I am currently with the BPI Bank but they are closing the Carvoeiro branch would appreciate any suggestions on a replacement bank.

Theres a nice bank in Carvoeiro itself...pleasant people and great to do business with....

Ellie, your info is way out of date, there are now about 8 banks in Carvoeiro, soon to be 7 when BPI close at the end of this month.

BPI still have a branch in Lagoa, and you can usually park very close.

We have an account with Barclays at the top of Restaurant Hill. They are very pleasant and helpful. Online banking is in English and we get letters in English.

laserblazer wrote:We have an account with Barclays at the top of Restaurant Hill. They are very pleasant and helpful. Online banking is in English and we get letters in English.

agree with LB, nice bank to deal with. our letters are in portuguese so must visit and get them changed, but saying that, its no big deal as you can clearly see online (in english) and on the monthly statements where you stand. they also have extended us €500 of an overdraft, but dont intend to use it. it's just good to know it's there if required.

It might be Barclays but remember you are not covered by UK banking regulations or guarantees.

It is the rules in Portugal that apply.

joeysoap wrote:

laserblazer wrote:We have an account with Barclays at the top of Restaurant Hill. They are very pleasant and helpful. Online banking is in English and we get letters in English.

agree with LB, nice bank to deal with. our letters are in portuguese so must visit and get them changed, but saying that, its no big deal as you can clearly see online (in english) and on the monthly statements where you stand. they also have extended us €500 of an overdraft, but dont intend to use it. it's just good to know it's there if required.

Like when you buy a new parasol?

Thanks for the replies, does anyone have any information also on bank charges? BPI charges were quite steep I thought just for having an account?

I am with Millennium. Always found them helpful. Online banking in English. When I got my account you got first 6 months free, then free if you kept 1,500 euros in account. Not sure what current arrangements are. Otherwise, current monthly charge is 6 euros and then few cents for each transaction. Can do free transfers to account from Uk via HSBC. Last transfer was last week - took 2 days to leave my Uk account (Not HSBC) and appear in Millenium account via Millennium's account with HSBC, and exchange rate was about 1.14.

I am also with Millenium - very easy to deal with unlike BPI who were a nightmare when trying to set up the account.

We're also with Millenium, they've always been really helpful with everything we've asked them & we've never had any problems.

We use Banif, easy to deal with and take email instructions. The online banking is straightforward. Although the branch is in Lagoa,its easy to park and really have no need to go in.
Sam, which UK bank does free international transfers?

Aldo wrote:We use Banif, easy to deal with and take email instructions. The online banking is straightforward. Although the branch is in Lagoa,its easy to park and really have no need to go in.
Sam, which UK bank does free international transfers?

This is a special arrangement by Millennium Bank for their account customers to transfer money from the UK. They used to do free transfers through the Post Office, now through HSBC. You pay into a Millennium account with HSBC, quoting your Millennium account number and the money is transferred into your Millennium account. You do not need an HSBC account to do this. There is a thread on this somewhere on the Forum. I used to use one of the currency exchange companies and had free transfers, but they took about 10-14 to reach my account. This is much quicker, can be done on line and rates seem good, as far as they can be these days.

You might consider Santander Totta - halfway up restaurant hill (rua Farol) and then consider a small holding account at Santander in UK - that way you get free transfers between the two and a Euro account without paying high exchange commission charges. They typically charge 1% of actual daily rate for £-€ exchange and a fee of ~ €3.

Thanks folks for your input will be in Carvoeiro from Saturday and will follow up your advise and experiences the replies are much appreciated.