest would be to get a GBP current account too, for convenience of transfer and conversion, and a cheque book.

Foreign currency savings accounts are available, but interest rates are negligible. I don't believe these attract charges of any sort, so they may be preferable. You'd need to check with Citibank to see if they can receive funds directly, though.

They also offer an "Internet Banking Current Account" (as opposed to the standard current account), which gets you an excellent interest rate -- within 0.25% of Base Rate -- but does not offer a cheque book. You can always ask for them to raise a cheque for you, and post it you, though, or transfer the money to a chequing account elsewhere. This isn't available to business customers, but you can always fake it being a personal account set. ;)

Jon

Hi Ian Most clearing banks will handle this & offer on-line & foreign accounts. Better to stick to one you have a relationship with or recommended due to the money laundering procedures on new a/c opening.. Costs are always going to be an issue with your type of transactions.

Thanks for the reply.

Isn't the "money laundering procedures" just a matter of providing a proof of identity and a proof of address?

I realise all banks are likely to charge for the type of deposits that I require, but I presume some will charge less than others for it? And then there's the mystery of exchange rates - each bank has their own slightly different rates? Unless you have an account with a particular bank, you can't really tell how good they are in this regard.

So it'd be great to hear about people's experiences with their banks, regarding Euro/US$ deposits via SWIFT or cheque (eg. the charges and exchange rates involved).

Thanks!

I have Citibank £ and $ accounts, there are no charges for paying in cheques in the appropriate currency. When it comers to moving between accounts the rates seem reasonable and there are no charges.

You do pay a monthly fee on some accounts if the total average balance across all the accounts drops belwo a certain level.

Phil

If I was depositing US Dollar ($) cheques on a regular basis, would it be chargeable if I deposited them into one of Citibanks ( UK Pounds) accounts ??? - Is it just free if the cheque is in the same currency as the account ??

I have seen that they have a Euro and US Dollar savings account, which doesn't require a minimum balance - This seems very good.

Anyone know how interest (although small) would be declared on a tax return??? - Would it be classed as overseas earnings ?

Thanks in advance, Daniel