Best banking for Forex

[Raevinn]

So I travel quite a bit, and forex exchange fees start to pile up. Also, the Rand seems to be going downhill without much recovery.

It seems there are some new options available by FNB and Bidvest where they have "Multi-currency" accounts.

I was wondering if anyone else has any experience with this?

Ultimately I'd really want to have most of my savings denominated in Hong Kong Dollars (for a few reasons), but it seems there aren't any local banks that offer that currency if you bank locally.

It would also be cool if these accounts have decent interest rates.

 

[RustyPrincess]

The Multi Currency Account from FNB is more of an investment account than a transaction account, so it won't really be useful for what you want to do with it. It does earn a tiny amount of interest, and you pay fees to transfer money into it, and the rates aren't great.

I currently use Revolut to having a transactional multi currency account. You top it up with a cheque card/debit card. It doesn't earn interest, but at the rate the rand is moving its still better to have a stash of foreign currency.

It's a UK based company, they charge no fees, and hold your money in a Barclays account.

 

[ros_b]

I currently use Revolut to having a transactional multi currency account. You top it up with a cheque card/debit card. It doesn't earn interest, but at the rate the rand is moving its still better to have a stash of foreign currency.

I've been looking into Revolut. What are the costs on this end when you top up via your cheque card? And have you managed to compare the rate they give you as opposed to, say, buying foreign cash at a local bank?

I'm a freelancer, and I earn most of my income from foreign clients in foreign currency. I'd like to be able to keep it in foreign currency, so I opened a Dollar-denominated account with FNB. I'm just wondering how I'd get the money from that account into a Revolut account for transaction purposes, and what that would cost me. Did Revolut send you a physical card for ATM withdrawals?