Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Is HSBC Bank the only one in town "Girne" where you can access an English Bank Account to withdraw UK Pounds.

Thanks.

There is a HSBC cash point by the Taxi rank on the front

I do not understand the question, please explain what you mean about drawing cash from a UK account.

If you have a debit card then you can draw sterling at several banks ATM's. If you mean cash over the counter then that is a different issue, I think you would need to make special arrangements with any bank.

I withdraw GBP from two Garanti banks, TEB bank and HSBC. Because I have an account with Garanti I can get the maximum that my UK bank allows per day i.e. £500 but usually I use their ATM. I then pop across to the Exchange and get the TL rate of the day.

Beware Garanti bank cash machine Karakum Lemar car-park is giving out old £20 notes, These are no longer in use!

What do the Management of that particular branch say to the error. It hasn't happened at the Garanti I go to thank goodness.

Why would you need to draw sterling here?
I know some shops price stuff in sterling,and car and property sales are usually in sterling,but you wouldn't buy a car or house by withdrawing from an ATM(you would be stood there a bloody long time I think).
Personally I think the pricing in sterling is a throwback to when the Turkish lira was a bit dodgy,and the exchange rate all over the place.
If anything it is more stable than sterling these days.
Most of the consumer goods in UK shops come from china,and are traded in US dollars, but you dont see stuff in the UK priced in dollars, or euros for that matter.
I realise currency fluctuations affect your next purchase of imported goods,but it should work both ways.

Philoz wrote:Why would you need to draw sterling here?
I know some shops price stuff in sterling,and car and property sales are usually in sterling,but you wouldn't buy a car or house by withdrawing from an ATM(you would be stood there a bloody long time I think).
Personally I think the pricing in sterling is a throwback to when the Turkish lira was a bit dodgy,and the exchange rate all over the place.
If anything it is more stable than sterling these days.
Most of the consumer goods in UK shops come from china,and are traded in US dollars, but you dont see stuff in the UK priced in dollars, or euros for that matter.
I realise currency fluctuations affect your next purchase of imported goods,but it should work both ways.

To get the best exchange rate you one eye Lol.

But banks here whilst giving better rates than the UK,don't tend to give as good rates as the money shops in my exp.
And less of the 'one eye' please

Philoz wrote:But banks here whilst giving better rates than the UK,don't tend to give as good rates as the money shops in my exp.
And less of the 'one eye' please

That is why they take it to the Money exchange Places.

Bloody Hell. Wish I had never asked now. All I wanted to know is: Are there any other bank ATMs apart from HSBC where you can withdraw cash from a UK Bank account.

Maybe if you had just said ATM in your original question you would have got the answer in first post, unfortunately your post is quite ambiguous and therefore generated lots of other info.

Thank you CIH.
It was ambiguous,and hence my reply.
If peeps were more specific , then There would not be such apparently daft answers.

Philoz,


Let me explain. If you have a Nationwide debit card and you have your UK pension paid into that account, you can draw out sterling from HSBC or Garanti ATM in sterling. Nationwide do not charge you if you draw out sterling here. You then cross the road to an exchange and change your sterling in to YTL. You get a better rate than the banks, and you also get a much much better rate than if you were to draw out YTL using your debit card. When you are living on a pension every penny counts.

Bill we have searched for an ATM machine giving out sterling, closer to town without success.

Stephen

Thanks for info on the Nationwide debit card & no charges.
Because of the restrictions on bringing currency from South to North I went into my local NW branch and asked them if I would incur charges withdrawing sterling from an ATM in NC. They looked at me as if I was looney, said you can't do that (!), when I insisted it is possible in NC they told me that there would be a charge as it's a foreign ATM.
These are people who should have the correct information to advise their customers. I shall have great pleasure when I go back to the UK & tell them to get their facts straight.

The Butlerswife

Is right

If you draw out in TL you are charged

But if drawing out in Sterling you are not

I know by my friend she has to draw in sterling

then changes it up into TL

I thought the nationwide had started charging??
Or does it depend on what sort of card/account you have with them?
I remember reading that a while ago-they were always flagged as being the best for no overseas charges,but is that still the case?

We are not charged if we draw out sterling on our nationwide debit card. We would be charged if we drew out TL and we would only get the rate of the day in the UK not the local rate here, which is always considerably higher.


The butlers wife