Bank Transfers

[Jim B]

Be aware that bank transfers without proof of funds in the UK have been reduced from €25,000 to €5,000. In April I transferred a very large sum to my bank in Paphos who then returned it to point of origin without contacting me.
Unfortunately the Point of Origin Bank say they can't locate the transfer and the two banks have been arguing for three months over who has the money while I'm piggy in the middle.
I would suggest informing your Cypriot bank prior to sending anything over €5,000 here to confirm there are no problems.

[sunspot]

Very unfortunate, Jim B. So you should have contacted your Cyprus bank in advance to tell them where you obtained the funds? And an obvious answer such as savings or previous salary or pension would not have been accepted? I cannot believe they sent the money straight back without contacting you. So If we want to avoid hassle, we should keep transfers to our Cyprus accounts under €5000?

[galexinda]

Interested that the figure Jim B mentioned is €5000 for the Cyprus bank account because in May 2021 this was announced in the UK and I am wondering if there is any link.

NatWest introduces daily transfer limits to tackle fraud
NatWest is to enable customers to set daily bank transfer limits to help protect customers against fraud.
NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Ulster bank currently have a default bank transfer limit of £20,000 per day, which will be reduced to £5,000 per day.
Customers will be able to change the daily transfer limit on their online accounts, making it higher or lower than the £5,000 limit. The limit applies to digital payments only, not transfers requested by phone or in branch.
NatWest Group said that 95 per cent of its customers have never paid someone else more than £5,000.

https://www.fstech.co.uk/fst/NatWest_In ... _Fraud.php

[Chaddy]

Deary me.So lets say you are buying a property here and need to transfer a large amount to your Cyprus account? Now that would be a song and dance.Having lived here a long time it appears to me that most of the new laws and regulations that come to be,seem to deter people coming here and spending their wealth,ultimately which would improve the economy benefiting everyone
I was in business most of my life in the UK and a golden rule of business is...make it as easy as possible for people to part company with their money when interested in your product or service.

[Jim B]

Earlier this year I transferred a sum above €5,000 without any problems and prior to this recent transfer went to my bank informing them I was transferring a large sum from my bank in the UK. It appears you now have to provide documents confirming the funds are available and from a legal source.

[sunspot]

So the answer, ‘I worked all my life and now have savings’ would be rejected? Bizarre.

[The Aquila]

Well that’s your EU rules for you….everyone is a money launderer!

[Jim B]

Well that’s your EU rules for you….everyone is a money launderer!

I would guess it's to clamp down on movement of money from Russia but they can't be seen to be favourable to one Third Country against another so all TCNs are caught up, just another downside to Brexit.

[Jim B]

Well that’s your EU rules for you….everyone is a money launderer!

I would guess it's to control money coming in from Russia and now the UK is a Third Country it's been caught up in the new rules, just down to leaving the EU.

[galexinda]

Have seen a few comments elsewhere about the checks made when someone is purchasing a property especially with regards to the source of funds and the amount Cyprus banks charge for doing the checks - ridiculous when it is your own money.

Interesting that many banks and currency exchange systems ask the reason for the transfer using a drop down tick box system and you cannot continue with the transaction unless one box is ticked.

[kansas]

Presumably this is not affected if using a third party such as Currency Fair? We transferred well over €5000 a couple of days ago. The transfer went through within 2 hours with no problems.

[Aargent]

We've used Currency Fair for years and until Easter they were fine and the Transfer was coming in the same day . Since then they appear to be ok but the BoC is taking days to complete, to the extent that the last three times I have had to phone them to ask where my money was. Mutterings about Regulations etc and then the money appears about four hours later. Have tried a small transfer with Wise done in 6 hours mostly BoC time.

[kansas]

Aargent, we had exactly the same problem when we banked with BOC but no longer now that we've changed to another bank. Currency Fair are still spot on with us.