When you have a second home in Italy, it’s often necessary to send money to the country to pay for bills, taxes and other living expenses of being an expat, but banks and money transfer companies can sometimes take advantage of exchange rates and fees. So what’s the cheapest and best way to transfer money from the UK to Italy?
Banks
The first and most obvious way of sending money overseas is by a simple bank transfer – you just go to your local bank branch with your debit or credit card and the account number of the bank account in Italy you want to pay the money into, and the bank will take care of the rest. This option is even available at many ATMs nowadays.
The problem with international bank transfers is that the rates charged by banks to perform this service are normally very high. Sometimes you only want to send a relatively small amount of money, but the bank fees you will have to pay make it unfeasible. Also, bank transfers can take a long time to arrive to the recipient, which is less than ideal if you want to send money fast.
On the other hand, if you’re making regular payments it’s best to have a bank account in your name with the same bank in both countries because the payment process is faster and free. Unfortunately, there are no banks which operate in both Italy and the UK.
Money transfer companies
Due to the drawbacks of bank transfers, many people these days prefer to send money online instantly using internet money transfer services and Apps. These are private third-party intermediaries and they basically work by you paying your money into their holding account and they then pay it in to any account you wish. All you need are your personal details, the account number and contact details of the recipient, and your reason for the money transfer.
The advantages of these international money transfer services are that they charge significantly lower fees than banks and work faster too. You can send money abroad at any time of the day or night, even when your bank is closed. Most people use them for one-off payments, but many money transfer companies offer services for making regular transfers too – there is actually plenty of scope for using a money transfer company to have your British pension paid into your Italian bank account. It’s also a good option if you want to know how to transfer money from Italy to a UK bank too.
However, there are a lot of different money transfer companies out there to choose from, so how do you know which one is best? You are strongly advised to compare and shop around the different companies until you find one that works for you and can provide the particular service you need. Be sure to pay special attention to the transfer fees they charge and the exchange rate they offer.
These are the top 10 money transfer companies:
- TransferWise Money Transfer
- CurrencyFair
- Virgin Money International Money Transfer
- XE Money Transfer
- Ria Money Transfer
- MoneyGram
- The Currency Account Money Transfers
- Moneycorp Money Transfer
- Post Office International Payments (Post Office International Payments is powered by TTT Moneycorp Ltd.)
- Remitly
The best way to pay for things in Italy
While you’re actually in Italy, there are several ways you can spend money and buy things apart from changing pounds to euro, which is not always the most efficient way. For example, if you’re just in Italy for a short time and want to limit how much you spend, you may be better off using an international money order.
Another alternative to using cash when you’re in Italy is to use a specialist bank card provided by your bank. Some banks offer services that allow you to pay for things by card and withdraw money in a different country without all those pesky surcharges. For a nominal price, you can get this additional “specialist plastic” service from your bank.
Specialist credit or debit cards for spending abroad are a good idea if you have a second residence or holiday home in Italy and spend several months there each year but don’t want to get a bank account in Italy. Just be sure to check beforehand that your energy and water suppliers will let you pay your bills using this card. At the end of the month, remember to pay off all your expenditure so you don’t get hit with any nasty interest rates.
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