If you bank with Sabadell, you may well have noticed that they are charging you for transfers in and out of your account. Although you may have an account that didn´t attract changes before Brexit, it could do now. When approached by a client of mine, who has a Premium account with Sabadell, their response was, and I paraphrase “because we can”, using the Bank of Spain rule book to justify the charges. It is because the UK is no longer in the EU. It appears that these charges are being applied to ad hoc transfers as opposed to regular payments such as pensions.
I have heard of other instances where transfers have been made from the UK using a currency exchange company. Currencies Direct, for example, have stated that they will cover the charges made by banks as they feel that it is incorrect and goes against the SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) agreement, challenging the actions of the banks.
Solutions
- Close the account with Sabadell. (This is probably not convenient for many)
- Tell Sabadell that you will close the account if they continue to charge. (You will probably not get too much of a reaction to this one)
- Instead of transferring money as and when required, which is something many people do, set up a regular payment.
- Make transfers via companies where you can have an account in GBP and another in Euros. When the money is received or paid by Sabadell in Euros, from or to an EU based account, they do not charge.
I understand that other banks are also making charges when they did not before Brexit, so check with your bank. You do not have to just accept what they are doing.