Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hi all

I have question regarding continuing to pay loan repayments whilst in Dubai.

I am currently in the UK and will be moving to Dubai next month for a minimum of 1 year. My employer has advised me of a package and I just need to clear things up in the UK so I am ready to leave.

My question is that I have a load repayment that I still need to pay when I am in Dubai. I want to keep my UK bank account open and pay the money into it from my UAE account when I open one next month. My employer will be paying into my UAE account.

Now the issue is that I will be charged by the bank for transferring the money across each month to cover my payments. Is there a way round this? What do other expats do when continuing to pay bills back in the UK?

Look forward to your replies.
Thanks

the banks both sides will charge you - local ones to draft the and process the transfer (normally about 60AED) and i assume the local uk banks will also extort thier pound of flesh to process it inwards.

what i have done is i have a standing order with the local bank each month and transfer a lump sum from dubai every 3 or 4 months, this cuts down on the international transfers and fees

Agree with dbxsoul - fees will be unavoidable. You will be smacked with larger fees when utilising bank transfers. A lot of people save money on feees by sending via UAE Exchange and similar services on a quarterly basis. Although even with this method you will be charged fees to receive the funds at your home country bank's location.

depending who you work for some banks have policies in place where they will give you a number of free transfers each month. I.e. HSBC will give me a free international transfer once a month.

Find out who your company does all their banking through and then tell them your an employee etc and see what benefits you can extract

If you are eligible for a HSBC Premier account, either in the UK or UAE (criteria easier in UK), you can transfer money between accounts without a fee.

Cheers,
Shafique

I've seen this in a forum before : if you open an offshore account and transfer that way you can transfer your repayments for free. Can anyone please correct me if this is not the case.