Review of FlowBank, New Swiss Bank

[kunafa]

I can confirm Flowbank will "terminate the banking relationship" with you if you use it as a bank, even if you hold a symbolic amount in stocks.

They seem very amateur-ish, I advise against working with them in any case.

 

[csp dubai]

forget about them is complatly uslesess as bank beter use saxo bank , much cheaper

 

[somerandomuser]

I can confirm Flowbank will "terminate the banking relationship" with you if you use it as a bank, even if you hold a symbolic amount in stocks.

They seem very amateur-ish, I advise against working with them in any case.

I assume this is based on your personal experience? How big was the "symbolic" amount? Did they force you to sell the stocks or did you transfer it to another broker?

 

[Novice]

I can confirm Flowbank will "terminate the banking relationship" with you if you use it as a bank, even if you hold a symbolic amount in stocks.

They seem very amateur-ish, I advise against working with them in any case.

I and another friend of mine lost our accounts as we were using them as a bank. It's not designed to be used as a bank, despite the name.

 

[nobel]

forget about them is complatly uslesess as bank beter use saxo bank , much cheaper

Saxobank is probably a joke! They charge custody fees and fees for non-use CHF 89. FlowBank ist custody fee free and for non-use also.

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[kunafa]

I assume this is based on your personal experience? How big was the "symbolic" amount? Did they force you to sell the stocks or did you transfer it to another broker?

I'll skip the specifics for privacy reasons.

They don't force you to do anything. They disable deposits into your account, send you a snail mail letter of termination and kindly ask you to sell/transfer out assets so they can fully close the account afterwards.

Flowbank seems like a very small operation. Their mobile app is riddled with bugs. Their website is often experiencing technical issues and downtimes. There are no good reasons to use them at the moment. Unless you really need a yet another non reliable Swiss brokerage.

 

[csp dubai]

they took 6 mounths to review my application for saying no at the end, just because i live in monaco
what a bullsxxx

 

[nobel]

they took 6 mounths to review my application for saying no at the end, just because i live in monaco
what a bullsxxx

Wow, Monaco really? Then you have made it in life. No one can open an account in Monaco without residency. I would like to.

 

[csp dubai]

in monaco you need 500 000 eur in bank account and to rent an ampartment , not so difficult and clean police certificate

about flowbank forget it , they are not sereroius compliance probablt they put some indian to do it

 

[tacokai]

about flowbank forget it , they are not sereroius compliance probablt they put some indian to do it

problem with most of these verification / KYC services. Indians just can't understand how it works in European countries or other parts of the world. Things are smarter, things are faster, things are just different.

 

[JohnLocke]

Is there one or more person that has an up to date review for this bank?

 

[SoNewToAllShit]

From another thread, I see that people have had their accounts frozen and some even encountered problems because they left their money with this bank! I don't quite understand the criticism or the issues from the bank's side. The essence of running a bank should be to have people leave as much money with them as possible, right?

 

[Martin Everson]

I don't quite understand the criticism or the issues from the bank's side. The essence of running a bank should be to have people leave as much money with them as possible, right?

It depends, if interest rates are negative in the currency you deposited then bank would not be happy at people just parking money as they would be losing money. Also banks need to maintain capital ratio related to the amount of deposits they hold etc. If your not generating money for them then your costing them money you see in terms of capital and also in terms of compliance costs etc. Compliance is not cheap at all. Each sanction check lookup and a world-check lookup costs money so do adequate number of staff etc.

 

[Sean Restling]

I opened an account with them selecting "savings" as the reason for opening it. Why would they even put this option (and accept you as a client) if they don't want you to use them as a bank?

 

[daniels27]

Is there one or more person that has an up to date review for this bank?

Yes, I opened an account with them. I used my US virtual phone number. After a while, they sent me a W8 form to fill out and send back, I completed and sent back. After two weeks again, I sent back. After two more weeks again, I sent back. After two more weeks, they closed my account. I called them and they said that the person doing the W8 has moved to another position and nobody was reading the emails. Hence, they closed me account. They even took back the welcome bonus as my account was not "open long enough."

I hope the bank gets better one day.

 

[Forester]

Yes, I opened an account with them. I used my US virtual phone number. After a while, they sent me a W8 form to fill out and send back, I completed and sent back. After two weeks again, I sent back. After two more weeks again, I sent back. After two more weeks, they closed my account. I called them and they said that the person doing the W8 has moved to another position and nobody was reading the emails. Hence, they closed me account. They even took back the welcome bonus as my account was not "open long enough."

A bank with the Swiss licence. OMG. Probably worth complaining to FINMA.

 

[daniels27]

I think they are like Seba, which is now called Amina. They do not really know their business model but have some idea and some investment money from the low interest rate days. They then attract customers. The customers come, but they figure out it is not the ones they like. They guys working there are recent immigrants from neighbouring countries, just trying to follow the rules. And once the business is running, they find out that they are losing money and close accounts. It is hard to make money with any infrastructure business nowadays. The customers look at pricing and if you offer 0% FX but fees on SWIFT, people come with local transfers from Postfinance for the FX and then back to Postfinance for 2 CHF SWIFT. Of course, people use each service for the part they are cheap and not the other way round.

 

[Alexmorgan]

Yes, I opened an account with them. I used my US virtual phone number. After a while, they sent me a W8 form to fill out and send back, I completed and sent back. After two weeks again, I sent back. After two more weeks again, I sent back. After two more weeks, they closed my account. I called them and they said that the person doing the W8 has moved to another position and nobody was reading the emails. Hence, they closed me account. They even took back the welcome bonus as my account was not "open long enough."

I hope the bank gets better one day.

We earn money and we let it in the companies account and cant risk withdrawing it to our personal accounts because of these games

Swiss banking services used to be the best and now its the worst

Starting fromt the Email Dukascopy sent me last week saying they will send all my financial activities to my country of residence by April as they made my limits with 20k per quarter they just shut it down for no reason

 

[daniels27]

Swiss banking services used to be the best and now its the worst

Yes, you can write a letter to Obama and the EU. It would still be good without him.

 

[jafo]

They guys working there are recent immigrants from neighbouring countries,

100% this! I've seen them. Talk about culture shock!