for transfers between your accounts in pounds, euros, or US dollars
incoming payments in pounds, that are added to a US dollar or euro account
incoming US dollar or euro payments being added to a pound sterling account
you might get extra charges when making a euro or dollar payment from a pound sterling account
for CHAPS payments in pounds/SWIFT payments (non-euro) made from your US dollar or euro accounts, additional charges may apply for certain transactions. You can find more information on this in our Banking Tariff (pdf).
Foreign payments and currencies
Payments
You can make an instant transfer between your linked accounts through Internet Banking or, alternatively, you can call us on 0800 092 3300 or write to us.
International payments and charges
Sending money abroad should be simple and transparent. This page explains the costs, exchange rates, and timings, so you can make informed choices.
More information can be found in the International payment types and charges section or on our Banking Tariff (pdf).
To make an international payment from your pounds sterling or currency account, please call or write to us.
Payment | Description | Fee |
|---|---|---|
Electronic transfer (standard)* | The fastest method of transferring money, directly to an overseas bank account. | £25 |
Electronic euro transfer (non-urgent: SEPA)* | This method of transferring euros takes a little longer and can only be used if the bank you're sending the money to takes SEPA transfers. For more information on cut-off times see the Payment Support section on our website. | No fee charged |
*The rate we apply to your international payment includes a currency conversion mark-up. We receive this mark-up, and this represents a cost to you.
You'll be charged a 3% mark-up on all international payments.
Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), comprising all the countries of the European Union, the EEA, the UK, the British Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, plus Andorra, French collectives of Mayotte and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City State/Holy See, Albania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
Foreign exchange rates
Here are the exchange rates that we update Monday to Friday.
Weekends and bank holidays will show the indicative exchange rate from the previous working day.
When you make an international payment in another currency, we'll convert it from pounds sterling before it's sent. We use rates from market providers, and our standard sell rate includes a currency conversion mark-up of 3%. We receive this mark-up, and this represents a cost to you.
Example
This is just an example, the actual rate may be different.
If you send £1,000 to Spain in euros.
Market exchange rate is 1.14
Cater Allen will apply a sell rate of 1.11*
Fixed fee £25
The recipient gets €1,110
*We deduct a mark-up of 0.03 (3%) to the exchange rate, that won't show separately on your statement.
We won't know the actual exchange rate until your payment is completed. This means that you might see a small difference between the rate shown when you set up the payment and the final rate. To find what exchange rate we've used, check your account statement.
When the payment is confirmed, you'll see the amount sent in the currency requested. It doesn't include any fees the receiving bank or banks may charge as well as the mark-up described above.
Exchange rates
05 Oct 2026
Pounds Buy Rates
USD to GBP:
1.362896
EUR to GBP:
1.210065
Pounds Sell Rates
GBP to USD:
1.283504
GBP to EUR:
1.139575
We can take and send payments in many currencies. See our list below. For indicative exchange rates on any of these currencies please call us on 0800 092 3300.
Currencies accepted by Cater Allen
Here's a list of the available currencies for making and receiving payments. This includes pounds sterling (GBP). You can find more information in our Banking Tariff (pdf).
Euro
Danish Krone
Hungarian forint
Norwegian Krone
Polish Złoty
Romanian leu
Swedish Krona
United States Dollar
Australian Dollar
Canadian Dollar
Swiss Franc
South African Rand
New Zealand Dollar
Japanese Yen
Hong Kong Dollar
Singapore Dollar
UAE Dirham
Indian Rupee
Moroccan Dirham
Thai Baht
From 28 April 2026, you'll no longer be able to ask us to write a cheque for you in a foreign currency.
You can ask us for a cheque in a different currency. When you do this, we'll take the money out of your account straight away. And we'll issue you with a type of paper cheque called a draft. So when the person getting the cheque pays it into their account, we'll already have the money to pay it.
Foreign exchange rates
When you make an international payment in another currency, we'll convert it from pounds sterling before it's sent. We use rates from market providers, and our standard sell rate includes a currency conversion mark-up of 3%. We receive this mark-up, and this represents a cost to you.
More information on foreign exchange rates can be found in the Exchange rates section above.
When you ask for a foreign-currency draft we charge you £10.
We can provide currency drafts to be drawn in:
Euros
US dollars
Canadian dollars
Swiss francs.
You can ask us to cancel a cheque or draft once it's been issued. If we do this, we'll charge you £25. If the person you're paying hasn't paid in the cheque after 6 months, we may cancel it.
Once a cheque is cancelled, it takes at least 5 working days for us to credit the funds back to your account. Changes in exchange rates may mean you may get back less than you originally paid.
More options
Paying by cheque can mean costs and timings you don't want. So you may like to pay a different way. An international transfer or CHAPS payment are 2 of your options.
For more on how to make international payments, look at the top of this page.
Receiving money in a foreign currency, or from outside of the UK
Please show these details to the third parties that make foreign currency payments to your account.
Send to: | Santander UK |
|---|---|
SWIFT/BIC code (Field 57): | ABBYGB2LXXX |
Beneficiary name (Field 59): | Your full Account name |
Beneficiary Account number (Field 59): | Your IBAN - this can be found on your statement or via Internet Banking. Or you can get it below, by inputting your Account number |
Payment reference (Field 70): | Cater Allen |
If you need more information about foreign money transfers, call our team on 0800 092 3300.
Get your IBAN number
Get your International Bank Account Number (IBAN) by using our tool below. You can use this for any of your Cater Allen accounts.
Enter your account number and press the Generate IBAN button.