Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Hi, we regularly send money by International transfer from Santander to Credit West via their intermediary bank in Ankara, each time we do so it takes varying amounts of time from 2 hrs to 7 days even though the transfer details are the same as are the bank details, some time ago the money went missing in transit and it took nearly 2 weeks to have it returned into our UK account which is no good when needing it to live out here. Has anyone else experienced the same issues and is there a better way to have UK funds transferred here?

There was a recent thread on this topic here which suggested using HiFX.co.uk that you might find worthwhile looking at...

Thanks Keith.

Might not be of any use to you, but we have HSBC account in Uk and HSBC account here.....it makes life very simple. Not a great rate of interest, but easy to withdraw money from UK from the ATm over here. I don't know your circumstances but if you are transferring money regularly for living expenses, the way you are doing it at the mo sounds a bit complicated.

As mentioned on that other thread, if you have a Santander (or Cahoot) Debit card, you can withdraw GBP from some cash machines here (HSBC, TEB &.....) with no charges from either bank.

Up to £500 per day per card.

Unless you're eating at the TRNC equivalent of the Savoy Grill, that should do you!

Halifax card also - some machines, no charge!

I bank with a Turkish bank here, transfers from my NatWest account arrive in my account here within 5 minutes to 3 hours. I did bank with a local bank but they managed to lose £1000 of my money on a transfer between Catalkoy and one of their other local branches!!! Then, not surprisingly, I decided to withdraw my money and go elsewhere and the withdrawal slip they raised and wanted me to sign was to draw down from someone else's account! I would recommend Garanti Bank also their internet banking is very good.

I would recommend a Halifax Flex Account. It is free provided you pay in at least £500 a month. You can then withdraw sterling here from the ATM free of charge, £500 a day for each cardholder.

I have a Halifax Easy Cash account; no requirement for any minimum payments/deposits, but the cash card still allows me free (at some ATMs) sterling withdrawals - the reason I originally started this account was for internet purchases, only put in the necessary amount immediately before buying something; the rest of the time just a couple of pounds in the account in case the account was ever hacked - even now, when coming to TRNC, money is put in for use here, on returning to UK, the account is again (practically) emptied....

Why don't you try transferwise, I have found them to be highly efficient and cheap!

I think our problem with transfers occurs more due to having to use a intermediary associate bank in Turkey before the money is finally transferred to our Credit West account here, the more steps that have to be taken the more chance of problems occurring, I like Credit West however might change to a Turkish Bank so we have direct IBAN & SWIFT numbers.

gary&shirley wrote:...might change to a Turkish Bank so we have direct IBAN & SWIFT numbers.

Does that apply to TRNC branches of Turkish banks then?

I never realised that!

All Turkish Cypriot banks have to use an intermediary bank in Turkey for their overseas transfers. Turkish banks don't have to do this regardless of whether the branch concerned is in Turkey or TRNC. Makes for quicker and more reliable overseas transfers. I use TEB and money arrives following day from UK. TEB also don't charge receiving charges which some of the banks here do.

Message 11, Turkish Bank do not give individual IBAN numbers. I found that HSBC was the only bank I could find that gave individual IBAN number, but makes no difference when transferring money from UK, they still use an intermediate bank in Turkey, and charges are applied.

Hi Soner, I think the difference between a Turkish Bank and a TRNC Local Bank is that they both receive the monies in Turkey however the Turkish bank deposits the money straight into your account which shows up in your TRNC account directly rather than a local bank such as Credit West using an intermediary bank and then relying on them to do a further transfer into your account in the TRNC.

My pensions are paid into my Santander UK account but.... Each ATM withdrawal here DOES INCUR CHARGES by Santander, usually between £3 - £4 depending on amount withdrawn. Would really like to know as some posts have mentioned how NOT TO INCUR these charges by Santander.

johnerebus wrote:My pensions are paid into my Santander UK account but.... Each ATM withdrawal here DOES INCUR CHARGES by Santander, usually between £3 - £4 depending on amount withdrawn. Would really like to know as some posts have mentioned how NOT TO INCUR these charges by Santander.

Which ATM's are you using? - and are you withdrawing Sterling, Euros, or Turkish Lira?

Just a suggestion - if it is possible for you to open an account with another UK bank (such as Halifax or Nationwide), do so and then either get your pensions paid into that bank or set up a direct debit from Santander to that new bank account - and then find your nearest ATM that allows charge-free withdrawals (if you want sterling) from the new bank account - although my main accounts are with Santander, I know personally that I can get (relatively) free withdrawals (£1.50 regardless of amount) from my Halifax account, and therefore transfer to my Halifax account whenever I come over. Other posters have stated that certain Nationwide accounts also allow charge-free withdrawals from certain ATMs.

Norwich & Peterborough Building Society allow free GBP withdrawals from ATMs abroad, provided you keep at least GBP 5,000 in your current account. That is their only stipulation. I have found N&P to be considerably more efficient than big international banks such as Santander.

But if you want to make SWIFT transfers abroad, N&P cannot do that. You will need to keep an account at an international bank such as Santander, RBS, HSBC, etc, for that purpose.

Last time I was in UK I went to open an account with Nationwide (as I have a savings account with them) but they are now charging either a) for the account/card or b) when you draw the money out and it is no cheaper than sending it over via the banks with their chargesbecause you can only draw out x amount at a time so it is a charge each transaction

Hi All, many thanks for all your responses which will probably result in us opening another bank account over here with a Mainland Turkish bank therefore missing out on an intermediary bank, however part of my original question was, does anyone send money from a Santander account to Creditwest and if so have you had any problems with the funds going missing, this has now happened to us 3 times in the year we have been here. I have been into Creditwest and asked if the details we are using are correct and they say yes so really don't understand why sometimes the funds go straight thorough other times could take days and then occasionally they get lost and we spend several weeks in correspondence with Santander whilst they attempt to recall the funds.

Thanks again.