bankers draft in uk

we have just accepted an offer on our uk property from a first time buyer with mortgage approved so will be moving to Mayo very soon.

We do not have bank a/c in ireland set up as yet as I was advised on previous post that i needed to deposit minimum 6k euro which I don't have until the sale goes through.

I have 2 questions

1. can I open an offshore a/c now and transfer funds in directly(approx £65k)

or

2. get a bankers draft from solicitor and transfer to a/c in mayo when we arrive?

I would much prefer the 1st option as we will need the funds straight away.

Thanks


xx

you should be able to open an account with a nominal sum, especially if you ar emoving back. can your UK bank not assist? do they not have a branch in ireland?

There should be no real difficulty in depositing bank draft in irish Euro that is a euro draft drawn on an irish bank, rather than a non irish bank. it is possibel that bells will ring and lights flash this as a 'suspicious' transaction ,but if the source of the funds is genuine, then there is nothing to fear.

Siobhanclare.
The problem will not be the funds either in draft form or direct transfer or even the amount, but in providing a bank with proof of your address.
If you've just sold your house & have not got one in Ireland yet, where exactly will you be living ?
To open an a/c in Ireland you have to have ID, which is no problem as this can be either passport or drivers licence. Proof of your address though has to be in the form of a utility bill, Government document (ie. Tax document), Motor insurance or some other form of official document that's posted to you. Easiest way is to get your present bank in the UK to post you a statement (that's after you have notified them of change of address) , if you have an address you're moving to.
There is no lower limit on the amount you can lodge to a BOI a/c. It can be €1 !
Presumably you will be buying a home over here so it will be quite obvious that the money is legit.

perplexed,

We haven't completed on the sale yet, I wanted to open an Irish bank a/c now so when the sale has completed the transfer of funds can go direct.

We are coming over in the next month to secure a rented property for us to live in when we arrive and then hopefully in the next few months we can buy our own place.

I was told by the BOI, through e-mail that I could open an offshore a/c but the minimum lodge would have to be 6k euro, which I don't have at the moment. So, I have made enquiries with the permanent tsb who are sending the forms to me and I will open an a/c that way.

I believe, through other posts on this forum that you work for the BOI so I was wondering if you could explain about exchange rates on large transfers. With the exchange rate at the moment fluctuating between 1.38 euro-£ and 1.40 euro-£ we would be looking at around 1.45 euro-£, is this possible?

I appreciate your comments

Thanks
xx

Siobhanclare,
Actually I think I did hear somewhere that BOI in England do have a minumum deposit for opening a/c's. In Ireland we don't so sorry if I contradicted you there.
It's unusual for any bank in Ireland to open an a/c without you being there in person, as we have to actually see & sign "original sighted" on copies of your documents.......
If you were paying a visit to Ireland in the meantime & bring your ID & proof of address ( seeing as you're still in your house in the UK ) you shouldn't have any bother opening an a/c.
If it's a substantial amount,which I presume a house sale would be, we would have to get a special rate from our International Dept. For larger amounts you always get a better rate than for smaller sums. Off the top of my head,anything worth over €20k has to be referred. This changes on a daily basis though, so worth your while checking it out as even .01% can make a difference when you're talking in thousands...
The rate you see in the paper or hear on the news is NEVER the rate you will get in a bank.......because it's a mid rate.
We have different rates for buying, selling & chqs or cash.....
Good luck with the move. I've moved house myself recently & it's a lot of work.......but worth it once you get reasonably sorted.

Thanks perplexed.

Just one last thing, when the transfer is done, obviously we wont be present, will the bank determine the rate or can we negotiate beforehand.

Once this is sorted, I will feel more relaxed and hopefully then look forward to the move itself.

Once again, thanks for your valued information.

Ps. I work in a bank here in the UK, how easy is it to get a job in the banks in Ireland(were moving to claremorris)

Hi siobhanclare,
If you work in a bank there can you not get staff rate for the transfer ? You should be able to prebook a rate anyway.....sometimes this works to your advantage other times not but at least you'd know.

The way to apply for a job with BOI is through their website www.boi.ie in the careers section. You've got nothing to loose & you do have banking experience.

Pay is not great for beginners but it's not the worst place to work...

good luck

perplexed,

I deal with the credit card side but have worked on the cheques side and done the daily clearing etc. I currently deal with Fraud/chargebacks so was looking for something along them lines.

When I go on the boi website there are never any jobs in the west, where is the head office based?

Getting back to the money transfer, surely the receiving bank would determine the exchange rate?

I'm not keeping my uk a/c open, i'm taking everything out and will deposit in the irish bank once its open.

I currently earn £22k so will be taking a massive drop in pay, so will not be looking to start as a junior(i'm 37 yrs old)!!!!!

Thanks for your help

xx

Siobanclare,
To answer your questions.
1. Head Office is in Dublin & all the credit side of operations is in Dublin too. Jobs in the west would be in branch banking.....except for Galway city where there are a few depts. All job applications have to be done centrally though.
2. You can book a rate when sending a different currency. If I was sending to the UK I can prebook a rate in Stg then I know exactly what's being sent.
3. I gave up working in BOI for 15yrs to rear my kids, & when I decided to return I could only get in as a junior ( in spite of the fact I had been a senior) & that was in my 40's. Still the Devil you know etc
I do sympathise though .....

Just a suggestion ...I think MBNA have some type of centre in Mayo somewhere. It's just a vague notion that I heard mentioned somewhere.

Best of luck to you anyway, It's going to be a big change for you...

Perplexed, I take it your female?(i was wondering that-ha ha)

Breaking into a bank in ireland would probably be easier than getting a job!!!

With regards to MBNA, I actually have got a job offer with them but their in leitrim and its too far away to drive each day, one of the shifts will finish at 1 a.m for a week every 4 weeks, which I wouldn't like to do as I have 2 girls and I don't think its right. My present job with Barclaycard is a fixed permanent contract mon to fri 7a.m to 2.30 p.m. but I doubt i would get anything like that now.


Thanks

xx