Transferring U.S Dollars INTO Spain (La Caixa)

Dear members of this forum,

First of all I apologize if my question comes as a bit naive but I really am confused. So I opened a current account at La Caixa when I was in Spain and now need to transfer money into it. My money is in U.S Dollars. The account I opened there is in Euros. Can I just transfer the money in dollars and La Caixa will automatically convert them into euros into my account? Or do I have to convert them into euros first then wire them? Or do I have to open a 'usd' account at la caixa first in this case or what?

Tremendously confused and awaiting your helpful feedback,

Paul

The answer is really you can do all 3 options. The questions you need to ask are what will the exchange rate be and what are ALL the charges. The USD account will be in virtual US$'s which means that on paper the account is listed in $ you can not withdraw US$ in Spain. It also depends on the amount of money you are 'moving' as I believe that the U.S. needs to be advised if it over a certain amount.

Another option is to use would be to use some of the currency exchange companies. They will advise you of costs and timescale of moving the money.

Sorry it is not a straight forward answer but it is like asking how long is a piece of string?

Thank you for your answer. I remember I asked La Caixa if there will be any currency coversion charges and they seemed to indicate there are charge no commission on converting for their clients. Or do you mean there are usually other hidden charges? I have not given the 'exchange rate' much thought because I just assumed it is a variable depending on what day they receive the money on and the equivelant market interest rate on that particular day (of course slightly lower because it is a euro operating bank after all). But is it common practice to try and negotiate the rate in Spain prior to the transfer?

For me it is way simpler to just transfer the dollars and have them convert it automatically instead of having to do so myself from one account to the other or even through a 3rd party (don't know how simple it is or how much of a percentage they truly save or whether it is worth it or not?). But assuming the bank doesnt use a ridiculous exchange rate, don't all the big banks in spain more or less follow a similar range? Or would I be surprised?

Once again thank you!!

paulgeorge.

This is a very complex subject. First of all the banks and exchange companies are businesses and as such will make a profit/charge on everything they do. They are not charities! As far as rates are concerned there are 2 basic types of rates used by banks namely commercial and tourist. Then you might be offered 1 to 4 points below the commercial rate depending on the amount you move and how good you are at negotiating! Unless you are moving several millions you will never get the full commercial rate. There is also the 'spread' between buying and selling by everybody. Some can say they do not charge any fees but have reduced the rate they give you by an amount to cover their charges whereas others charge a fee but offer a higher exchange rate.  Its like buying anything, you should only look at the bottom line to see which is best i.e. if I give you 'x' amount of currency how much will you give me in the foreign currency after everything. If you are only talking about a few thousand then there is not much to worry about but if you are moving tens of thousands or more then you need to negotiate what you will recieve. I remember when I bought my house here I went to my U.K. bank and asked what rate they would offer for my €100,000. The teller just looked at the days tourist rate and said that was it. I asked her if she had heard of commercial rates and she said "what is that?"......... I then asked her to ring their foreign exchange exchange section and let me speak to them. End of the story was I got an additional 6/7 cents on the euro on my exchange. You do the maths!

Another thing you need to be aware of is time. Some Spanish banks will 'keep' your money for up to 3 weeks before you can withdraw it. This happens when you pay foreign currency into your Spanish account not when you deposit local currency.

To use the currency exchange companies is fairly simple however you need to ask how long it takes, what guarantees they offer in case they 'lose' the money and also what guarantees there are in case the company goes bust. Then at the end of the day you pays your money and you takes your chances.

Just to clear up another 'mistake' you said it depends on the interest rate. This has very little to do with setting the exchange rate. It is to do with what the currency movers think about the strength of the euro against the US$. Also some banks will want $'s to 'balance  their books' whereas others might have too many $'s so will offer a lower rate ON THAT DAY.

Sorry if this has confused you even more than you were before but I believe we all need to be more aware of what happens when doing anything.

Good luck and I hope the headache I have given you goes away soon!!!

steone...

In my experience the answer to your question can I transfer US Dollars into a Euro account at La Caixa is YES.

Until quite recently we used to pay in up to 500 USD every couple of months in the form of third party cheques drawn on various US banks. We used to pay 3 Euros per cheque commission to a maximum of 12 euros per complete transaction, but this has recently increased to 4 euros. The commission rate does seem to be negotiable however, depending on the amount to be deposited. The exchange rate was always the business rate of the day on the day that the cheques were deposited at the bank. The clearance period was 20 working days. The amount deposited showed up in the account on the day of deposit but was marked as a 'retained' amount during the clearance period.an was obviously untouchable.

This subject has been covered before on this forum; one responder commented that they paid no commission; I find this hard to believe since banks are in the business of making money. When I spoke to my branch manager about this zero commission he said 'nonsense... is impossible!' So basically talk to the manger of your local branch about commission rates.

My suggestion would be to set up an account with an FX company. I have used Rationalfx, Cambridge Mercantile and and VFXPLC in the UK and have benefitted from much better exchange rates than those offered by banks, plus free transers, except for one of these companies . I can buy the Euros online (process similar to trading shares in real time) or by phone and the money is in my account within 24 to 48 hours. My bank (also La Caixa) has never retained the funds after reciving them. 

I guess from the US Cambridge Mercantile would be a good option, although they do (or used to) charge arund $15 for the transfer. I'm sure, though, that there are other US-based companies to explore.

So far as La Caixa is concerned the 20 day retention period is not negotiable in the case of cheques.

Electronic transfers may be different. If fact in the case of Canadian dollar cheques this can be extended to 40 days. Even UK sterling cheques have a retained period applied because cheques have to be mailed to the respective banks on which they are drawn.

Not too sure but there may be questions asked in relation to the sum involved. Europe has a thing about money laundering these days and it may be necessary to provide some sort of provenance as to the source of the funds involved...

Just to add to the complexity - some banks here in Spain charge you to receive money if it is more than 50,000€.  In your case you would need to send two separate transfers if La Caixa is one of those who do this.

Due to your time constraints, then I would agree with the other posters that you should use a currency exchange company.  They usually take a couple of days to clear your money and then pay it into your account.

I asked my family to use Paypal for a much easier money transfer.