Bank charges

Hellenic charges 5 euro per month but with them if your depositing money go to machine cause if person behind desk counts it they charge you 3 euros also charge for bank statements that need signed 5 euros  .These have been only dealings I have with them apart from that I don't mind them as a Bank. ps don't ask them to sign any forms that need done to identify yourself as they don't do them ... My niece went to open a B of C account filled in everything needed and they forgot to process it.....

Both terrible, but for residency you have no choice but to have a local account. It sucks because their charges are ridiculous for 2024 and their service level low, plus they have no serious savings accounts.

Hellenic bank would be my preference out of those 2, although as said service is a bit hit and miss.

You can downgrade to a basic account with hellenic for 1.50 EUR a month.

Other option is revolut a digital bank whom operate in Cyprus.

If your primary funds are abroad, I'd recommend Monzo or some of the other digital banks. You can use for day to day spending and all exchanges are at MasterCard rate. You can also receive Euro to your GBP account and they will be converted at MasterCard rate with a small fee.

Another which apparently works here is bunq but I have no experience with them.

I personally prefer Wise to Revolut as you get a better exchange rate but for immigration purposes you need to have a bank account

@mbohills

I think that may depend on the Revolut account you hold.  . As in my experience Revoluts rates have always been better.

We have Bank of Cyprus savings account used as a current account,(adviced by the BOC branch manager) €5 per quarter, €7.50  pa per visa card with cash back.

Mobile app better than my uk one.

We use HSBC uk bank, exchange eu to HSBC global card, rate approx .004 less than live rate, then transfer to BOC , no fees either end, Takes about 2 minutes.

Our BOC branch are very friendly but to be fair we never go in these days, we oldies have  now embraced tech, card payments, google pay etc.

HSBC is a good option for sure....  As others have said keep all your options open if you can

Cheers all. i will be, as others do, keeping most of my funds in UK. i have a Starling account which seems to be good for currency transfers, but for residency will need a local account.

do i have to have my income, for residency, paid straight into my local account or will they accept a regular transfer from, say, my Starling account and just proof of income?

You need to show immigration a regular income ie pensions going into your Cypriot bank they are not interested in what your savings are they just want to know that you can fund yourself and not want anything from them

@Toon, mistake me if I'm wrong but someone post on here a while ago that all their dealings were with Revolut and they were having problems at immigration because of this. Don't think they had a local bank set up ....whatever way I hope they got sorted

I agree with you.  I was also told by immigration that it is necessary to have a Cypriot bank account set up here which is why I have a BOC account.

It took me a while to realise that there is no advantage financially having a Cypriot bank account, but it adheres to immigration rules.  I have also moved on from the fact that every time you request a stamped and printed bank statement, a charge is applied.  The way I have rationalised this all is that the BOC had to be bailed out with EU money in order to survive.

I have also adjusted to the infrastructure here because the entire population of Cyprus is a fraction of the entire population of London. Hence, the tardiness in respect of issuing biometric cards.  But on the other hand, we have fantastic weather here and a very relaxed life style, so on balance.......

@mbohills57

Sorry to be thick, but will a regular transfer from a UK account satisfy them, or do i need to get my pension paid directly to the Cypriot bank account?

Hi as my only income is state pension and 2xprivate pensions for immigration reason I have them transferred straight to my Hellenic account otherwise I wouldn't meet the criteria needed for to be allowed to stay ...mind they are nowhere near the 2500 per month .lol

You must be able to prove regular income funding your Cyprus bank account from abroad

You could opt to have your sterling paid direct to a Cyprus bank sterling account

@deborahkibblewhite

In 2008 the UK government, ie tax payers bailed out most of the main UK banks, as the EU did in Greece and Cyprus, all eu banks are as safe as uk these days.

Most expats complain that the Cypriot system is corrupted  and full of delays and bureaucracy, unlike UK.  I think of  covid ppe, expenses scandals, months, if not years of NHòS waiting lists, patients in corridors, dying in  the ambulance .  No available dentists, poluted rivers and beaches. The passort office farce. The Post office debarcle, Police officers raping and murdering. Cash for questions, cash for honours and peerages. Bogus parking fines

BBC pedophile cover ups, need i go on...

Its the same over the  world, here it happens in 321 days of sunshine, with politeness  and a smile after buying you a cheep beer...

Apparently having dwp send pension to Cyprus direct gets the best exchange rate. I don't bother as it would probably amount to a cup of coffee lol

I send 2400 euro every month from revolut to hellenic for the 6 months prior to renewal. I sent the 15k from revolut the month before appointment so it was on the statement. Just completed the renewal OK.

I have basic hellenic for 1.5 per month. Electronic transfer sent last Friday took 6 days to arrive in revolut? Boc is just as bad for service so take your pick of the bunch and be prepared to take days to get it set up and probable several visits with the associated waiting in line. My record was 2.5 hours sitting with the bank person after a 1 hour wait in line. Keep calm and head down and smile

@phildraper

I would doubt direct PENSION PAYMENT to a Cyprus euro account is the best rate as these systems do not take account of the rate just a time frame for the posting of transfers ..it's what it is at the time...  Simple as.... Am sure you know this. Lol

Am not saying it's a bad rate ..and as you've said the difference at moment would not be worth worrying about ...

@phildraper

Tea for me

@mbohills57

You are not wrong immigration will not accept a Revolut account even a euro denomination one... Funding from abroad must go direct to a Cyprus Bank nothing else

@phildraper

so as long as immigration can see a regular payment if i understand you correctly, i could keep my private pensions paid to my UK accounts and set up a regular transfer to my Cypriot account to meet the immigration requirements?

@Kevin Thompson.      For a married couple you need to put into a Cyprus bank account €2,400 per month, €28,800 per year.

I use Starling bank account to send the money over here and do the exchange from £ to € at Starling then send that to Hellenic. Exchange rates are better at Revolut but my immigration was rejected last year for using Revolut for the  bank transfer £ to € then sent to Hellenic.         They don't like Revolut due to a certain country's abuse of it in the past!  I'd avoid it for Immigration purpuses.

@timhuntington

Reasonable advice I would say

@timhuntington Revolut is not a bank it has been trying to get a license in UK for years

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mar … ction.html

I use the Atlantic app (Wise and Atlantic are part of the  Bank of Belgium the main EU clearing bank)  Atlantic charges a flat transfer fee of £3 for any amount to Cyprus Banks - within a four day window or higher fees for instant transfer)

The exchanges are better than most

@telf

It's not a licensed bank in UK but it is in EU...

Do the comments about ’immigration’ wanting to see regular incoming payments above a given level also apply to EU nationals? I have several EUR accounts already which cost practically nothing to operate.  What’s the common financial market worth if you must have a Cypriot bank if you live in Cyprus?

Its only a must for immigration dept to ensure you have enough funds to support you and your family whilst temporarily resident once you are permanent after 5 years you can ditch the Cyprus account...

There are much lower levels for EU nationals, and those levels have remained the same for years . They were certainly in place and required to be proved when we arrived in 2014 as we were then EU nationals (alas no more) and they accepted our savings as part of that  financial support .. at that time  Cat F  SELF SUFFICIENCY was also immediately issued..in AND OUT IN UNDER 25 MINS...OH HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED