Should You Convert All Your Money Before Moving Country?

Moving country can be a difficult endeavour. New home, new environment, and new currency. But moving country doesn't happen all at once. It can take some time for everything to be processed. Your belongings, such as your bed and kitchen utensils, might move quickly. Your intangibles, such as your financial obligations, may take more time. But your new life doesn't wait. Even before you've financially left your old country, your new home will be demanding financial payments from you, perhaps in the form of groceries, rent, or a mortgage. So how do you make it financially work? Is it worth it to convert all your money before you move abroad? This guide explores the answer. 

The before 

Before you move to a new country, you might already have financial obligations to that country. The moving service, deposit for your new residence, and other related fees might all have to be paid in your new local currency, which means you'll need to have a certain stockpile of it to spend. But at this time, the majority of your financial needs are still in your current home currency, so it's not viable to convert everything yet. This is where having the iFAST Global Bank Multi-Currency Current Account comes in. The iFAST Global Bank Multi-Currency Current Account allows you to hold up to 11 different currencies natively in the account, allowing you to keep a stash of foreign currency without dampening your home spending or forcing you to pre-emptively change your address to create a new bank account away from home. You can also convert freely, as the iFAST Global Bank Multi-Currency Current Account allows customers to exchange between any of the 11 currencies without any extra fees, and at market competitive FX rates. You don't have to worry about your money gathering dust either, as iFAST Global Bank customers earn interest on all 11 available currencies, just for keeping them in their iFAST Global Bank Multi-Currency Current Accounts. 

18+, Interest rates are variable and are subject to change. Details regarding the interest rates can be found on our website at www.ifastgb.com. Please refer to our website for full terms and conditions. Deposits up to £120,000 are fully protected by FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme). https://www.fscs.org.uk/ has further details on the scheme. 

The during 

Managing your finances during the moving process is complicated. You might have reduced your home currency expenses in anticipation of the move, but some expenses might still remain. You might still have a mortgage to pay off. You might still be paying maintenance costs on your house. You might have other miscellaneous expenses that still require your home currency to pay. But equally, your new local currency expenses are increasing rapidly. You might have to pay rent or a mortgage on your new place of residence, you might be temporarily staying in a hotel, you might be paying to eat out because your moving boxes haven't arrived yet. Your iFAST Global Bank account will come in handy, alongside the iFAST Global Bank Multi-Currency Debit Card. The iFAST Global Bank Debit Card allows you to spend your foreign currency stockpiles locally, ensuring that you don't have to deal with bad FX rates and foreign transaction fees from other banks and payment providers, all without needing a local address to open a new bank account. 

Available to UK Residents only, T&Cs Apply. 

The after 

You might have moved almost everything, but there are still some things that you can't leave behind. Maybe you still have a mortgage that needs paying. Maybe you're still paying maintenance costs on the place you used to live. Maybe you're sending money back to friends and family. Whatever the reason, you might still have financial commitments back home. Banking with iFAST Global Bank allows you to maintain those financial commitments while continuing to bank locally in your new country of residence. No matter the stage of your move, iFAST Global Bank allows you to protect your existing financial commitments, as well as create new ones, both in and out of your home country, ensuring that while your borders might have changed, your bank doesn't have any. 

Make moving more manageable 

Moving countries is chaos. You're packing up as much of your life as you can and moving it to a brand new environment, all while trying to manage the things you have to leave behind. The last thing you want to do is worry about your finances in the middle of the process. That's why iFAST Global Bank is here. No need to deal with opening a new bank account in a new country, no need to lose your money to bad exchange rates and extra fees. Just you being able to focus on things that actually matter, without being hampered by the fact that you need to pay in multiple different currencies. 

Banking shouldn't come with boundaries. iFAST Global Bank helps you push past them.