How do I transfer my loan when I move abroad?

There's lots of different options out there to help with money issues.  It is possible for you to transfer your loan to an Italian bank account, you can usually do this if you have online banking and a simple transfer (once you have been paid by student finance and opened your italian account).  The down side to this is that most banks  charge quite a lot of money for international transfers + currency transfer fees, so best advice is speak to the bank first and see what costs would be incurred.  Alternatively, most banks allow you to use your cards abroad, but again fees and charges vary but some banks will allow you to make purchases for free but withdrawing money is at a cost.  Another thing to look into is a European and or Travel money card, it works a bit like a top-up debit card and have minimal withdrawal charges, you can add money on to this card online and/or family can do the same back home when you need some money.  Unfortunately you cannot change your details with student finance as their payments can only be paid into UK accounts.

Another piece of advice is to tell your bank that you are going away, and where you are going, so they do not block your account. Also add an additional password to your account which family can use in an emergency, contacting your bank abroad is expensive.

I spent my year abroad in Italy, and money issues was one of my worries at the start. My bank that I am with charged me £10 for every transfer if I were to have gotten an Italian bank account, and to withdraw on my card was a 2.75% charge every time I think. So, I went with getting a travel card. If you go to www.moneysavingexpert.com you can see which are the best options currently.

I personally went with CaxtonFX as a company because they offer currency cards, and also they offer a service that doesn't charge you to make International Payments (which meant that I could pay my rent via bank transfer each month without getting stung by the £10 charge that my bank would have given me). With the currency card they don't charge you for withdrawals, and there are no charges to top it up. There is a £10 deposit fee a the start just to start your card up, but it is put on the card (about 9euros) so you don't lose out. They do, however, have a charge to reimburse you the money on the card if you end your year abroad with lots of money on it. My advice would be to keep small amounts of money on it (perhaps 200euros) and top up as and when you need, that way if you have money left on it at the end of the year you can just withdraw it from a cashpoint. The cards are also chip and pin so can be used in restaurants/shops/etc. Just make sure you get one with the correct currency!

I hope that this has been helpful! 

Hi, I spent half of my year abroad in France and half in Italy. Whilst in France you need a bank account to do pretty much everything, in Italy it's really not that necessary. No Erasmus student I met there had one and just used travel money cards like the one from the Post Office or the caxton card so money could be transferred directly onto them from a normal bank account (the post office travel money card also has an app so you can top up really easily wherever you are). 

I still used my nationwide card from time to time if I forgot to top up my post office card and was in a rush but I just don't think an Italian bank account would be worth the hassle.

I've used several ways to transfer money to and from Spain but I've recently discovered Transferwise - which is far cheaper and more efficient than any other system I've used before.

Basically it works on a different principle than a bank - it charges less by using a peer to peer system and is very upfront about the costs.  For example, if you wish to transfer 1000 euros, it will charge you around 5 euros to do so. ( compared to about 50 euros if you do it through your bank.)  It's also super quick.  Everytime I've done a transfer, I've received the money in my other account that very day.

Hope this helps. 

I think there's only so much you can do until you actually arrive. Depending on your bank, transferring money to a foreign account or the commission aren't always so bad to take money out of a cash machine using an English card, and I paid my deposit and first month's rent doing that. Sorting out my residency and bank was the most stressful part for me.