Fineco Bank multicurrencies account

Marchitiello

[Deleted User] said:

Is the conversion rate onto the Fineco EUR Card not better than a high st bank passing on the Mastercard/VISA rate?

The rates on conversion rates with Revolut have always been a bit better than my RBS World Mastercard

Yes with Fineco you should get better rates than the card network rates. 

Also when comparing Fineco with other options (starling, wise and similar) you need to really look at net exchanged amount rather than shown rate. This is because Fineco rate include their margin but they won’t add additional charges whilst Starling’s or Wise’s rate for instance will not include it but they will then charge you a fee, and thus the net amount is virtually always lower with the former (in many checks done over the years until very recently, have not checked again right now) 

[Deleted User]

Marchitiello said:

[Deleted User] said:

Is the conversion rate onto the Fineco EUR Card not better than a high st bank passing on the Mastercard/VISA rate?

The rates on conversion rates with Revolut have always been a bit better than my RBS World Mastercard

Yes with Fineco you should get better rates than the card network rates. 

Also when comparing Fineco with other options (starling, wise and similar) you need to really look at net exchanged amount rather than shown rate. This is because Fineco rate include their margin but they won’t add additional charges whilst Starling’s or Wise’s rate for instance will not include it but they will then charge you a fee, and thus the net amount is virtually always lower with the former (in many checks done over the years until very recently, have not checked again right now) 

Sure. Thanks for the info. I was only really comparing with Revolut as I was within my fee limit with them. It was offering a slightly better rate on a token amount, im not sure if this changes as you do higher value. I can see how Fineco would be a better option for large exchanges though as Rev impose the 1k limit on a free plan.

[Deleted User]

Can anyone remember - regarding the card delivery, do you need to be in to sign? It’s being shipped today and I am out.

Marchitiello

Shipped or Delivered? It comes from Italy so if it is being shipped today from there it will take around 3 business days minim for delivery. Cannot remember you if you had to sign it, albeit the post Covid measures may mean that they take a picture of you holding the envelope on your doorstep. I believe they use DHL and they should have a nice tracking  and delivery instruction website. 

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

Can anyone remember - regarding the card delivery, do you need to be in to sign? It’s being shipped today and I am out.

They rang the doorbell for me. Not sure if it was because you have to be in, or because it came in the largest envelope I have ever seen that wouldn’t fit through a letterbox. 

[Deleted User]

They shoved it through the letter box - although I WhatsApp’ed DHL and said they have my consent to do so or to leave it in the recycling - had to sign a disclaimer 

OceanSound

SouthLondonUser said:

I would add that I would have reservations on relying on a foreign bank (especially from a very small country) which operates here based on passporting rules, especially if from a small country.

TBH I have no idea if passporting (being licenced in one country and using that licence in another country) is still a thing after Brexit.

Before Brexit, does any one remember the Icelandic banks? UK deposits were covered under the Icelandic scheme. Iceland is tiny, there was no way the scheme could have ever compensated UK depositors, the UK Chancellor at the time decided to bail out UK depositors, and there was a legal ruling confirming that Iceland as a country did not have to compensate the UK for the deposits.

For similar reasons, if I were in the EU I would not want to open a Revolut bank account in Germany or Ireland - which relies on Revolut being a Lithuanian bank regulated by the Lithuanian authorities and on the deposits being protected by the Lithuanian scheme. To be clear, it has nothing to do with Lithuania itself and everything to do with it being a tiny country. I'd have the same reservations on, say, a bank from rich, advanced but still tiny Luxembourg.

Even before Brexit, Santander was set up as a UK bank and never relied on the Spanish deposit protection scheme.

A different question is: if I were in France, would I rely on a bank passporting its licence from, say, Germany, ie from a big country with a well-funded deposit protection scheme? I don't honestly know. I have never had to think about that.

So, Italy is a large country AND is advanced or not advance?. Can you tell us how it fits in with your analysis please?

The UK Chancellor at the time bailed out UK depositors when it came to Icelandic bank's, how sure are you that the current chancellor will do the same if the same were to happen?

BTW, I have no reservations (of relying on a foreign bank) too. I've an instant access saver with Cynergy (which I believe has origin in Cyprus) and it's fully covered by FSCS.

I happen to see that with banks covered by FITD, the deposit return process is automatic. i.e. if a bank goes under, your money is returned 'automatically'. So my understanding is that you don't need to even make a claim as you do with the FSCS. 

Here's where it says this: 
https://accountingbolla.com/blog/investing-in-italy/bank-deposits-how-protected-are-they/

the above is not an official source (its a personal website). So, not sure if it can be relied on 100%. Maybe someone can confirm. 

If it's not automatic and we need to make a claim, how would we go about that?

Marchitiello said:

OceanSound said:

Marchitiello said:

OceanSound said:

SouthLondonUser said:

Am I the only one who has had good experiences with Fineco?

I have only good things to say about them and would recommend them.

If you want a EUR bank account, or need to send / receive payments in other currencies, I have found it to be a very good service. I use it mostly for the EUR account. I know a person who needs to receive payments in USD (his employer gives him sone shares and the proceeds from selling those are in USD) and he said Fineco was convenient to handle payments. Unlike Revolut, it is a real ban with deposit protection (although possibly it's the Italian and not the UK FSCS? Not sure)

Don't count on an Italian FSCS protection to recover your money. 

When I contacted the UK FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) a while ago to report fineco because they hadn't told me that I can refer my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, it created a head scratching moment for them (the FCA). Finally, they (the FCA) accepted Fineco is covered by FCA rules. 

Even with the financial ombudsman service (FOS), there was one point of the complaint (quite late in the process when the complaint was with an ombudsman for their consideration) where the adjudicator told me:

...cases against this business are currently on hold while our service reviews a matter with them. Should it be decided our service can look into complaints raised against them and the hold be removed, the ombudsman will look to issue a decision on this complaint

To this day, I've no idea what this 'hold' was about.  I replied. Then after some three months, adjudicator reverted with the decision of the ombudsman. Not a whisper about the 'hold'.

What do you mean do not count on Italian deposit protection ( it is actually called FITD and cover deposit up to €100,000 equivalent)? That is unfunded speculation on your part. You would have to make a claim with them (FITD) if the bank went under, and has nothing to do with your reports about what FCA or FOS may have told you. They are operating (grandfathered) under the old border less rules and do have to comply with specific FCA regulations but not all as they are not a full UK bank yet (they have applied for full UK banking license). Their customer base is quite larger than N26 was and hence decided to remain in the UK market (whilst N26, operating in a similar way from their license in Germany, decided to close the Uk operation after Brexit).

Show me one where on the fineco website where it says my Bank Account is covered under FITD. Even if it was, I can't see anywhere where they say this. 

Go to a website like FirstDirect, and you click on 'legals' --> 'important notes' and there it is in bold:

Financial Services Compensation Scheme 

We're part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS),.....

South London User above has demonstrated that to you and it was clear when they first launched the “UK multi currency account”. Fineco is a fully fledged EU bank based in Italy, originally fully owned by UniCredit, one of the largest European Banks (UniCredit only retained a minority stake after spinning off the business). As such they have to comply with the EU profit protection regulation, up to  €100,000 (the UK FSCS version was made in response to EU regulations) within the country they have a license in.

so again, you have made a baseless statement and proved wrong, no hard feeling.

Some forumites have checked on the FCA website and it has said Fineco is covered by FSCS. You're saying it's covered by FITD. Which one is fineco covered under, is it FSCS or FITD.

Still patiently waiting for you to show me where on the fineco website it says they are covered under FITD. In that sense not particularly transparent I may add. 

SouthLondonUser

OceanSound said:

Some forumites have checked on the FCA website and it has said Fineco is covered by FSCS. You're saying it's covered by FITD. Which one is fineco covered under, is it FSCS or FITD.

Still patiently waiting for you to show me where on the fineco website it says they are covered under FITD. In that sense not particularly transparent I may add. 

I don't like this tone. I contribute to the forum on the basis that:

• I am happy to share my understanding, what I have learnt, what I think and why, but I do not owe anyone anything. Nor does anyone owe me anything.
  
• I reply only if / when I have the time to do so.
• Despite my best efforts, what I share may be incorrect or inapplicable to other people's situations. It is for each of us to do our due diligence and research. "Oh but I believed so and so because some random stranger on the MSE forum had told me so" is a poor excuse.
• I have zero interest in convincing anyone of anything. I have explained why I would not leave my money with Revolut neither in the UK (Revolut is not a UK bank) nor if I were in the EU (Revolut passports its Lithuanian licence; Lithuania is a very small country). If someone disagrees with me it is their prerogative, I don't want to enter into long debates. it's a free world, we are all free to reach our own conclusions and have our opinions.

Having clarified all of the above, let me reiterate that, in a previous message (page 39) I had already pointed out that

Searching for FITD (the Italian deposit protection scheme) brings up many results.E.g. the fact sheet on their bank account mentions FITD very explicitly https://finecobank.com/uk/public/fogli-informativi/dettaglio?categoria=76210&area=pubblica&cartella=contoeuro

Also, if you open their website https://uk.finecobank.com/ and scroll to the very bottom:

Member of the National Compensation Fund (FNG) and the National Interbank Deposit Guarantee Fund (FITD). Read Details.

If you click on read details https://images.finecobank.com/docs/pdf/pub/uk/FNG-FITD.pdf

If you are so keen on learning about Fineco and the FITD why not spend 4 seconds doing a quick search or searching the Fineco homepage for the word "FITD" ?

You asked about my "analysis" on Italy.

What is objective is that it is a large country (by European standards) and Fineco's assets and customer base are not material vs the size of the country / its GDP etc.

What is subjective, and here opinions will differ, is how advanced / stable etc or not Italy is.

[Deleted User]

Am I correct in saying you can’t use Revolut gbp account number and sort code to withdraw funds from Fineco in pounds?

OceanSound

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