Lawyers, Bank Accounts, Making A Will

[iain]

Hi Just opened an account at HSBC Nabq yesterday.

Its a deposit account paying nearly 10% interest calculated monthly paid 3 monthly.

You need a passport no particular type of visa and they take your occupation, home address and business address (if these are they same, as mine are they like a second address for business as the concept of working from home blows their mind and not worth the hassle!

You can get a hole in the wall card but they send it to you (or you collec0 in Egypt and it takes about 7 days so you need to apply at the beginning of a visit.

i'll get mine when I come back 9but will apply for it then as otherwise it will sit in their ffice and expire after a month.

You need to keep EG£ 3,000 in it to avoid charges (I think the card cost £E25 or something. f you drop below the 3,000 mark they charge EG20 per month or some similar small amount.

If you don't have a card you can draw out money in person. ou can also arange internet access.

Took 10 mins. If you want a joint account you both have to sign at same time in front of bank, so both need to be there.

I was tols current accounts are only for permanent residents but the deposit account suits better anyway.

i was given my account no and the SWIFT details for me to transfer in the money. far less painful than the same process at home, seems to me.

 

[queenie40something]

I just checked the quote I received that HSBC are offering and the personal liability is just £10,000 and accidental death just £5,000, loss of rent just £1,000 up to 3 months maximum and costs towards alternative accomodation is just £200 per month up to 3 months max. The policy did not cover accidental damage cover.

 

[Georgina]

My friends who live in El Gouna were telling me rather than pay expensive transfer charges to bring money from the UK they have a sterling account in Egypt and pay in a cheque made out to themselves. It takes around 3 weeks to clear and they only get charged around GBP6. They then use the cash point to draw the money out in Egyptian pounds. Has anyone else paid in a UK cheque like this please?

Asked this question at Banque Misr and they said it was not possible.

At National Bank of Oman they said it will take around 30 days for the cheque to clear and for a cheque for GBP3,000 the charges would be USD13.30 and maybe another USD20-30 from the clearing bank? This is more than a transfer. He also said the interest rate for the sterling account is 4% and not 3.25% which is what they told me on the phone.

Will see what HSBC say next time I am passing their branch.

 

[queenie40something]

Hi Georgina - I have a sterling account with Bank Misr and wasnt aware it was possible / made aware.

 

[Georgina]

Hi Georgina - I have a sterling account with Bank Misr and wasnt aware it was possible / made aware.

I'm nervous about trying something like this until I know exactly how much it will cost. I recently had to pay an amount in dollars to a tour operator and I transferred the money from my HSBC LE account to my USD account and then transferred it to another bank in Cairo. HSBC said the charges would not be high. I think they charged me LE270 and then the other bank charged the same when they received it and that was just within Egypt!

I can't transfer money from my UK account at Barclays here to Egypt without returning to the UK. I can transfer money into a friends UK account and ask them to bring it in cash out here with them but just asked my brother who is coming in January but he doesn't feel happy carrying cash.

I don't want to go back to the UK it's too cold I don't need the cash right now but looking at cheap methods of getting cash out here if interest rates drop even more in the UK when they are so high here.

Forecast for today 29 degrees!

 

[M Butler]

My friends who live in El Gouna were telling me rather than pay expensive transfer charges to bring money from the UK they have a sterling account in Egypt and pay in a cheque made out to themselves. It takes around 3 weeks to clear and they only get charged around GBP6. They then use the cash point to draw the money out in Egyptian pounds. Has anyone else paid in a UK cheque like this please?

Hi Georgina,

We don't have a bank account in Egypt and so far and in nearly 3 years, have not felt it necessary but we are not yet renting out our property.

We have internet banking with Nationwide and we transfer money from our higher interest account to our flex account (debit card) overnight and withdraw in EGP from the ATM. This incurs no charges and we get a good exchange rate. Of course you are restricted to £300 sterling withdrawal per day but we just make daily visits until we have enough to pay any larger bills in cash.

If we need to transfer payments to a foreign bank account we use HIFX who advertise low charges. You can google HIFX to find out details.

Maybe if and when we rent out our property we will need to open a bank account in Egypt so thanks to all for the info on how to do this.

Margaret

 

[Georgina]

Hi Georgina,

We don't have a bank account in Egypt and so far and in nearly 3 years, have not felt it necessary but we are not yet renting out our property.

We have internet banking with Nationwide and we transfer money from our higher interest account to our flex account (debit card) overnight and withdraw in EGP from the ATM. This incurs no charges and we get a good exchange rate. Of course you are restricted to £300 sterling withdrawal per day but we just make daily visits until we have enough to pay any larger bills in cash.

If we need to transfer payments to a foreign bank account we use HIFX who advertise low charges. You can google HIFX to find out details.

Maybe if and when we rent out our property we will need to open a bank account in Egypt so thanks to all for the info on how to do this.

Margaret

Hi Margaret
Barclays charges high commission using cash withdrawal machines here. Maybe I will try the new Barclays one in Hurghada and see if it is any different as it is the same bank. I have the details of HIFX thanks. I will probably end up using them but not while the exchange rate is so low.

 

[Georgina]

Hi Just opened an account at HSBC Nabq yesterday.

Its a deposit account paying nearly 10% interest calculated monthly paid 3 monthly.

In HSBC today they said there is a 10% account but it is a three year account and penalties if you withdraw? Is this the same one Iain?

 

[Georgina]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Georgina View Post
My friends who live in El Gouna were telling me rather than pay expensive transfer charges to bring money from the UK they have a sterling account in Egypt and pay in a cheque made out to themselves. It takes around 3 weeks to clear and they only get charged around GBP6. They then use the cash point to draw the money out in Egyptian pounds. Has anyone else paid in a UK cheque like this please?



Asked this question at Banque Misr and they said it was not possible.

At National Bank of Oman they said it will take around 30 days for the cheque to clear and for a cheque for GBP3,000 the charges would be USD13.30 and maybe another USD20-30 from the clearing bank? This is more than a transfer. He also said the interest rate for the sterling account is 4% and not 3.25% which is what they told me on the phone.

Will see what HSBC say next time I am passing their branch.

Went into HSBC. They said it is possible and the charges for outward cheques for collection in foreign currency are 0.3% (min EGP30 - max EGP600) + postage charges and will take 21 days for the cheque to clear.

I already have USD and EGP accounts with HSBC so as long as I have total of EGP10,000 I think it was between all three accounts there are no minimum amounts in any one account nor charges. Trouble is interest rate on GBP account is only 2.915% as opposed to the EGP account of 7.77%. I think I will try it with a small cheque first to get the money here and then exchange it to EGP when the rates improve.

If anyone can ask in Barclays in UK whether they would add any charges for a Barclays cheque being paid into an Egyptian bank account that would be great

 

[iain]

In HSBC today they said there is a 10% account but it is a three year account and penalties if you withdraw? Is this the same one Iain?

Hi georgina - sorry I may have misled you quoting the interest rate it's less than ten but around 7-8%. no problem using it like a current account in so much as you can have a cashpoint card, but no cheques and I guess no standing orders or things like that, but frankly once I knew it did wnat i wanted I swirched off. I can send sterling to it ad it will convert at the rate that day into E£ as I dont have a sterling account. yesterday I got 8.2466 to the GBP.

 

[charliesurf]

There have been a few recommendations in relation to Zeiad, can anyone put me in touch with him as I have been unable to contact him ?

many thanks

Charlie