I think people are wondering why you need a bank account in these countries? Why would you not just open a bank account in your home country (france) and spend wherever you like with a debit card?
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Question European bank account (I am a customer)
- Thread starter AMG63S
- Start date
I prefer to remain discreet on the matter
I am simply looking for a banking solution in the European Union
The response from BlueMistis the best of the subject I have the impression to be provoked by you @JohnnyDoeSo you need advice but you can’t say why?It seems you are looking for troubles…
I am someone looking for a banking solution in several countries in Europe, I am ready to pay, what is the problem?
Thank you for your interest, but I am not looking for anything related to cryptocurrency, only banks around France, easy to open
@AMG63S you said 'Simply shop in the country in question', I wonder if you should just have localized prepaid cards (with IBAN) instead of a full-blown bank accounts. It is less troublesome than having to apply for a bank account. Others here may have options, it seems PFS (an Irish company) offer prepaid card (with IBAN) for many EU countries.
Since you said you have a lot of money, surely you can afford to pay for their small monthly fee.
Since you said you have a lot of money, surely you can afford to pay for their small monthly fee.
You only have 4000-5000€ to deposit? Did you understand what I meant with "deposit"?
About the budget you need to entertain a bank executive for one night
In this context, that is not enough to be interesting to most banks that accept non-resident foreigners. They want between 100x and 1,000x that amount. As an ordinary retail customer, it's not worth the hassle to most banks. The costs of opening and maintaining the account are greater than the income they can expect to generate. However, you can try speaking with ING, Keytrade, and BNP Paribas in Belgium; Intesa and UniCredit in Italy; and Santander, Caixa, and Banco de Sabadell in Spain. There might be others worth speaking with. But they will probably say no, unless you can show that you have close ties to the country, plan to use the account regularly (salary payments, investments), or relocate to the country.
However, you can open accounts with Swissquote, CIM Banque, Flowbank, and Dukascopy in Switzerland. Swissquote isn't good if you need the account to make third-party bank transfers, but you can quite easily get a Swiss credit card if you need a local card.
Fineco in Italy is a great bank and I have never had a problem with them. Avoid like the plague BNL!! It's part of Paribas, but I after many years experience, I wouldn't trust them.
Belgian IBANs: Wise and Monese. They are EMIs, but so far, they seem pretty good.
Luxembourg IBAN: Sogexia. But I think it's a French EMI.
Netherlands IBAN: Bunq, a real bank! Their app is a little weird.
Germany IBANs: N26, Vivid. Both real banks that have never given me problems.
Lithuania IBAN: (maybe Italy as well) Revolut. An EMI that started off well, but have a habit of blocking accounts without warning when they want more info, which is completely unprofessional.
Please note that in Italy, you have a duty to declare accounts with foreign banks if you have more than 5000 in them.
Do your own due diligence and KYB (Know your bank).
I forgot to mention that Paypal.it uses a German IBAN number!
I just did a quick internet search on Swissquote. I'm not sure if it's in Malta, Singapore or Switzerland! But it's always like this when you do due diligence. I once spent hours researching the Maltese Blackcat card (Papaya) and the more I learned, the more confused I was! Maltese, American, Russian? But partly in Gibraltar? A complete mess! Please guys, be careful!
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If you are French, having a bank accounts in all these countries is about the same as having it in your country.
Except you can get into trouble once information gets exchanged and then French finds out you have bank accounts in several other countries - they might start asking questions.
Except you can get into trouble once information gets exchanged and then French finds out you have bank accounts in several other countries - they might start asking questions.
Hi Steve, does Fineco need to see you in person or can you open entirely online? What paperwork do they ask for?
Also - I heard Vivid will give you an IT (Italian) IBAN if you have an Italian address. True?
Thx!
Unless AMG63S is a criminal and hiding money that's stolen or evaded taxes, he is not doing anything wrong at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. It's a matter of diversification, spreading funds among different jurisdictions for safety. People did this a lot after the financial crisis in 2008 and are still doing it. At the moment, with inflation increasing but interest still low or even negative, you may as well keep the cash hidden somewhere, or spend it. I knew someone years ago who didn't trust the banks and stored huge amounts of cash -euros, dollars and swiss francs - in a safe at home. I guess it also depends on the tax laws where you live. In some countries, you only have to declare the income, but not the capital. In other countries, you have to declare just about everything!!
Fineco is a well-known bank (not a Fintech!) and yes, I think you can open it online. You'll need I.D. and proof of address at very minimum. I don't know if they accept people not resident in Italy, but their website is in English as well, so maybe they do. In Italy, you should keep very detailed records and be able to prove the origin of all transfers, just in case. Personally, if I wasn't already living here, I don't think I'd want a bank in Italy. The fees can go up without warning and the government can impose emergency taxes on all accounts whenever they want!
Sorry, not sure about Vivid, but I vaguely remember hearing the same story, though perhaps only for new clients. My IBAN is German. and I'm no hurry to change it. So far, I'm very happy with it, though I used to say the same thing about Revolut until they messed me about when I wanted to transfer a small amount to my son at university.
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Thank you Steve - yes I'm happy with my DE IBAN as well although there are still widespread IBAN discrimination in Italy where they don't want to deal with you if you don't have IBAN starting with the letter 'IT'.
I know it's illegal and I tried to point that out - but it's not like they listen. Because I do have some dealings in Italy, always looking out for anything (eWallet, Prepaid Card, FinTech etc) that gives IT IBAN - so far not having any luck.A few quick searches:Thank you Steve - yes I'm happy with my DE IBAN as well although there are still widespread IBAN discrimination in Italy where they don't want to deal with you if you don't have IBAN starting with the letter 'IT'.
https://www.cartemigliori.it/carte-prepagate/migliori-carte-prepagatehttp://miglioricarteprepagate.com/https://www.carteprepagate.org/O course, all of these cards are probably EMIs, not real banks, but most will have an IBAN.
e.g. If you look at the FAQs for Hype:
https://support.hype.it/hc/it/articles/360003466513-Dov-è-l-IBAN-della-mia-carta-HYPE-It looks like an IT IBAN.
Thank you Steve - yes I'm happy with my DE IBAN as well although there are still widespread IBAN discrimination in Italy where they don't want to deal with you if you don't have IBAN starting with the letter 'IT'.
Of course, whether you can open an account from outside Italy is a different matter. They're very strict and usually require a Codice Fiscale. You even need I.D. to get a bloody sim card here!
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