Transferring money

[Imy85]

Hi I'm new to the forum and have been in Cairo for about 6 weeks now.

I need to access some money (not a huge amount) from my UK bank account and despite banking with Barclays and there being Barclays here, I can't access my money other than through a cash point which won't let me take more than 1000 LE. Rather than get stung with numerous bank charges, can anyone suggest any cheaper alternatives?

Someone did suggest Western Union. A quick quote on their website says that I'll get charged £50 but then caveat it by saying the Agent charges may be more. Does anyone have any experience with this.

Many thanks in advance guys,

Imran

[Imy85]

I don't see how a wire transfer would help. The money is in my account and I can access it in bits without a problem through the ATM but I'd rather get it all in one go as I probably have a limit of 3000LE a day which would mean numerous transaction fees etc.

[hurghadapat]

Originally Posted by Imy85

Hi I'm new to the forum and have been in Cairo for about 6 weeks now.

I need to access some money (not a huge amount) from my UK bank account and despite banking with Barclays and there being Barclays here, I can't access my money other than through a cash point which won't let me take more than 1000 LE. Rather than get stung with numerous bank charges, can anyone suggest any cheaper alternatives?

Someone did suggest Western Union. A quick quote on their website says that I'll get charged £50 but then caveat it by saying the Agent charges may be more. Does anyone have any experience with this.

Many thanks in advance guys,

Imran

I would phone Barclays UK and explain what you want to do....tell them you are phoning from Egypt and ask them to call you back...you will also need the address of the bank you want the money transfered to.
But here is Barclays info on how you can do it.
Always a good idea to have an egyptian bank account as a back up.


International payments and transfers – How do I send money abroad?
– Barclays International Payments Service

This service provides a flexible means of sending funds overseas and has been designed to meet your needs in terms of cost and speed. Payments are sent using an electronic bank-to-bank transfer, which is suitable for both urgent and less time-critical payments. Find out more

Payments from sterling or currency accounts or against forward contracts
Payments made in any freely traded currency to virtually any destination
No maximum value
Flexible, reliable, secure and competitive
Make payments online, over the phone or in branch
Choose between standard and priority service

Standard service

For non-urgent payments – Payments are dispatched on the working day following receipt of your instruction (at the very latest)
Number of working days for funds to arrive (indication only): 3-4 for sterling or local currency to EU/EEA (not available for euros, see SEPA Credit Transfer below); 4-5 for the rest of Europe; 4-5 for North America; up to 8 for the rest of the world*
Not available for euro payments to the EU/EEA – see SEPA Credit Transfer below

Priority service

For urgent payments – Payments are dispatched same-day following receipt of your instruction by the 2pm cut-off time
Payments dispatched with earliest possible Value Date
Number of working days for funds to arrive (indication only): usually same day or next working day for euros, sterling or local currency to EU/EEA; 1-3 for the rest of Europe; 1-3 for North America; up to 7 for the rest of the world*

Ways to pay

Online – available for Online Banking customers who use PINsentry
By phone – available for Telephone Banking customers with their Telephone Banking passcode if the destination account is in their own name and the payment is for £5,000 or less; call 08457 165 921*** (+44 01202 648 921 from outside the UK).
In branch – visit your local branch for full details.


– SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) Credit Transfer

This service is for non-urgent payments in euros only to any of the 27 European Union countries plus the 3 European Economic Area Countries (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway), Monaco and Switzerland:

No maximum value
Euros only
Payments reach the beneficiary the working day after processing*
SWIFTBIC and IBAN are mandatory
The option to ‘pay only Barclays charges’ must be selected

Ways to pay

Online – available for Online Banking customers who use PINsentry
By phone – available for Telephone Banking customers with their Telephone Banking passcode if the destination account is in their own name and the payment is for £5,000 or less; call 08457 165 921*** (+44 01202 648 921 from outside the UK).
In branch – visit your local branch for full details.

– Other methods of international payment

If you wish to send funds yourself, you can use our paper-based international payment product, International Drafts. Once you've got this item from your branch, you send the payment by post to the beneficiary. International Drafts take longer than electronic payments but you don't need to know the beneficiary's account details.

Are you a Barclays Wealth customer?
As a Barclays Wealth client, you could make online payments to overseas beneficiaries through the international online service (up to £20,000 per payment). Find out more about international banking services from Barclays Wealth.
Table of charges

Barclays charges Beneficiary bank charges
Payment
type Timing Channel Barclays Missing SWIFTBIC/IBAN Cover bank 1 Overseas delivery 1
SEPA 2
All All £15 N/A N/A N/A

International
Standard Branch / Telephone £25 N/A

Yes


Yes
International Future-dated Branch / Telephone £25

N/A


Yes


Yes

International (outside Europe)
Priority Branch / Telephone £25 N/A

Yes


Yes
International (to Europe) Priority Branch / Telephone £40

N/A


N/A


N/A
International All 3 Online £25 £7

Yes


Yes


1. These only apply when you choose to 'pay all charges'. Cover bank and overseas delivery charges may be requested by foreign banks involved in the transfer. The charges are fees imposed by the foreign bank to process your payment. The amount of these charges can vary from country to country and even from bank to bank.

2. Euro payments to an account in the Single Euro Payment Area (the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). SWIFT Bank Identifier Code (BIC) and the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) of the account you’re sending the money to must be provided.

3. All non-future dated payments made in Online Banking are treated as Priority at no extra charge

*Payment instructions received via Royal Mail are not subject to these dispatch timescales described. These timescales only affect payments received via Online Banking, Telephone Banking and our branch counters.

** Overseas delivery charges cover the costs and charges for delivering the payment in the destination country. They may be a flat fee or a percentage fee

[Liralen]

I use Audi banks ATM.. 4000 LE per transaction. I have noticed many of the other banks have lower per transaction limits, just to get those fees out of us.

[hurghadapat]

Originally Posted by Imy85

Hi I'm new to the forum and have been in Cairo for about 6 weeks now.

I need to access some money (not a huge amount) from my UK bank account and despite banking with Barclays and there being Barclays here, I can't access my money other than through a cash point which won't let me take more than 1000 LE. Rather than get stung with numerous bank charges, can anyone suggest any cheaper alternatives?

Someone did suggest Western Union. A quick quote on their website says that I'll get charged £50 but then caveat it by saying the Agent charges may be more. Does anyone have any experience with this.

Many thanks in advance guys,

Imran

and after all that i forgot to say Hi and welcome to the forum.....and hope the info is of some use to you.

[Imy85]

Fantastic thanks for the help!

I'll try the Audi Bank ATM as there appears to be one near me, I'm hoping they accept my card. Failing that I'll try the bank that I've used for the last 15 years!

[hurghadapat]

Originally Posted by Imy85

Fantastic thanks for the help!

I'll try the Audi Bank ATM as there appears to be one near me, I'm hoping they accept my card. Failing that I'll try the bank that I've used for the last 15 years!

Your bank will have set the limit you can withdraw per day so no matter which atm you use you will not be able to draw any more. My account is Barclays and my limit is £300.....take care if trying to draw money from various atm's in one day you could end up having your card blocked by the bank.

[expatagogo]

Originally Posted by hurghadapat

Your bank will have set the limit you can withdraw per day so no matter which atm you use you will not be able to draw any more. My account is Barclays and my limit is £300.....take care if trying to draw money from various atm's in one day you could end up having your card blocked by the bank.

My credit union (I stopped giving barnksters my money decades ago) has an online chat feature, which I used to let them know I would be in Egypt so they wouldn't block my account, and I've never had a problem.

[Liralen]

I have a similar arrangement with my bank, that has to be renewed once a year. I pop on skype, call my bank branch and speak with the account manager, and they update it

As hurghadapat mentioned though, find out what your banks per/day limit is as well, and adjust accordingly. Mine has no problems with 4000 LE a day (which btw, if your card is on the visa network, is egypt visa network's per/day ATM limit).

My banks per/day limit is actually much higher, as its a business account, but VISA wont let more than 4000 LE through in 24 hours. Annoying at best.. but I appreciate the security behind it.

[hurghadapat]

Originally Posted by Liralen

I have a similar arrangement with my bank, that has to be renewed once a year. I pop on skype, call my bank branch and speak with the account manager, and they update it

As hurghadapat mentioned though, find out what your banks per/day limit is as well, and adjust accordingly. Mine has no problems with 4000 LE a day (which btw, if your card is on the visa network, is egypt visa network's per/day ATM limit).

My banks per/day limit is actually much higher, as its a business account, but VISA wont let more than 4000 LE through in 24 hours. Annoying at best.. but I appreciate the security behind it.

These limits are set by banks for a reason....fraud...so not a good idea to set the limit to high.

I also let my bank know that i was living in Egypt but still on many occasions my card was blocked...maybe because i had used it quite a few times in one day for maybe higher than normal transactions...annoying,yes but all it took was a call to Barclays and 10mins later i could use my card again....would rather have that inconveniance than have some fraudster clear a large amount of cash from my account.