Paypal will be a BANK from 01.07 in Europe

[The Phantom]

Has anybody heard these news yet ?

Paypal will be moving its operations to Luxembourg and has been given a BANK license which is effective within the European Community (not sure whether just within the EURO zone) and will then no longer be regulated by the FSA

They will however have to adhere to bank laws and regulations effective in Europe, so paypal accounts in member states will effectively become bank accounts.

My mom in Germany already had notification from paypal about this regarding her paypal account

I wonder now about their ridiculous buyer protection policy as bank law in Germany for example won't allow them to simply remove money from a bank account again without the permission of the account holder as they now do willy nilly in a dispute.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/05/15/cnpaypal15.xml&site=1&page=0

Any ideas how they will work this ? I don't understand how they can be competitive with European banks who routinely chare nothing for an IBAN BIC money transfer within the EURO zone

[dw190]

I don't understand how they can be competitive with European banks who routinely chare nothing for an IBAN BIC money transfer within the EURO zone

 

My bank wanted to charge me £25.00 to make a payment to a German a/c with IBAN BIC. I declined the service and used International Special Delivery from the Post Office. Cost about £6.00 with a £250.00 cover.

[The Phantom]

That's because England is not yet in the Eurozone (but hopefully will be soon) and your bank would have to convert the payment from GBP to Euro, not that that warrants £25.- but that's UK banks for you

Within the EURO zone an IBAN BIC transfer usually costs nothing (for example Netherlands to Germany , Germany to Austria, Belgium to France etc) as banks are not allowed to charge more for a transfer within the Euro zone than what they charge for a national transfer which is mostly free for European bank customers. I think there are some exceptions as I have been told some Greek banks still charge, but they also charge for transfers within Greece so they can do this. But the rule is, they may not charge more for a Eurozone transfer than for a national transfer within their own country.

You need to remember you are in the Uk and don't use the EURO here yet

Having said that, I bank with HSBC and they do not charge me anything for incoming payments in Euro to convert them and credit them to my GBP account, no matter what the amount is. It's probabaly because they see themselve as an International Bank who speak the local language or whatever they say in their adverts. I have not tried to send any payment yet, though, but wouldn't surprise me if they also wanted a pricely sum for it

[Guest Mincemeat]

That's because England is not yet in the Eurozone (but hopefully will be soon)

 

You need to remember you are in the Uk and don't use the EURO here yet

 

And as far as having an oil based economy, high taxation, lax employment laws etc etc etc lets hope we don't ever go into the euro until France and Germany come out of the dark ages and reform 95% of their economic practices:eek:

[StormWarrior]

lets hope we don't ever go into the euro until France and Germany come out of the dark ages and reform 95% of their economic practices

 

Lets hope we don't ever go into the euro PERIOD !!

[The Phantom]

Although it is diverting from the initial post I made ref paypal , the above two statements sadly seem to reflect the English xenophobic attitude against anything outside their own borders. Hence their well known amusing nickname in Germany which is spot on.

The Uk is far more expensive in most things than any other European country, it is a treasure island for businesses because English people just pay whatever they are asked to pay, the consumer revolt against bank charges is a step into the right direction and so is this board to help educate consumers, but most UK consumers are feeding the treasure island idea by simply paying whatever.

I think the enormous debt problem in this country is mainly not due to people just splashing out on luxuries, but to the fact that they have to pay such extortionate prices for simple things that they often have no choice but to make debts to pay for them with wages not keeping up with the cost of living.

Nobody in his right mind in Germany would pay £61.- per month for water as is charged by my local water board, or over £100.- / month for the equivalent of council tax for the service the councils provide here

What you pay here for services and goods in GBP you generally pay in Euro across the channel.

The introduction of the Euro in the Uk is in my opinion not a matter of "IF" but "WHEN" and I doubt there will be any referendum on it either

The UK EURO coins (the sample version released by the UK government) are sometimes up for auction on ebay, so have a look at those auctions to give you an idea what you will be using soon

Stop clinging on to the imperial past, certain coinage and inch and feet and look to the future and that is Europe. That is where you are heading and that is if you like it or not. You are almost there now anyway.

[Guest Mincemeat]

OK, but you need to be more open minded to the economic pressures and liabilities of our cousins, and how dramatically disasterous mixing an oil based economy into the euro mix. We've tried it on numerous occasions before and it doesn't work (remember the snake and the erm? )

 

Any government who attempts to introduce the euro into this country will fail. Oh, and as soon as the Labour party and stealth taxes and wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers money are stemmed and the tax burden is reduced in this country we have the absolute worst of both worlds. The sick man of europe of the seventies will be the immediate and irrevicable future of the Brits if any short sighted and dangerous politician ever gets enough guts to enter into the euro. As I said earlier, they're in the dark ages (and France, for example, is insolvent, Germany not much better), let them sort themselves out before any talk of joining is started. Why should we bail them out?

[StormWarrior]

Xenophobia;

an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.

 

I do not fear, nor hate foreigners.

In fact some of my family live in France, (uncle married french women, later retired to france)

 

HOWEVER, I do acknowledge that there are basic cultural and ideological differences between the nations of europe, and that many of these differences are not mutually compatible.

 

This knowledge could give rise to a 'reasonable' fear that the joining with europe could result in the imposition of a foreign countries policies and ideas on the English population.

 

Personally I will never be part of europe, and I have officially renounced any citizenship of it. That is my choice to make, and my choice alone.

[Guest Mincemeat]

And I have lived in France and would live there again, but I didn't like seeing things like Cinema Tax on my payslip!

[StormWarrior]

The UK EURO coins (the sample version released by the UK government) are sometimes up for auction on ebay, so have a look at those auctions to give you an idea what you will be using soon

 

Funny I can only find a privately issued set of 'uk' euro's.

And the Royal Mint seems to think that there has NEVER been a government release. Only a set issued by The International Numismatic Agency.

 

See BBC NEWS | Business | British 'euros' prove a sell out