US dollar/ Euro

sign up for www.transferwise.com

Do you use this service?  I've heard that it can take a bit to open a bank account in Malta,  so we would be transferring from US to UK into pounds then from that to Caxton to have Euros? I was hoping there was something like Caxton where you get an actual card to use,  which doesn't require opening a bank account.

I was also thinking we probably don't want to put money from my US accounts into my husband's UK accounts for tax reasons.

I have used it once, many on here use it all the time. I have no idea what a caxton card is lol and of course I cant advise you on UK tax matters, personally I wouldn't bother what went in or who from as long as you can prove its not money laundering for a cartel, if push comes to shove.

yes it can take a bit of effort for an account, bank reference is most important bit, but others can go into it in more detail than me, and probably offer more specific advice relevant to your situation. all I can tell you is transferwise only take 0.5 % so even with a double transaction it would only be 1% but it gives u the option to pay a higher % to get money more quickly.

the other option is a debit/atm card for your US account and use it here but depends on fees the US bank would charge

you can get prepaid debit cards  such as https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Univ … 21?fref=ts
It seems a fairly new service this one so cannot say wether its any good but it may help you out

the other option you ma want to consider is paypal because you can trasnfer money in $ £ and euros to any bank account or they do the option of a prepaid card too

Jasminej wrote:

Do you use this service?  I've heard that it can take a bit to open a bank account in Malta,  so we would be transferring from US to UK into pounds then from that to Caxton to have Euros? I was hoping there was something like Caxton where you get an actual card to use,  which doesn't require opening a bank account.

I was also thinking we probably don't want to put money from my US accounts into my husband's UK accounts for tax reasons.

My wife and I use 'Transferwise'  2 or 3 times a month, they are excellent and you will get a significantly better exchange rate. We normally receive the money into our Maltese bank from the UK in 24 hours.
The prepaid debit cards such as Caxton are good but you may find that if you cease to have an address in the country of issue they will cancel (or at least not renew) your card. We used our FairFx card until expiry but could not renew as we no longer had an address in the UK.

If you want to set up a bank account in Malta quickly and simply speak to Banif, we set ours up with just a Maltese address and our UK Passports, the account was opened same day. You can always change banks at a later date if you wish although we are quite happy with them for day to day banking.

Hope this helps

Ray