Buying Euros stateside

EverBank (www.everbank.com) has the lowest rate, but they probably won't be of help to you. You can open a Euro account with them, minimum deposit $2,500, but if you want cash Euros, you have to have a European bank account for them to wire the money to, or they will issue a bank draft in Euros. They don't deal in cash Euros. Their accounts are mainly for foreign currency investment.

As to a bank where you can get cash Euros, I don't know who is the lowest. Wells Fargo and Bank of America are pretty good.

You can also buy Euros from XE Trade in Canada. Their rate is about three percent lower than US banks. However, again, XE Trade doesn't deal in cash -- they either wire the money to Europe, give you a bank draft (check) in Euros, or do a SEPA payment.

If the reason for your purchase of a lot of Euros is to pay for something like a deposit on an apartment, you could ask the landlord if they would accept a SEPA payment to their bank account, instead of you coming with the cash. A SEPA (Single European Payment Area) payment is an electronic transfer of funds to a bank account, and XE Trade will do that for free within the European Union.

I've tracked the currency rate at Wells Fargo for years. It averages 5% over the Interbank rate. It's the lowest I have found; BofA is about ½ higher. Well's rate is set in the morning for the day, while the Interbank rate varies throughout the day, so sometimes during the day, Well's rate is more than 5%, sometimes it is less than 5%. Major banks charge about 3% over the Interbank rate at ATMs in Europe, so Wells is only costing you about 2% more. If you need large amounts of cash and use an ATM, you have to make sure to increase your daily limit so you can get enough.

You all bring up good points but I have to pay our "landlady" at least 600 Euro when (as soon as) we arrive. My bank will not allow me to take out that much when we get there. Sooooo.... I am looking for a solution to this expensive problem.

Thank you. If you know of any other ideas or have other suggestions, I am open to them.

Andrea

1% is what the "Network" (Visa, MC, Plus, Cirrus, et al) charges your bank for the European ATM transaction, for paying the European ATM in Euro and collecting US$ from your bank. I have a high interest, high balance account with Wells Fargo, for which I pay an annual fee. Wells Fargo absorbs the 1% network fee. I pay only the Interbank rate.

I also deal with a local bank without an international currency operation. They just pay the network 1% for the transaction and pass on it on to me, plus a fee (about another 1%) for an out-of-system ATM.

Major banks, like Chase or USBank, with international currency operations, the ones most people deal with, pay the network in Euro so they can charge you 3% (1.03) for currency conversion.

Today's Well Fargo rate, $1.5689, is 5.6% (x 1.056) over the Interbank rate ($1.4856) right now. The Interbank rate went down from 1.4906 yesterday. It might have been 1.494 this morning. I have tracked it a long time. It averages 5%. Sometimes, then the rate goes up during the day, they might only be 4% over; if it goes down, they are higher.

I never said that getting Euro over here was cheap. Except for the ~€200 I bring back from every trip to have some money when I arrive, I always get Euro from ATMs over there. However, to characterize it as "paying through the nose", as something you should never do, is a bit extreme. It's about twice the margin that you would pay at an ATM over there with a major bank card. Ideally, she should inform her bank that she has to make this on large transaction and convince them to up her limit briefly (my bank would), but if they won't, it's not the end of the world. Get it at the least expensive place you can over here; that's Wells Fargo.

She should also look into using PayPal to send the money, but I'm not sure their rates are any better.

Andrea, if you take two ATM cards attached to two different accounts (perhaps two different banks?) you can take out the daily limit on each one, which should be enough to cover what you need. You can also ask to have your limit raised for the time period during which you will be traveling. But I'm sure your landlady has dealt with this before - why not ask her how others have done it?

Since Tyler mentioned XE Trade, I'll pick up where he left off. Open an account by going to www.xe.com/fx. Money will be taken from your checking account by electronic transfer and converted to the currency of your choice.

If your landlady will give you her bank account number, you could do a SEPA transfer as described by Tyler. If she doesn't want to reveal the account number but will accept a bank draft in euros, you could have the draft made payable to her and mailed to you rather than to her. Take the draft with you and hand it over in person.

The exchange rate will be only slightly higher than the Interbank rate on the day the transaction is initiated. There are no fees. For security reasons it takes a little time and effort to set up an account, but everything goes swiftly and smoothly after that.

Or do what Nancy suggests. Even if you didn't need to withdraw large amounts, it's good to take two cards linked to different accounts in case one card doesn't work.

Nancy has the answer, simply open another account, preferably at another bank. You should be able to get an increase in withdrawal limit, but if not, I believe that $500 is normal per card. This would permit about $333 per card, or in excess of the $600 required.

We bought $500 worth of euros at our local PlainsCapital bank here in Lubbock TX. About $1.54 per euro; had cash for taxi & getting our bearings when we arrived in Madrid; after that - we used ATMs where it was about $1.51 - $1.52 to get a euro. The few extra cents we spent to have euros when we arrived was worth it........I wouldn't call it an arm & a leg.

Nancy and David have the answer for you. We have done this - except with a small twist. If you are traveling with your husband and you two have a joint account which is ATM enabled, you probably have two separate ATM card numbers, both linked back to your joint account (if not, you should be able to get them). In this way you can both withdraw the max once you are in Europe, each of you using his separate ATM card. So you don't need a separate bank, just separate card numbers. Be sure to advise your bank of your plans in advance of your trip and ask about the conversion fees. They handle these things regularly.

I don't think there is any "normal" amount that a bank allows for withdraws. Totally dependent on their policies and most likely your prior financial relationship with your bank. We just return from 30 days in Europe and routinely withdrew 500 E (roughly $750)from out credit union and that included one withdraw in Rome for that amount. But on prior trips to Rome we have encountered the 250E withdraw limit on some Rome ATMs. Just make sure you understand your bank's policies and they know what you are trying to do.