Are there any British based retails banks planning to launch euro based current/deposit accounts?
As someone who frequently travels around Europe it might be worth me maintaining such an account if the commision rates from pounds to euros is low enough. Though euro-denominated accounts are widely available from High Street banks, product features such as minimum opening balance and charges such as those for the negotiation of cross-border euro-denominated cheques vary between banks. Whilst there may be some advantages today in having a euro account the full benefit of such an account will only be obtained once there is full harmonisation between payments in euros across the eurozone and current domestic payments. For instance, it should be noted that if a euro-denominated debit card account is issued for an account opened in the UK and euros are withdrawn from an ATM in the eurozone area there will almost certainly be a handling charge. However, from July 1 2002 charges for cross-border withdrawals from ATM machines will be harmonised with domestic charges across the EU (not just w
