Lawyers, Bank Accounts, Making A Will

[johnwayne]

Originally Posted by PhilB

Just got back from Egypt. Opened a bank account with HSBC without resident's visa. Also, took out buildings and contents insurance on the apartment with them, which costs approx. £34 per year and means that there is no minimum amount required to open or to remain in the account, just a LE3 one-off payment for Govt.

hi philB - am really confused now. we thought you had to have a minimum of £500? in an account. please advise? thanks in advance

[queenie40something]

When I was in Sharm the Nabq branch of HSBC were offering free insurance when you opened an account. I looked into the cover and it was no where near as good as Intasure so please make sure you check what you are covered for especailly the public liability.

[iain]

Hi Just opened an account at HSBC Nabq yesterday.

Its a deposit account paying nearly 10% interest calculated monthly paid 3 monthly.

You need a passport no particular type of visa and they take your occupation, home address and business address (if these are they same, as mine are they like a second address for business as the concept of working from home blows their mind and not worth the hassle!

You can get a hole in the wall card but they send it to you (or you collec0 in Egypt and it takes about 7 days so you need to apply at the beginning of a visit.

i'll get mine when I come back 9but will apply for it then as otherwise it will sit in their ffice and expire after a month.

You need to keep EG£ 3,000 in it to avoid charges (I think the card cost £E25 or something. f you drop below the 3,000 mark they charge EG20 per month or some similar small amount.

If you don't have a card you can draw out money in person. ou can also arange internet access.

Took 10 mins. If you want a joint account you both have to sign at same time in front of bank, so both need to be there.

I was tols current accounts are only for permanent residents but the deposit account suits better anyway.

i was given my account no and the SWIFT details for me to transfer in the money. far less painful than the same process at home, seems to me.

[queenie40something]

I just checked the quote I received that HSBC are offering and the personal liability is just £10,000 and accidental death just £5,000, loss of rent just £1,000 up to 3 months maximum and costs towards alternative accomodation is just £200 per month up to 3 months max. The policy did not cover accidental damage cover.

[Georgina]

Originally Posted by Georgina

My friends who live in El Gouna were telling me rather than pay expensive transfer charges to bring money from the UK they have a sterling account in Egypt and pay in a cheque made out to themselves. It takes around 3 weeks to clear and they only get charged around GBP6. They then use the cash point to draw the money out in Egyptian pounds. Has anyone else paid in a UK cheque like this please?

Asked this question at Banque Misr and they said it was not possible.

At National Bank of Oman they said it will take around 30 days for the cheque to clear and for a cheque for GBP3,000 the charges would be USD13.30 and maybe another USD20-30 from the clearing bank? This is more than a transfer. He also said the interest rate for the sterling account is 4% and not 3.25% which is what they told me on the phone.

Will see what HSBC say next time I am passing their branch.

[queenie40something]

Hi Georgina - I have a sterling account with Bank Misr and wasnt aware it was possible / made aware.

[Georgina]

Originally Posted by queenie40something

Hi Georgina - I have a sterling account with Bank Misr and wasnt aware it was possible / made aware.

I'm nervous about trying something like this until I know exactly how much it will cost. I recently had to pay an amount in dollars to a tour operator and I transferred the money from my HSBC LE account to my USD account and then transferred it to another bank in Cairo. HSBC said the charges would not be high. I think they charged me LE270 and then the other bank charged the same when they received it and that was just within Egypt!

I can't transfer money from my UK account at Barclays here to Egypt without returning to the UK. I can transfer money into a friends UK account and ask them to bring it in cash out here with them but just asked my brother who is coming in January but he doesn't feel happy carrying cash.

I don't want to go back to the UK it's too cold I don't need the cash right now but looking at cheap methods of getting cash out here if interest rates drop even more in the UK when they are so high here.

Forecast for today 29 degrees!

[M Butler]

Originally Posted by Georgina

My friends who live in El Gouna were telling me rather than pay expensive transfer charges to bring money from the UK they have a sterling account in Egypt and pay in a cheque made out to themselves. It takes around 3 weeks to clear and they only get charged around GBP6. They then use the cash point to draw the money out in Egyptian pounds. Has anyone else paid in a UK cheque like this please?

Hi Georgina,

We don't have a bank account in Egypt and so far and in nearly 3 years, have not felt it necessary but we are not yet renting out our property.

We have internet banking with Nationwide and we transfer money from our higher interest account to our flex account (debit card) overnight and withdraw in EGP from the ATM. This incurs no charges and we get a good exchange rate. Of course you are restricted to £300 sterling withdrawal per day but we just make daily visits until we have enough to pay any larger bills in cash.

If we need to transfer payments to a foreign bank account we use HIFX who advertise low charges. You can google HIFX to find out details.

Maybe if and when we rent out our property we will need to open a bank account in Egypt so thanks to all for the info on how to do this.

Margaret

[Georgina]

Originally Posted by M Butler

Hi Georgina,

We don't have a bank account in Egypt and so far and in nearly 3 years, have not felt it necessary but we are not yet renting out our property.

We have internet banking with Nationwide and we transfer money from our higher interest account to our flex account (debit card) overnight and withdraw in EGP from the ATM. This incurs no charges and we get a good exchange rate. Of course you are restricted to £300 sterling withdrawal per day but we just make daily visits until we have enough to pay any larger bills in cash.

If we need to transfer payments to a foreign bank account we use HIFX who advertise low charges. You can google HIFX to find out details.

Maybe if and when we rent out our property we will need to open a bank account in Egypt so thanks to all for the info on how to do this.

Margaret

Hi Margaret
Barclays charges high commission using cash withdrawal machines here. Maybe I will try the new Barclays one in Hurghada and see if it is any different as it is the same bank. I have the details of HIFX thanks. I will probably end up using them but not while the exchange rate is so low.

[Georgina]

Originally Posted by iain

Hi Just opened an account at HSBC Nabq yesterday.

Its a deposit account paying nearly 10% interest calculated monthly paid 3 monthly.

In HSBC today they said there is a 10% account but it is a three year account and penalties if you withdraw? Is this the same one Iain?