Getting your money to Spain: what a bad exchange rate costs on a €400,000 purchase

How to move the money for a Spanish property purchase from another currency into euros. This guide covers the two costs that sit inside the exchange rate, the margin a provider adds and the movement in the rate itself, worked on a €400,000 purchase. It then sets out the specialist alternative to a bank, what a forward contract does, the checks Spain makes on the money, how a Spanish bank account fits in and how the funds are handed over at the notary. Every figure is taken from the European Central Bank, the provider’s own published page or the law in question, and each is linked where it appears. The taxes and fees that come on top of the price are a separate sum, worked line by line in what a €350,000 apartment really costs.

The first cost: the margin inside the rate

A bank or currency firm rarely charges a visible fee for changing pounds, dollars or francs into euros. It sets its own exchange rate, a little worse than the rate at which the currencies actually trade, and keeps the difference. That difference is the margin, and on a property purchase it is the largest single cost of the transfer.

The reference point is the euro reference rate published by the European Central Bank every working day. On 17 September 2026 it stood at £0.8583 and $1.1481 to the euro (ECB euro reference rates). At that rate €400,000 is £343,320 or $459,240. Every provider’s rate can be measured against it.

What the banks publish:

• Barclays states that for personal and Premier payments above £25,000 “the conversion charge will be no more than 2.75%” (Barclays, exchange rates for international payments).
• HSBC UK publishes a scale of currency conversion charges on its international money transfer page, from 2.2% on amounts up to £50,000, falling to between 0.8% and 1.2% on amounts between £250,001 and £500,000 (HSBC UK, international money transfer).
• Bank of America charges $45 for an international wire sent in dollars and no fee for one sent in a foreign currency, but states that “markups associated with the currency conversion are included in the Bank of America, N.A. exchange rate and we make money from the foreign currency exchange”, and that its rates are set at its sole discretion (Bank of America, wire transfers).
• Wise, a specialist transfer service, publishes a sending fee “from 0.24%” at the mid-market rate, with volume discounts on large conversions and a dedicated team for transfers above £50,000 (Wise, pricing, Wise, large transfers).

Worked on €400,000 at the ECB rate above:

The gap between a bank margin of 2.75% and a specialist margin of 0.5% is £7,724 on the price alone. The purchase costs travel the same way. On a resale, the taxes and fees add roughly 10 to 11% to the price, so the sum you actually convert is nearer €442,000, and the same gap on that sum is about £8,500.

Inside the European Economic Area, the law requires a bank or payment firm to state its currency conversion charge “as a percentage mark-up over the latest available euro foreign exchange reference rates issued by the European Central Bank”, before the payment is made (Regulation (EU) 2019/518, article 3a, in force since 19 April 2020 and kept in United Kingdom law after Brexit). So a buyer in Britain or Europe can simply ask for that percentage. A buyer in the United States, Canada, Switzerland or the Gulf has to work it out: divide the euros the provider will deliver by the amount you are sending, and compare the result with the ECB rate for the day.

The second cost: the rate moving before you complete

A Spanish purchase does not happen on one day. You agree a price, sign a deposit contract and pay the arras, usually 10% of the price, and complete at the notary six to twelve weeks later, or longer with a mortgage. The Spanish buying process sets out the stages. Between the deposit and the deed, the price in euros is fixed and the price in your own currency is not.

The ECB’s own daily figures show how far the rate can travel in that window:

• Pounds. On 3 March 2025 the reference rate was £0.8253 to the euro. On 11 April 2025 it was £0.8668, a move of 5.0%. The cost of €400,000 rose from £330,120 to £346,712, which is £16,592 more in under six weeks (ECB, pound sterling reference rate).
• Dollars. On 3 February 2025 the rate was $1.0274 to the euro. On 22 April 2025 it was $1.1476, a move of 11.7%. The cost of €400,000 rose from $410,960 to $459,040, which is $48,080 more in eleven weeks (ECB, US dollar reference rate).

The rate can move in your favour just as easily. The point is not to predict it but to decide, at the start, whether you want the price in your own currency fixed or left open.

The three ways to convert

• A spot transfer. You convert the money at the rate on the day. Simple, and right for the deposit and for any sum you need to send now.
• A forward contract. You fix today’s rate for a transfer on a date in the future, typically up to twelve months ahead. Smart Currency Exchange, a firm authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, describes it as reserving “today’s exchange rate for future transfers”, against a deposit of around 10% with the balance paid when the transfer falls due (Smart Currency Exchange, forward contracts). Signed at the same time as the arras, a forward fixes what the home costs you in your own currency from that day, and completion becomes a transfer at a known rate rather than a day spent watching the market.
• A limit order. You instruct the firm to convert automatically if the rate reaches a level you set. Useful for money you do not need by a fixed date, and not a substitute for a forward on money that you do.

A forward contract removes the chance of a better rate as well as the risk of a worse one. For most buyers that is the right trade, because the purpose of the money is to buy a specific home at a known cost, not to take a position on the currency.

Choosing the firm, and keeping the money safe

Use a specialist that is authorised by the regulator in the country you are sending from, and check that authorisation yourself.

In the United Kingdom the Financial Conduct Authority states that all non-bank payment firms “must be authorised or registered with us”, and that you can check any provider on its Financial Services Register. Authorised firms must safeguard client money, either by holding it “in a separate safeguarding account with a bank” or by protecting it with insurance. The FCA is equally clear on the limit of that protection: if a non-bank payment provider fails, “your money won’t be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme” (FCA, using payment service providers). The same principle applies to authorised payment institutions across the European Union.

Two habits follow from that:

1. Move the money through the firm, do not park it there. Fund the conversion when you are ready to convert, and have the euros sent straight on to your Spanish account or your lawyer’s client account.
2. Confirm payment details by a second route. A currency firm will send you its account details in writing. Before you send a large sum, confirm them by telephone on a number you already hold, not one in the email.

What Spain asks about the money

Spain does not restrict what a foreign buyer brings in, but it records how the price was paid and where the money came from.

• The notary records the means of payment. In every deed transferring a property for money, the notary must identify “los medios de pago empleados por las partes”: whether each part of the price was paid before or at signing, its amount, and whether it came by cash, by cheque, bank-issued or not, or by bank transfer (Ley del Notariado, article 24). For cheques and transfers made before signing, the parties must also give the numbers and the account they were drawn on (Reglamento Notarial, article 177). A transfer from an account in your own name is the cleanest answer to every one of those questions.
• Cash is out. Where either party acts as a business or professional, Spanish law bars cash payments of €1,000 or more, or €10,000 where the payer is an individual who can show a tax home outside Spain (Ley 7/2012, article 7). Cash of €10,000 or more entering or leaving Spain, or €100,000 or more moved within Spain, must be declared on form S1. The tax agency states that “las transferencias bancarias no son objeto de declaración”, bank transfers are not subject to declaration, whatever the amount (Agencia Tributaria, means of payment).
• The bank checks where the money came from. Spanish banks and currency firms are bound by the anti-money-laundering law, which requires them to know their client and to monitor the business relationship, “incluido el origen de los fondos” (Ley 10/2010, article 6). Expect to be asked for statements showing where the purchase money came from: the sale of a home, savings built up over time, an inheritance or a pension. Have them ready before the first transfer and the questions take a day rather than a fortnight.

The Spanish bank account

No law says you need a Spanish bank account to sign the deed. The price can be paid by transfer from an account abroad or through your lawyer’s client account. Most buyers open one all the same, because the completion funds are usually paid from it, a Spanish mortgage is run through it, and later the property tax, the community charge and the utilities are collected from it. Open it as soon as you have your NIE, because the NIE is the first thing the bank asks for. How to get a NIE number covers the two routes.

The Banco de España’s client portal explains that a bank will ask a foreign customer for an identity document and, “en el caso de que no seas residente”, for documents proving that you are not resident in Spain (Banco de España, opening an account). In practice that means your passport, your NIE and a certificate of non-residence, and the bank may also ask for proof of your address and of your income. The three forms of proof the rules allow, the documents, opening from abroad and the fees are in the Spanish bank account guide. Ask the bank at the outset what it charges for receiving an international transfer in euros and for issuing a bank cheque, because both matter on the day.

If you are a US person, note that a Spanish bank account counts towards the reporting thresholds in the United States. Taxes for American owners of a Spanish home sets out what applies.

Completion day

At the notary, the balance of the price is usually paid in one of two ways. The commonest is a bank cheque, a cheque bancario, which your Spanish bank issues against your account and which is guaranteed by the bank itself. The alternative is a bank transfer timed to arrive on the day, which your bank arranges in advance. Either way, the euros must already be in the paying account, cleared, several working days before the signing, and a Spanish bank needs notice to prepare the cheque.

The fee for issuing a bank cheque is set by each bank, is usually a percentage of the amount with a minimum, and must be disclosed to you before the cheque is issued. Many buyers instead have the completion funds sent to their lawyer’s client account, and the lawyer pays the seller at the notary. That is a matter to agree with the lawyer, and it simplifies a signing that you cannot attend in person.

The order to do things in

1. Before you start looking, open an account with a regulated currency firm and complete its identity checks, so that it is ready when you need it.
2. When you agree a price, convert the deposit at spot and decide whether to fix the balance with a forward contract. This is the moment the cost in your own currency is set.
3. Once you have your NIE, open the Spanish bank account and send it the documents showing where the money comes from.
4. Two weeks before completion, send the balance to Spain, allowing for the taxes and fees as well as the price, and tell the bank the date and the form of payment.
5. Several days before signing, confirm with your lawyer that the cleared funds are in place and that the bank cheque or transfer is arranged.

How I handle it

My approach is the same on every purchase. Before the search begins, I work out with you what the home will cost in your own currency at the current rate, so that the budget is real from the first viewing. I am not a currency specialist and do not claim to be. What I can do is put you in touch with one I know and trust, who handles the rate and the transfer, and guide you on the timing so that the money is where it needs to be when the purchase needs it. That sits within the buying service. If you are still settling the budget, what you need to buy, area by area works the sums at four price points. To talk through your own numbers, book a call.

General guidance, not financial advice. The exchange rates are the European Central Bank’s published reference rates for the dates given, the conversion charges are those published by Barclays, HSBC UK, Bank of America and Wise on the pages linked, and the legal points are those of the laws linked, all last checked 17 September 2026. Rates and charges change daily, so confirm the current figures with the provider before you commit, and take independent legal and financial advice.

Common questions

The same subject, for buyers abroad

Pages written for buyers in other countries, in their own language, covering what changes for them.

• United States: Buying a Costa del Sol home from the United States
• Sweden: Vad kostar det att köpa bostad i Andalusien?
• Norway: Finansiering og valuta når du kjøper bolig i Spania