Bank charges cost pensioners abroad £300m

HIFX, a foreign exchange broker, says over a million pensioners are now living abroad and claiming their pension from the UK, which has grown steadily since September 1997 when there were just 770,000 claiming pensions from abroad compared to 932,000 in March 2003, and 1,038,600 in May 2006. However, HIFX claims each month the average retiree claiming their pension through a bank will be charged between £10 and £30, based on £700 being transferred each month from a UK to a Spanish bank account. On top of this, HIFX warns many overseas banks charge on average receiving charges of around ...