Best Bank Account or EMI for Isle of Man Company

SimpleGuy said:

Hi all,

I opened a company in the Isle of Man. Which is better EMI or bank?

The physical banks on the island refused to open my account.

Sincerely,

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With the highest probability in the UK, EMI will work for you.

Would be good to understand the company activity and monthly volumes.
There are several EMIs that would be suitable depending on the activity, funds flow and your requirements.
Feel free to get in touch if you need help/consultation.

"I opened a company in the Isle of Man. Which is better EMI or bank?

The physical banks on the island refused to open my account."

I'm considering opening a company in the Isle of Man, but having no bank account is a show-stopper. Any reason that you couldn't get a bank account?

try Amnistreasury.com
not UK but very good

SimpleGuy said:

Sorry for my late reply. It is a holding company, of an e-commerce business group. Finally, I managed to open an account with Currenxie, but I would prefer to have a physical bank.

I went there personally, rented an office in Douglas and hired a local woman paid to do nothing so that I had some substance. But what I saw from the banks was that they always refused to open, without any real reason, if you apply by your own. And the bank introducers (CSP) always classify you as "high-risk" if the shareholder is not a citizen of the Isle of Man, and if you are classed as high-risk, it is £50 per transaction that you have to pay to the CSP, as well as about thirty additional fees from what I understand.

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From your input, I get that you've set up the company and its substance yourself?

I'm afraid you could have made judgment mistake while trying to save on costs by hiring someone local yourself instead of going for management by professional director who's acting under umbrella of local CTSP license. Banks know them, CTSP's know banks, directors are usually vetted by IoM Financial Services Authority as employees of CTSP, that's how things go in Crown dependencies.

Banking in IoM for foreign-owned companies, in general, is tied to nominee directorship or trust services when local CSP appoints someone to company board. I'd say 50 GBP is something in standard range. IoM corporate vehicles aren't cheap if you want to set everything up properly.

SimpleGuy said:

There is only one bank that agreed but it is in fact an EMI from the Isle of Man called Capital International Bank, £1250 on opening and then annually. They seem nice but I find it expensive, knowing that they don't offer debit cards and that there aren't as many currencies as Currenxie, which is free.

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They're a licensed bank (deposit taking institution), just on a restricted type of license, meaning you're ineligible for deposit compensation scheme if things go south south. There're no EMI's in the IoM.

You want to have proper bank account because you want to have word "bank" mentioned somewhere in your payment details, or what's the reason behind that desire?

You won't probably find any decent bank catering to foreign-owned holding companies which would make you better offering.

SimpleGuy said:

If anyone has any names of EMIs or preferably banks in the UK that accept Isle of Man companies and provide bank cards please let me know.

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As far as I see, Revolut claims to support IoM for business account opening purposes. No personal experience, but you may try your luck - via your rented office you'd get your cards, they're within "cheap" definition.