Expat Money Transfer News

17 Feb at 6 PM 2020

N26 online bank dumps 200,000 British expat clients due to Brexit

Expats in Spain face the closure of their digital N26 UK bank accounts due to Brexit. Several hundred thousand British expats living in Spain but banking in the UK with the digital N26 bank are being forced to close their UK accounts and are struggling to find suitable alternatives. Based in Germany and operating as an online banking service for expatriates, N26 has only operated within the British expat community for 18 months. The service became very popular within the UK expat community as its money transfers were easy and...

27 Dec at 6 PM 2019

Spanish police warn lone expat females over online romance scam

British expat women living in Spain are being warned over an online social network scam. Spanish National Police are warning women expats in the country about a scam targeting Facebook users. Over the past few months, police have become aware of multiple cases of an online-based scam aimed at single female expats as well as local women. To date, thousands of euros have been lost to the same gang of tech-savvy criminals based in the country. The gang’s modus operandum is to target vulnerable females and establish romantic online...

8 Nov at 6 PM 2019

Expats sending money home to be hit by Kuwaiti tax on remittances

Newly promoted expats’ enemy Safa al Hashem hits out again at expat remittances. Al Hashem, now the head of Kuwait’s National Assembly Financial and Economic Affairs committee, hit out yet again at expats living and working in the emirate by calling for government support on a draft bill imposing taxes on money sent back to the home country by expatriates. Lawmakers are expected to push the bill though its approval stage, giving more chance for it to be voted into Kuwaiti law. T he controversial bill was first introduced by al...

17 Sep at 6 PM 2019

Al Hashem hits out again at Kuwait’s expat community

Yet again, expats living and working in Kuwait are being targeted by politicians. Just a few weeks after a major annual survey ranked Kuwait as the worst world destination for expatriate professionals, yet another rant in the emirate’s parliament referred to expat recruitment as an ‘unnatural invasion’. It comes as no surprise that female MP Safaa al Hashem is clearly on yet another anti-expat attack as the woman is infamous for airing her prejudiced views on a regular basis. Her plan on this occasion was to grill Kuwait’s...

10 Jul at 6 PM 2019

Wealthy would-be expats can go it alone for residency and citizenship

As the world becomes more politically and economically unstable, more and more wealthy would-be expatriates are getting caught by smart salesmen. The trend of internationalising is the latest way for wealthy nationals to ensure their capital, investments and even businesses are safely stored against economic disaster whilst they continue their lives in another country. For high net worth individuals, becoming a global citizen is the way to go, but taking wealth out of the country of origin requires dealing with key issues. The...

21 May at 6 PM 2019

UK expat retirees hit hard by sterling volatility

British expat retirees in Europe have lost 14 per cent of their pensions’ purchasing power since the Brexit referendum. A report from a technology service handling more than 6,000 regular monthly payments to UK pensioners living in EU member states has revealed British expat retirees’ costs of living have risen by 14 per cent due to currency volatility. In comparison, the rate of inflation in the UK over the same time period is seven per cent. In addition to sterling’s Brexit-induced instability, the USA’s trade war with China...

13 Dec at 6 PM 2018

Expats in UAE taking advantage of sterling falls

It seems Brexit isn’t bad news for everyone, as expat professionals in the UAE are repatriating cash at great rates. As the pound sterling continues its path downwards, expatriates working in the UAE are laughing all the way to their UK banks as they remit currency at the best rates seen since the 2008 financial crash. Even so, they’re now in a dilemma – whether to wait until the pound crashes still further or send money home using today’s attractive exchange rates. One insurance broker is holding off as he’s convinced...

27 Sep at 6 PM 2018

British expat living in Siberia forced to sleep rough in Russian airport

British pensioner Steve Beard was forced to sleep rough in a Russian airport after falling foul of Russian immigration on his way to London. Ten years ago, Steve met his Russian future wife online on a dating website, fell in love and abandoned his home country for a village in the wild wastes of Siberia. He married his schoolteacher turned business owner sweetheart and they now have an eight-year old son. His problems began when he decided to fly back to the UK to attempt to get his UK state pension sent to his Irkutsk region...

1 Aug at 6 PM 2018

Expat remittances on hold as Saudi corruption crackdown bites

Expat professionals as well as Saudi businesses are now holding back on money transfers overseas. Due to a government crackdown on corruption earlier in the year, any attempt to send more than $30,000 outside the emirate is now being blocked by the government. According to local banks, many expats and their families are now afraid to send money home in case the government is monitoring their activities. The crackdown resulted in some 300 top business owners and wealthy investors being detained for weeks in Riyadh’s luxury...

26 Jul at 6 PM 2018

Saving money on international transfers by shunning the banks

The 21st century is set to be the century of the expat, with more and more millennials opting to leave their home countries in order to further their international careers. As the number of expats working overseas at all levels grows, so do the amounts transferred between currencies and countries. The amount of money being sent across national borders is growing year by year as more and more people realise the world really is their oyster. Until recently, cross-border banking was a chore as well as a necessity, but traditional banks...