TransferWise Borderless accounts (EURO,USD,GBP)

evangelos

They launched it last week and it seems to be extremely easy and ridiculously useful.

Basically in a matter of minutes you can get three bank accounts. One in Euros, one in GBP and one in USD. The accounts are all "real" accounts with IBANs, sort codes, account numbers etc. So anyone sending you money can do so through their own banking channels (no need for them to use transferwise).

Great for freelancers, immigrants, contractors and people who play the currency market

Money is not FSCS protected and of course no interest gained while you park it there, so use with the appropriate caution.

agrinnall

It appears to be only for businesses. But for those who are interested:

https://transferwise.com/gb/borderless

benjus

If you look at this page on the FAQ, it mentions different account limits for personal and business accounts:

https://transferwise.com/help/topics/99/questions/2736136/borderless-account-pricing-limits

Looks to me like a great solution for the fairly frequent question of "xxx wants to send me money from yyy country, how can I receive it without paying fees and getting a terrible exchange rate?".

eDicky

It's an end to the exchange rate tyranny of banks for all those who receive salary or regular payments in EUR or USD, providing account details in their own name for it to be paid into. Then exchange to GBP at perfect mid-market rate for 0.5% fee and withdraw for 50p.

EUR and USD debit cards would be a useful feature, if they have such future plans...

agrinnall

benjus wrote: »

If you look at this page on the FAQ, it mentions different account limits for personal and business accounts:

https://transferwise.com/help/topics/99/questions/2736136/borderless-account-pricing-limits

I think that may be referring to US customers, whereas the link I gave is to the UK version.

benjus

Well I just tried to sign up using my existing (personal) TransferWise account - it attempted an automated identity check and asked me to upload a scan of my passport, but apparently it was not able to verify everything automatically so told me I will have to wait a week or so for my account. But nothing to indicate that I'm not eligible for one.

EDIT - In fact I got an email after only a few minutes to confirm my identity verification, and am now the proud owner of a TW Borderless account.

evangelos

I also opened a personal account without a problem.I already had a transferwise account and had gone through the verification ages ago. So it didn't ask me to verify again.

The bussiness account is well for bussinesses. The personal account is for freelancers, self employed people etc. That's their moto but they don't ask you to upload your tax report to prove you are self employed, so anyone can open one.

I guess they want as many people as possible to open these accounts, as a bait and to make it easier to use transferwise when the actual time comes for the currency exchange. They offer the best exchange rate anyway but i guess is a great way for them to get new customers.

I wonder however how they are going to stop the currency players. I didn't spot anything in the terms of service, and there are no hardcoded limits in the ammount of money a "person" can transfer annually or monthly between his accounts.

Maybe they don't care...we ll see.

rail.link

How do you fund the borderless account ?
I am assuming you need a GBP transferwise account ?

Chapuys

rail.link wrote: »

How do you fund the borderless account ?
I am assuming you need a GBP transferwise account ?

I would have thought it would be similar to a Revolut account. You transfer in on the GBP account and exchange it into the account you need (GBP/USD).

I use Revolut to transfer from UK to Irish bank account. This may be another method.

benjus

rail.link wrote: »

How do you fund the borderless account ?
I am assuming you need a GBP transferwise account ?

The borderless account can be activated in multiple currencies - you need to activate it in GBP to fund it from a standard UK account. Then you get a sort code and account number so you can pay into it from a standard UK bank account. For now it only supports Faster Payments though, not BACS or CHAPS (so most people won't be able to receive a UK salary into it). But apparently they are working on accepting BACS.