Banking in 2 countries, multiple currencies

colsten

mark10525 said:

I got asked by ID for a transfer by Transferwise. 3 days after they'd told me that they'd made the transfer. I had to pay another way and tell them to cancel the failed transfer which never happened anyway. In all it took 19 days for me to be able to get the funds from that failed transfer back. Transferwise are a complete shambles.

My complaint received a response that Transferwise are under no obligation to do anything in any particular timescale. Account now closed. However their reputation used to be good, so I think this is something that has changed relatively recently (plenty of terrible recent reviews along similar lines, but so many good previous ones that TrustPilot still shows a high star rating). I'd suggest never leaving any funds with them, and don't instruct any transfers for anything important and that you cannot pay another way should they fail to transfer your money as it will take you a long time to get it back again.

Fineco say that the residency application has to be completed first, so I'll bookmark that and return to it (should be 1 to 2 weeks maximum). Thanks.

It is entirely your own decision whether you want to use an unverified account. Leaving big sums of money with any outfit that doesn't have a deposit protection is also the decision of the depositor, and not a very sensible one at that. Making libelous claims about Transferwise isn't a good idea.

CKhalvashi

mark10525 said:

I got asked by ID for a transfer by Transferwise. 3 days after they'd told me that they'd made the transfer. I had to pay another way and tell them to cancel the failed transfer which never happened anyway. In all it took 19 days for me to be able to get the funds from that failed transfer back. Transferwise are a complete shambles.

My complaint received a response that Transferwise are under no obligation to do anything in any particular timescale. Account now closed. However their reputation used to be good, so I think this is something that has changed relatively recently (plenty of terrible recent reviews along similar lines, but so many good previous ones that TrustPilot still shows a high star rating). I'd suggest never leaving any funds with them, and don't instruct any transfers for anything important and that you cannot pay another way should they fail to transfer your money as it will take you a long time to get it back again.

Fineco say that the residency application has to be completed first, so I'll bookmark that and return to it (should be 1 to 2 weeks maximum). Thanks.

The advice I'd give with anything financial is to ensure you have verified it as much as possible before using.

I don't use TW for any extremely large payments, but have verified everything in advance. Only once after this was further identification requested, and this was confirmed within about 15 minutes, as described above. The initial verification IIRC (I've used TW for a very long time and therefore I can't remember) did take a little longer, however that can be expected.

If a bank needs to verify details for an existing customer it will be quicker than the initial process too.

eDicky

mark10525 said:

We're in the process of moving countries, from the UK to Italy, and we're waiting for the residency to be finalised. While that's happening I can't open an bank account in Italy.

Are you sure..? A couple of years ago I was able to walk into a bank and open an account as a non resident with just my British passport and Italian codice fiscale (tax id). Something may have changed, such as brexit, but other non-EU citizens seem to open Italian accounts with no problem, such as a Venezuelan friend doing an Italian language course on a 3-month visa-free stay.

Anyway, if you still have a UK address there's Starling Bank and Fineco Bank UK, as mentioned, and with an Italian address you can open an N26 euro bank account and (I believe) produce your residence card later. You can choose a German or Italian IBAN.

maxsteam

It will take time but eventually you will be in a position to walk into any high street Italian bank with all the right documents and open a mainstream bank account there. Until then, you will have to manage with alternatives that are not mainstream.

Thrugelmir

mark10525 said:

TOP_CAT said:

It would be interesting to know why Transferwise didnt work out in your case as its quite popular with those that need it .I have never read any negativity on transferwise although havent looked for any either .

Blocking and closing people's accounts, silently failing transfers and freezing customers' funds for up to 60 days are far from rare occurences.

Has it occurred to you that small time money laundering is undertaken on a huge scale in the UK?  There's rarely smoke without a fire. Much of that drug trade / prostitution/ people trafficking money has to be legitimised and/or remitted out of the country. 

mark10525

eDicky said:

mark10525 said:

We're in the process of moving countries, from the UK to Italy, and we're waiting for the residency to be finalised. While that's happening I can't open an bank account in Italy.

Are you sure..? A couple of years ago I was able to walk into a bank and open an account as a non resident with just my British passport and Italian codice fiscale (tax id). Something may have changed, such as brexit, but other non-EU citizens seem to open Italian accounts with no problem, such as a Venezuelan friend doing an Italian language course on a 3-month visa-free stay.

Anyway, if you still have a UK address there's Starling Bank and Fineco Bank UK, as mentioned, and with an Italian address you can open an N26 euro bank account and (I believe) produce your residence card later. You can choose a German or Italian IBAN.

I asked Fineco Bank but they said that I'd have to be a resident in order to open an account. We're winding things up in the UK now and just waiting on the permit to be issued, so it shouldn't take long. I could open the account with the UK address, but then the debit card would get sent there and I'd have to wait for the postal redirect to reroute it.

I've had a look at all the alternatives quite exhaustively now, but every single one has absolutely terrible reviews. What's odd is that banks aren't noted for customer service and yet all these alternative companies seem to manage to be even worse. Revolut looks great superficially. I opened a personal and business account and have the debit cards. The app has so many features and it's precisely what I need, but the means of obtaining customer service is diabolical so I'm not going to use it.

In the meantime I'm going to keep using the UK account to make international transfers and payments where possible even though it's more expensive because they have a phone number and a support service if something goes wrong, like the Transferwise shambles.

If there were to be a problem making a payment I can't honestly imagine that Halifax would lock the account and take nearly three weeks to let me have access to my money again. I am guessing that these international pseudo-bank companies attract fraudulent transactions and since they're just a front for another bank that's doing the processing, they are powerless. If their bank says no, the customer's experience collapses into farce and the pseudo-bank then hides behind the KYC regulations and "online chat", and does whatever they like, pretending they have no accountability.

Fineco looks ideal so I'll go for that, hopefully next week and I'll then finally be able to shut everything in the UK down.

CKhalvashi

mark10525 said:

eDicky said:

mark10525 said:

We're in the process of moving countries, from the UK to Italy, and we're waiting for the residency to be finalised. While that's happening I can't open an bank account in Italy.

Are you sure..? A couple of years ago I was able to walk into a bank and open an account as a non resident with just my British passport and Italian codice fiscale (tax id). Something may have changed, such as brexit, but other non-EU citizens seem to open Italian accounts with no problem, such as a Venezuelan friend doing an Italian language course on a 3-month visa-free stay.

Anyway, if you still have a UK address there's Starling Bank and Fineco Bank UK, as mentioned, and with an Italian address you can open an N26 euro bank account and (I believe) produce your residence card later. You can choose a German or Italian IBAN.

I asked Fineco Bank but they said that I'd have to be a resident in order to open an account. We're winding things up in the UK now and just waiting on the permit to be issued, so it shouldn't take long. I could open the account with the UK address, but then the debit card would get sent there and I'd have to wait for the postal redirect to reroute it.

I've had a look at all the alternatives quite exhaustively now, but every single one has absolutely terrible reviews. What's odd is that banks aren't noted for customer service and yet all these alternative companies seem to manage to be even worse. Revolut looks great superficially. I opened a personal and business account and have the debit cards. The app has so many features and it's precisely what I need, but the means of obtaining customer service is diabolical so I'm not going to use it.

In the meantime I'm going to keep using the UK account to make international transfers and payments where possible even though it's more expensive because they have a phone number and a support service if something goes wrong, like the Transferwise shambles.

If there were to be a problem making a payment I can't honestly imagine that Halifax would lock the account and take nearly three weeks to let me have access to my money again. I am guessing that these international pseudo-bank companies attract fraudulent transactions and since they're just a front for another bank that's doing the processing, they are powerless. If their bank says no, the customer's experience collapses into farce and the pseudo-bank then hides behind the KYC regulations and "online chat", and does whatever they like, pretending they have no accountability.

Fineco looks ideal so I'll go for that, hopefully next week and I'll then finally be able to shut everything in the UK down.

No, Halifax would likely simply write to you stating that your account is blocked and will be closed without giving you any reasons why, as will most UK banks.

Another high street bank has taken 2 months for someone to have access to their money (click here), which allegedly caused Mr L problems with accessing funds with another bank, likely due to fraud markers.

mark10525

CKhalvashi said:

mark10525 said:

eDicky said:

mark10525 said:

We're in the process of moving countries, from the UK to Italy, and we're waiting for the residency to be finalised. While that's happening I can't open an bank account in Italy.

Are you sure..? A couple of years ago I was able to walk into a bank and open an account as a non resident with just my British passport and Italian codice fiscale (tax id). Something may have changed, such as brexit, but other non-EU citizens seem to open Italian accounts with no problem, such as a Venezuelan friend doing an Italian language course on a 3-month visa-free stay.

Anyway, if you still have a UK address there's Starling Bank and Fineco Bank UK, as mentioned, and with an Italian address you can open an N26 euro bank account and (I believe) produce your residence card later. You can choose a German or Italian IBAN.

I asked Fineco Bank but they said that I'd have to be a resident in order to open an account. We're winding things up in the UK now and just waiting on the permit to be issued, so it shouldn't take long. I could open the account with the UK address, but then the debit card would get sent there and I'd have to wait for the postal redirect to reroute it.

I've had a look at all the alternatives quite exhaustively now, but every single one has absolutely terrible reviews. What's odd is that banks aren't noted for customer service and yet all these alternative companies seem to manage to be even worse. Revolut looks great superficially. I opened a personal and business account and have the debit cards. The app has so many features and it's precisely what I need, but the means of obtaining customer service is diabolical so I'm not going to use it.

In the meantime I'm going to keep using the UK account to make international transfers and payments where possible even though it's more expensive because they have a phone number and a support service if something goes wrong, like the Transferwise shambles.

If there were to be a problem making a payment I can't honestly imagine that Halifax would lock the account and take nearly three weeks to let me have access to my money again. I am guessing that these international pseudo-bank companies attract fraudulent transactions and since they're just a front for another bank that's doing the processing, they are powerless. If their bank says no, the customer's experience collapses into farce and the pseudo-bank then hides behind the KYC regulations and "online chat", and does whatever they like, pretending they have no accountability.

Fineco looks ideal so I'll go for that, hopefully next week and I'll then finally be able to shut everything in the UK down.

No, Halifax would likely simply write to you stating that your account is blocked and will be closed without giving you any reasons why, as will most UK banks.

Another high street bank has taken 2 months for someone to have access to their money (click here), which allegedly caused Mr L problems with accessing funds with another bank, likely due to fraud markers.

Does this mean that I can apply to Transferwise for compensation of £250?

colsten

mark10525 said:

CKhalvashi said:

mark10525 said:

eDicky said:

mark10525 said:

We're in the process of moving countries, from the UK to Italy, and we're waiting for the residency to be finalised. While that's happening I can't open an bank account in Italy.

Are you sure..? A couple of years ago I was able to walk into a bank and open an account as a non resident with just my British passport and Italian codice fiscale (tax id). Something may have changed, such as brexit, but other non-EU citizens seem to open Italian accounts with no problem, such as a Venezuelan friend doing an Italian language course on a 3-month visa-free stay.

Anyway, if you still have a UK address there's Starling Bank and Fineco Bank UK, as mentioned, and with an Italian address you can open an N26 euro bank account and (I believe) produce your residence card later. You can choose a German or Italian IBAN.

I asked Fineco Bank but they said that I'd have to be a resident in order to open an account. We're winding things up in the UK now and just waiting on the permit to be issued, so it shouldn't take long. I could open the account with the UK address, but then the debit card would get sent there and I'd have to wait for the postal redirect to reroute it.

I've had a look at all the alternatives quite exhaustively now, but every single one has absolutely terrible reviews. What's odd is that banks aren't noted for customer service and yet all these alternative companies seem to manage to be even worse. Revolut looks great superficially. I opened a personal and business account and have the debit cards. The app has so many features and it's precisely what I need, but the means of obtaining customer service is diabolical so I'm not going to use it.

In the meantime I'm going to keep using the UK account to make international transfers and payments where possible even though it's more expensive because they have a phone number and a support service if something goes wrong, like the Transferwise shambles.

If there were to be a problem making a payment I can't honestly imagine that Halifax would lock the account and take nearly three weeks to let me have access to my money again. I am guessing that these international pseudo-bank companies attract fraudulent transactions and since they're just a front for another bank that's doing the processing, they are powerless. If their bank says no, the customer's experience collapses into farce and the pseudo-bank then hides behind the KYC regulations and "online chat", and does whatever they like, pretending they have no accountability.

Fineco looks ideal so I'll go for that, hopefully next week and I'll then finally be able to shut everything in the UK down.

No, Halifax would likely simply write to you stating that your account is blocked and will be closed without giving you any reasons why, as will most UK banks.

Another high street bank has taken 2 months for someone to have access to their money (click here), which allegedly caused Mr L problems with accessing funds with another bank, likely due to fraud markers.

Does this mean that I can apply to Transferwise for compensation of £250?

Nobody can apply for compensation.

Everybody can raise a complaint, which may or may not result in an offer of compensation (which you may or may not accept).


BTW, I agree, you are probably way to optimistic how Halifax, or any other bank, would handle an investigation, should they choose to launch one. We have seen countless reports from people who had their accounts (not necessarily Halifax) blocked for weeks on end. 

I also agree with your assessment of Revolut and their CS - - - in my experience, it is literally non-existent and for that reason, I have closed my account with them. In addition, they do not presently offer a deposit protection in the UK.

mark10525

I did raise a complaint with Transferwise. The gist of the reply was: "It's all Barclays fault, and we're under no obligation to do anything in any particular timescale. Here's £30 of free account credits". In response to which I closed the account.

All of this seems to centre on Barclays, as in the case you cited. Transferwise are only as good as Barclays. But then they could open an account with another bank. If Barclays won't send the payment, then use the other bank.

I seem to recall trying out inbound payments with Transferwise with a new client who banked with Barclays. He instructed the payment. It was refused and more than that, his entire account and debit card was blocked until he found out about it and told them it was genuine and to remove the block. I then reverted to having him pay into my Halifax account which worked fine.

Maybe Barclays don't like Transferwise very much

In my case, this really had nothing to do with money laundering. Imagine:

"Hello, Fraud Squad"
"Hi, this is Transferwise. We've got a case we think you should look at. A British web developer with a website which we can verify is trying to send a payment to a UK hosting company."
"Is it for a high value?"
"No, it's for £230."
"Is is the first time?"
"No, he sends the same amount every month on the same day."
"Is it changing currencies?"
"No. It's from sterling, to sterling."
"Have you verified the payee?"
"Yes, we can see who the payee is and validate where the money is going."

"You're wasting our time. Bye."

There's something very wrong with the way AML regulations permit financial companies to behave. If they think a payment is suspicious, then I'd expect them to decline to send it and report me to the authorities. If the regulations give them the ability to hold the money for up to 60 days (as people have reported with Transferwise) while they do.. what, precisely? - and without any reason given whatsoever, the AML regulations need an overhaul.

God forbid anyone would use Transferwise to send £50k for a payment such as a deposit which absolutely had to get there on time.