Cheapest way to transfer money in EU.

[forest_girl]

Hello,

I came here with one problem. I am accepted to the Polytechnic and I am going to get the full grant from KELA, but of course there is a need of an additional 200-300euros for living expenses My parents agree to help me with this, in that case I don't need to take a student loan and pay it back with percents on top. But what would be the cheapest way to transfer money from Baltic states to Finland? I am originally from Lithuania and my parents live there. I heard that real bank transfers from Lithuania to Finland on every transfer is around 20euro, that sounds quite expensive.. Does anyone know of a cheaper way?

Thanks in advance!

forest_girl

[sinikala]

When I first moved to Finland, I used to transfer similar sums every month from Finland to the UK, IIRC it was ca €20-€25 per transfer, then there was some change in EU regulations around 2003 that said if you make the transfer in euros using IBAN numbers, from account to account in the EU, the bank at the sending end cannot charge that International fee. Note that this applies to the whole EU, not just the Eurozone.

http://www.europebanks.info/ibanguide.htm

My cost for sending dropped from a few tens of Euros, to a few Euros lost on exchange rates at the receiving end. For you it will be the conversion to Euros at the sending end which will cost a few Euros.

[MagicJ]

Yep. When i dip into my uk account or credit card i just IBAN some money over no problemo using Sampo. Maybe there's some kinda charge hidden in the account fees but not a €20 or similar fee for each transfer. No charges from Lloyds in the UK either. Useful when currencies go tits up to add a little bit to the holiday budget.

[forest_girl]

Ha! Ha! That's funny. You're not even Finnish and you've already sussed how to get money out of KELA. You are unwilling even to pay 20 euros bank transfer fee. Why, Finland should pay that as well! Why don't you have more respect for yourself than constantly begging for charity?

Why being so rude?
Don't forget that I'm paying all the taxes and working... If I was richer, I wouldn't bother about 20euros from my parents with each transfer. Constantly begging? Where did you dig that from? You don't even know me

then there was some change in EU regulations around 2003 that said if you make the transfer in euros using IBAN numbers, from account to account in the EU, the bank at the sending end cannot charge that International fee

Thank you very much for the help! Appreciated.

[raamv]

SEPA transfers with an IBAN number and a SWIFT code ( both needed) is free within the EU!!