Currencies Direct Announce Partnership with La Caixa for Zero Commission Transfers

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Currencies Direct Ltd and Spain’s La Caixa, one of Europe’s leading savings banks, have announced a partnership offering zero commission transfers between customer accounts and Currencies Direct, specifically for people needing to transfer funds between the UK and Spain whether to buy or sell property, or to cover monthly expenses.

The agreement has been hammered out to provide relief from fees for bank drafts in Spain, which are often charged at 0.6% and have been known to be 1.25%, still cheaper than using the bank for end to end transfer, but an expensive and unnecessary fee nevertheless. As well, other commissions charged by La Caixa will be waived if the account is a Currencies Direct ‘la caixa’ account.

Jose Ivars-Lopez, head of marketing at Currencies Direct in London explained “We also offer some great benefits on banking through our partnership with la Caixa bank. If any of our customers open a Currencies Direct la Caixa account in Spain they can make immediate transfers to that account from the UK via Currencies Direct. No more clock watching, or cut off times”.

Under the agreement, all funds transferred via a Currencies Direct ‘la caixa’ account will be available in the client’s Spain account as soon as the funds hit CUrrencies Direct, a significant improvement on past transfers that could only be completed by a certain time of the day. The service is of particular use to property buyers who need to have funds cleared in Spain prior to signing property transfers.

British expats living in Spain and making regular monthly transfers to cover living expenses and who open a La Caixa account with Currencies Direct will also now have funds available for direct bank payments to utilities on the day the funds arrive in Spain, and not have to wait until the next business day.

The number of expats resident in Spain is still a significant number, with the British consul in Malaga estimating that over 400,000 British stay full time or part of the year in the Costa del Sol, and with rising numbers of Spaniards working in the UK and repatriating funds to support mortgages and other expenses, the market for pound/euro transactions is significant.

Customers of Currencies Direct have been mailed a letter with the following benefits to opening an account through La Caixa;

  • 0% commission charged when you deposit a bankers’ draft
  • Immediate transfers from UK to Spain – no cut-off time
  • No fees to make transfers from Spain to UK or reverse if you use your ”la Caixa”
  • Online banking in English
  • Exclusive Visa Debit Card

 

La Caixa currently have 5,500 branches throughout Spain, and over 8,100 ATMs, servicing 10.7m customers. Read more about Currencies Direct.