The Importance of Having a Bank Account While in Europe
Posted date: 07 Jun 2022
While studying in Europe, not every individual will need to create a bank account. If you're only going to be there for a month, don't bother. If you know you won't be receiving any kind of income, have pre-paid your housing through your program provider, and have a standby credit card or substitute method of collecting money when something bad happens, it's probably not worth the effort. There are a few reasons, though, why opening an account will be beneficial or necessary:
Paychecks
Many European nations will encourage students to work up to twenty hours per week on their student visas. You can earn while education in abroad, so yes, it is possible.
Having a bank account helps the firm to pay you as if you were a local, it allows you to receive funds legally and safely, and it allows you to observe how paychecks and the overall system operate in another nation.
Rent
When you study in italy, it is currently illegal to offer more than 1,000 Euros in cash for rent; this was enacted to avoid tax cheating, so it is more likely to protect you from crazy property owners than to harm you.
It does, however, make splitting rent with roommates a little more intriguing. If you go the traditional approach, each individual in the flat would have to take turns making an international wire transfer from their home accounts (which would incur significant exchange fees) and then collecting funds from the other housemates.
If you have a bank account, you can collect the money from your roommates, deposit it in your convenient EU bank, and send it to your landlord with no foreign transaction fees.
Security
A European card with a code is far superior to a sum of cash if you intend to move on weekends. Furthermore, if it is stolen, you will only lose the card! While traveling, theft and pick pocketing can be serious problems, so the more you can safeguard yourself, the safer.
The benefits of security aren't limited to flying. Even in your host city, you'll occasionally need to withdraw cash for particular purchases and education in abroad (many countries prefer cash to cards in everyday life — you'll grow used to it).
Posted By
GSP Admin
