Our valued sponsor

Sword and Shield

Reliable EMIs

J

JackieTsan

Member Plus
Oct 17, 2019
368
68
28
51
#1
Hi to all,

I'm coming back to an old discussion, in quick.. Are EMIs reliable? My personal understanding is a big NO.
I have a company, everything totally fair & honest, customers are in Europe and are really top companies. Amounts are small (less than 12K euro), Euro only. TransferWise suddenly blocked my account just for a check.. 3 weeks now.. I sent everything, I called a few times but they say "we are reviewing". And this might take for ever.

Finally.. what are the EMIs doing? Why the proved to be so unreliable at all? Why people trust them and finally they end up having issues, losing payments, etc? Why their policy is blocking business accounts in order to "review" them and keeping companies stuck. Banks might ask for invoices etc but they block your account later after a deadline. IF it proved something bad.. Not just to review (I'm talking for RELIABLE banks.

What is a RELIABLE EMI (don't even dare to mention Laundromat (RV) as my beloved friend @Martin Everson calls them)... Reliable, in which you can open account for offshore companies out of Europe (islands, middle east etc). For FAIR companies (consulting, IT, software etc), nothing with crypto, black etc. at all...

Thanks to all
 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnLocke
#2
Hey,

My answer would be - YES. It is very important to find a reliable EMI that is business-oriented.

I told many times there about TW and this kind of blocks. It's a no-go for businesses. Some would disagree with me, but those will always say this because they haven't experienced those troubles yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnLocke
#3
I totally agree with you. These guys have so nice business and they are destroying the reputation by themselves! So sad and big shame.. Unreliable.. It's like you build and empire and by yourself you destroy it...
And that's my question getting back to the topic: are there RELIABLE, SERIOUS, (for SERIOUS people, business) EMIs? Are there RELIABLE EMIs finally or I have to get a plane and go open a reliable bank and that's it? EMI = Fail ?
Thank you
 
#4
I am hearing more and more stories about TW on here now. The issue of blocked accounts in EMI's in general needs to be resolved at an EU wide level. A policeman can arrest and can only keep you for a certain amount of time before they must charge or release you. No such thing exists in the private finance sector. Have epayment customers got their money back yet? The system is a joke and they want to get rid of cash to suffer this BS?

There should be a simple law saying funds can only be blocked for maximum of 4 weeks after which money must be resent to sender and all necessary compliance reporting to regulator can still be filed after money is returned.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnLocke and John Andrews
#6
Martin Everson said:
I am hearing more and more stories about TW on here now. The issue of blocked accounts in EMI's in general needs to be resolved at an EU wide level. A policeman can arrest and can only keep you for a certain amount of time before they must charge or release you. No such thing exists in the private finance sector. Have epayment customers got their money back yet? The system is a joke and they want to get rid of cash to suffer this BS?

There should be a simple law saying funds can only be blocked for maximum of 4 weeks after which money must be resent to sender and all necessary compliance reporting to regulator can still be filed after money is returned.
Click to expand...
@Martin Everson
No way EU to do anything at all like that you inagine
 
#7
Probably true sadly.
 
#8
I wonder if the TW blocks are related to checks because of some pattern, which may not necessarily be the transactions but the setup:
- UBO being resident of a different country than the company
- companies and or UBOs are residents of a different countries than those TW is regulated in?

We did have examples of users on this forum handling $5m turnover in TW accounts. In this user case the UBO and his company were a residents of the same country, which was outside EEA.

On a separate note, I have been using Finductive (Malta based) for more than 6 months without any issues. Incoming and outgoing single transaction payments of €200k. You need however provide a supporting document (can be invoice) for each transaction exceeding €25k.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnLocke
#9
A great economist said that they do this to "tick" the compliance checks for fair mid level business so they can say they did compliance tests... I let you think for the rest assumption..

Anyone has experience with handelsbank.com ? Seems to be Deuetche bank EMI.
 
#12
It would be ridiculous to think that a bank or EMI would first check an account and then maybe block it.

In the meantime, the customer can transfer the money and the bank or EMI did not have any pressure to request documents etc.
 
#15
Bottom line, keep your money in a high street bank, preferably in a jurisdiction where your 12K payment is a drop in the ocean when compared to the banks average corporate transfers. When using TM and similar services, be sure to have invoices and contracts relating to the payment ready.

The smaller the EMI the more scrutiny you will receive. Compliance teams need to keep themselves busy and many take their jobs very seriously and make it their mission to leave no stone unturned.

We work with a number of EMI compliance teams on behalf of our customers who require banking and remittence services and it is tougher for you if you have gone in "cold" or been "referred" by a known entity.

So in short:
1. Keep amounts small
2. Build up a history
3. Make sure you have contracts and invoices on hand
4. Be pro-active, send information in prior to the payment to their compliance teams and advise if a payment is a regular one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Offshore Bank Accounts

Forum Announcement

Latest Threads

Offshore Bank Accounts
The Kingdom Bank
Top Bottom
Back