Hello all,

In anybody familar with Google Adsense checks and commission on Spanish Banks? A few days ago, my cousing went to the bank with a Google Adsense check for US103. After exchanging that to Euros and charging him a commission 15 Euros all he got was 65 Euros!!!!!! The bank was the BBVA.

I told him that perhaps if he opens an account in ING Direct they won't charge him that much since they say there are no commisions there. Anybody familiar with ING?

Regards

I don't think it matters if the check is from Google or from Microsoft or from Chevrolet as long as the check comes from a USA-based bank and the amount paid is in USDollars. The economy is going to kill you in the current poor exchange rate for USDollars-to-Euros and then the bank will kill you on the commission for taking dollars and then giving Euros. All Spanish banks charge a commission to exchange foreign funds to Euros but not sure about ING Direct. You can call ING and ask, I'm sure.

Here's what I can recommend. Have your cousin change his settings in his Google AdSense account to have the payments ELECTRONICALLY deposited into his Spanish bank account. The payment will not only reach him faster but I don't think there will be a fee to him to accept/receive payments made to his Spanish bank from the USA. (he can test that for a month to see the result) HOWEVER, he'll still suffer from the poor Dollars-To-Euros exchange rate.

According to the currency converter , 103USD = 82.12€. Subtract 15€ commission and you get 67.12€. Una barbaridad, ¿verdad?

¡Suerte! Saludos, MadridMan

THanks MadridMan,

I don't know if direct bank deposits can be done but I will tell him about it. Banks here in Spain really suck. They charge you for everything and after all they are using your money. I had myself a bad experience too when I made a withdrawal in EUROS from my paypal account (that I use for on-line transactions) to my BBVA bank account and the bank charged me a fee as well. When I asked what was that about they blamed paypal but I now know that was not the case.

I am going to check to ING direct, but I think you still need to have a "normal" account on a regular bank (BBVA, Santander, etc) since they only operate on-line. I will ask Openbank as well.

The Dollars-To-Euros exchange rate is also a big inconvenience, I remember a few years ago when 1USD was even higer than the EURO. Those happy times!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again,

I'm certain Google conducts international bank-to-bank electronic transfers. Click Here for the page about Electronic Transfers and there you'll find the link to the "Supported Countries" to which they'll transfer funds - and Spain is one of them.

I believe PayPal is a USA-based company too so there you have the exact same situation where you're essentially transferring USDollars to European banks in Euros.

Best of luck to your cousin! Saludos, MadridMan

for sending money I use xe.com its great if you wire money to a bank account as I do on a regular basis, in this case from Euro to Canada. The fee is around 13 euros which is quite reasonable and my CDN bank charges no fees. If its for a one time transaction it isn't worth the hassle to set up.

I also tell family when visiting to not bother anymore with travelers cheques but use their bank or credit card.