Tired of Georgian banks

[riir]

I have a Bank of georgia personal account, And at the first time, all things goes well, they deliver me phyical card, and private banker for only $5k monthly income, offering multi currency accopunt.

But when I initiate only $2000 to US in my bank account, all the things is suddenly changed.
They request me a lot of documents like my proof of income, the reason of transaction to US, My original countries bank statement.
The transaction is just from my bog account to my US brokerage account. It's really nothing to suspicious.

They even request of my brokerage's monthly statement.
So much for $2000 transfer.

And I don't have any reply from bank after I submit all of the docuemts they request, 1week, and I asked about when can I get a reply, But suddenly my private banker ignore me too. lol
I text him but he didn't answer, now he is on vacation now.(He said he will have an vacation till Sep 19th by automatically generate reply. )

Besides that, I can use my bank normally, I can use my card and anything.
But I'm too tired of the things. Their customer service is awful. really hard to contact with any agents in this bank.
including 'private' banker and even just normal customer service .

Maybe Georgian banks is only for Russian. Now I contact with other bank to get an persoanl bank account again.

 

[daniels27]

Yes, they are known to perform their due diligence with all international transfers, inward and outward. Is the account recipient in the same name as your BOG account?

 

[riir]

Yes, they are known to perform their due diligence with all international transfers, inward and outward. Is the account recipient in the same name as your BOG account?

I should have know about it before I open the account. lol

No I sent my money to pooled account and the beneficially name of the account is Ironbeam Inc, which is US future clearing firm.

 

[daniels27]

No I sent my money to pooled account and the beneficially name of the account is Ironbeam Inc, which is US future clearing firm.

Yes, this is the problem. With the banks there, please only send / receive from accounts in your own name. It normally goes very smooth. If you receive or send from companies, etc. they will ask for proofs. I would recommend opening a US account with free wires in your own name to handle such payments. Normally, you won't have any more questions.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

Avoid Georgia. My experience with Terabank: Terabank Georgia

 

[JackAlabama]

bog is not good. I had issues with them ducking around to close a time deposit.

 

[Martin Everson]

But when I initiate only $2000 to US in my bank account, all the things is suddenly changed.
They request me a lot of documents like my proof of income, the reason of transaction to US, My original countries bank statement.
The transaction is just from my bog account to my US brokerage account. It's really nothing to suspicious.

They even request of my brokerage's monthly statement.
So much for $2000 transfer.

This is normal due to ongoing geopolitical issues. You see Georgia had a large influx of Russians and BoG had a large influx of Russian clients. The bank still allowed those Russian clients to receive and send money to/from Russia with a small limit via regional payment networks outside SWIFT (but they have since a few months completely removed the Russian client faq pages from their site or I cannot find it any longer).

The US correspondence banks have no doubt put in place extended due diligence spot checks on USD payments. BoG would have to front run any request for detailed transaction information from US correspondence banks by having extensive client and transaction data on record already. If the transaction already made it to the correspondence account then they have no ability to control the situation or what is asked for. They could be sending your data to the US correspondence bank and waiting for a reply which all takes time.

But if you don't want these sort of problems then don't use USD and especially not via a Georgian bank. Find another bank in another country.

P.S I closed my BoG account some years back (after I left Georgia) but not because of poor service but because of geopolitical risk of operating an account from a bank and country under a microscope due to Russia situation.

 

[ShillGates]

remove tick mark of BOG, not Mr Everson approved...... f me any banks left in this world or its just a complete sh*tshow

 

[Martin Everson]

remove tick mark of BOG, not Mr Everson approved...... f me any banks left in this world or its just a complete sh*tshow

If you can avoid using a bank in 2024 then don't use one. Plenty of people don't have bank accounts and lead fruitful lives.

World's Most Unbanked Countries 2021 - Global Finance Magazine

Hundreds of millions of people globally have no checking or savings bank account. Financial exclusion undermines their quality of life and hold their nations’ economies back.

gfmag.com

World’s Most Unbanked Countries

Country	Total Population (Millions)	Unbanked Population (%)	Cash Transactions (%)	Card Transactions (%)	# of ATMs per 100,000 Adults	Internet Penetration (%)
Morocco	36.9	71	41	27	28.6	62
Vietnam	97.3	69	26	35	25.9	66
Egypt	102.3	67	55	27	20.1	45
Philippines	109.6	66	37	22	29.0	60
Mexico	128.9	63	21	44	61.5	66
Nigeria	206.1	60	24	27	16.9	70
Peru	33.0	57	22	62	126.7	49
Colombia	50.9	54	15	55	41.3	62
Indonesia	273.5	51	13	34	53.3	55
Argentina	45.2	51	18	45	60.9	76
Kenya	53.8	44	40	25	7.7	83
Romania	19.2	42	78	19	64.4	64
Kazakhstan	18.8	41	60	20	85.9	76
Ukraine	43.7	37	60	28	96.3	57
Uruguay	3.5	36	26	53	120.1	68
South Africa	59.3	31	11	43	65.3	56
Turkey	84.3	31	8	71	84.0	65
Brazil	212.6	30	18	62	101.7	67
Bulgaria	7.0	28	63	26	94.3	63
Saudi Arabia	34.8	28	34	35	73.3	82
Chile	19.1	26	11	70	50.0	82
Hungary	9.7	25	45	44	61.0	77
Russia	145.9	24	17	37	165.5	76
India	1,380	20	17	32	21.0	34
China	1,439.3	20	6	22	95.6	54
Czech Republic	10.7	19	44	22	58.0	88
Thailand	69.8	18	16	26	115.1	53
Lithuania	2.7	17	12	24	38.6	78
Slovakia	5.5	16	41	17	61.8	82
Greece	10.4	15	29	54	63.4	70
Malaysia	32.4	15	11	32	44.7	80
Poland	37.9	13	12	25	70.6	76
Latvia	1.9	7	12	49	58.3	81
Israel	8.7	7	1	76	133.2	82
USA	331	7	4	59	N/A	89
Spain	46.8	6	11	49	106.3	85
France	65.3	6	5	55	98.3	90
Italy	60.5	6	5	55	98.3	90
Taiwan	23.8	6	12	42	N/A	88
South Korea	51.3	5	2	73	267.0	95
Hong Kong	7.5	5	2	73	53.2	89
UK	67.9	4	7	56	110.3	95
Estonia	1.3	2	12	21	66.9	88
Austria	9.0	2	4	28	172.0	88
Singapore	5.9	2	4	75	58.8	84
Japan	126.5	2	6	68	124.1	93
Switzerland	8.7	2	2	25	97.2	94
Germany	83.8	1	4	11	119.9	93
Belgium	11.6	1	6	51	81.0	88
New Zealand	4.8	1	3	55	63.5	91
Australia	25.5	0	5	53	146.1	88
Canada	37.7	0	3	73	214.1	93
Denmark	5.8	0	3	54	44.8	97
Netherlands	17.1	0	0	19	41.1	93
Finland	5.5	0	2	23	34.7	96
Sweden	10.1	0	2	46	31.9	96
Norway	5.4	0	3	50	31.6	97

 

[FREE CITIZEN]

If you can avoid using a bank in 2024 then don't use one. Plenty of people don't have bank accounts and lead fruitful lives.

World's Most Unbanked Countries 2021 - Global Finance Magazine

Hundreds of millions of people globally have no checking or savings bank account. Financial exclusion undermines their quality of life and hold their nations’ economies back.

gfmag.com

World’s Most Unbanked Countries

Country	Total Population (Millions)	Unbanked Population (%)	Cash Transactions (%)	Card Transactions (%)	# of ATMs per 100,000 Adults	Internet Penetration (%)
Morocco	36.9	71	41	27	28.6	62
Vietnam	97.3	69	26	35	25.9	66
Egypt	102.3	67	55	27	20.1	45
Philippines	109.6	66	37	22	29.0	60
Mexico	128.9	63	21	44	61.5	66
Nigeria	206.1	60	24	27	16.9	70
Peru	33.0	57	22	62	126.7	49
Colombia	50.9	54	15	55	41.3	62
Indonesia	273.5	51	13	34	53.3	55
Argentina	45.2	51	18	45	60.9	76
Kenya	53.8	44	40	25	7.7	83
Romania	19.2	42	78	19	64.4	64
Kazakhstan	18.8	41	60	20	85.9	76
Ukraine	43.7	37	60	28	96.3	57
Uruguay	3.5	36	26	53	120.1	68
South Africa	59.3	31	11	43	65.3	56
Turkey	84.3	31	8	71	84.0	65
Brazil	212.6	30	18	62	101.7	67
Bulgaria	7.0	28	63	26	94.3	63
Saudi Arabia	34.8	28	34	35	73.3	82
Chile	19.1	26	11	70	50.0	82
Hungary	9.7	25	45	44	61.0	77
Russia	145.9	24	17	37	165.5	76
India	1,380	20	17	32	21.0	34
China	1,439.3	20	6	22	95.6	54
Czech Republic	10.7	19	44	22	58.0	88
Thailand	69.8	18	16	26	115.1	53
Lithuania	2.7	17	12	24	38.6	78
Slovakia	5.5	16	41	17	61.8	82
Greece	10.4	15	29	54	63.4	70
Malaysia	32.4	15	11	32	44.7	80
Poland	37.9	13	12	25	70.6	76
Latvia	1.9	7	12	49	58.3	81
Israel	8.7	7	1	76	133.2	82
USA	331	7	4	59	N/A	89
Spain	46.8	6	11	49	106.3	85
France	65.3	6	5	55	98.3	90
Italy	60.5	6	5	55	98.3	90
Taiwan	23.8	6	12	42	N/A	88
South Korea	51.3	5	2	73	267.0	95
Hong Kong	7.5	5	2	73	53.2	89
UK	67.9	4	7	56	110.3	95
Estonia	1.3	2	12	21	66.9	88
Austria	9.0	2	4	28	172.0	88
Singapore	5.9	2	4	75	58.8	84
Japan	126.5	2	6	68	124.1	93
Switzerland	8.7	2	2	25	97.2	94
Germany	83.8	1	4	11	119.9	93
Belgium	11.6	1	6	51	81.0	88
New Zealand	4.8	1	3	55	63.5	91
Australia	25.5	0	5	53	146.1	88
Canada	37.7	0	3	73	214.1	93
Denmark	5.8	0	3	54	44.8	97
Netherlands	17.1	0	0	19	41.1	93
Finland	5.5	0	2	23	34.7	96
Sweden	10.1	0	2	46	31.9	96
Norway	5.4	0	3	50	31.6	97

How does one avoid using a bank in this day and age? Can you give some examples or scenarios? Crypto? Brokerage accounts?

 

[aniglo22]

How does one avoid using a bank in this day and age? Can you give some examples or scenarios? Crypto? Brokerage accounts?

Use cash only . You can arrange cash payment for rent and often you can pay cash for utilities in the branch office . And also you can use services like Barzahlen/viacash - Smart ways for cash to pay online bills with cash .

https://www.eon.de/de/pk/service/zahlhilfe/barzahlen.html

 

[daniels27]

Use cash only . You can arrange cash payment for rent and often you can pay cash for utilities in the branch office . And also you can use services like Barzahlen/viacash - Smart ways for cash to pay online bills with cash .

https://www.eon.de/de/pk/service/zahlhilfe/barzahlen.html

In many countries, but not Germany, you can even pay your bills at the counter if the bank. In other countries you can deposit money into somebody's bank account at the ATM. In Japan the only free way to pay into somebody's bank account is to pay at his bank branch in person.

You can do almost anything with cash if you are in the country in many places. Paying rent in Germany is an example which normally does not work as banks do not accept money from third parties.

 

[aniglo22]

In many countries, but not Germany, you can even pay your bills at the counter if the bank. In other countries you can deposit money into somebody's bank account at the ATM. In Japan the only free way to pay into somebody's bank account is to pay at his bank branch in person.

You can do almost anything with cash if you are in the country in many places. Paying rent in Germany is an example which normally does not work as banks do not accept money from third parties.

No I mean just arranging a cash payment with the owner in the Agreement(Mietvertrag)

 

[Vangor]

Not sure it will work, but if you use SOLO bank (which is technically still BoG), there you will have private bank manager, that at least will handle this issues for you.
It's not so costly, and gives some lounge access as well (if you travel)

 

[cryptofriendly]

Use cash only . You can arrange cash payment for rent and often you can pay cash for utilities in the branch office . And also you can use services like Barzahlen/viacash - Smart ways for cash to pay online bills with cash .

https://www.eon.de/de/pk/service/zahlhilfe/barzahlen.html

I am trying, but the last time I paid in cash for a flight I had a secondary screening and full body search.
Are there still travel agencies in western countries where you can buy a flight with cash (still ok here)?

 

[riir]

Not sure it will work, but if you use SOLO bank (which is technically still BoG), there you will have private bank manager, that at least will handle this issues for you.
It's not so costly, and gives some lounge access as well (if you travel)

That's the poing what I disappointed a lot, I'm their top-tier customer, and of course I have a private banker.

But so called 'private banker ' is really hard to get in touch, I don't know the reason but, I got a feeling he intenatioinally igrnoe me or something.

He said he would send my visa card thru a DHL for a month ago, But I still don't have a card yet.
He said he would figure out and text me as soon as possible, but he didn't send any message after that.
So disappointed.



Anyway, I got a message from BOG that my transaction can not be done because of their internal policy.

 

[Martin Everson]

How does one avoid using a bank in this day and age? Can you give some examples or scenarios? Crypto? Brokerage accounts?

Easy, as explained you use cash. Even in US many people work and hold down a job without having a bank account. They get a check from their boss and go to check cashing centers to cash their employment check. They can then also use cash re-loadable debit cards [you buy from corner shops etc] to get stuff online if needed.

When I used to live in Europe I went a short while without a bank account. I used local remittance shops to initiate international and local wire transfers if needed and prepaid debit cards etc I reloaded in local corner shops using cash. It's all very easy an common actually.

Crypto obviously helps in today's world. Brokerage accounts you can fund by debit-card like Saxobank etc if that's what you mean.

P.S Plenty of people get their salaries paid on a debit card. Many construction and road work firms that employ cheap migrant labors from eastern Europe used to do this in UK (before Brexit) and other countries etc.

Anyway lets keep to thread topic.

 

[daniels27]

I am trying, but the last time I paid in cash for a flight I had a secondary screening and full body search.
Are there still travel agencies in western countries where you can buy a flight with cash (still ok here)?

The ones at the airport normally take cash. Most often right next or behing the check-in counters.

Otherwise, you can often with travel agencies and then pay their bill at the bank / post office.

 

[janissary]

Not sure it will work, but if you use SOLO bank (which is technically still BoG), there you will have private bank manager, that at least will handle this issues for you.
It's not so costly, and gives some lounge access as well (if you travel)

What are the requirements for SOLO in terms of minimum assets under management/minimum deposit?

 

[riir]

What are the requirements for SOLO in terms of minimum assets under management/minimum deposit?

You would be shocked, about $4000 monthly income or $30000 deposit for a top tier SOLO
for a lower tier, Only $10000 or $2000 income will be sufficient