Offshore Debit Cards

[ChiangMaiThai]

Does anyone have any experience with offshore debit cards? eg. funds are wired to a company/bank who then mails you a visa debit/check/electron etc. card for worldwide use. Looking for a reliable and affordable provider.

[12call]

What company is offering??? Probably a scam.

[ChiangMaiThai]

There's dozens and dozens all over the world. Certainly there must be some scams, thus my post. But its a normal practice and completely legal as long as the income has been reported to your government...

I prefer to go with a more reputable and well established provider. And of course everyone on the internet tells you they are reputable and established.

[12call]

Why not open an Offshore Bank Account (online) and get your Plus/Cirrus Debit Card by post?

[12call]

over

[ChiangMaiThai]

Why not open an Offshore Bank Account (online) and get your Plus/Cirrus Debit Card by post?

Apparently some of the more reputable banks don't supply Visa Debit cards for corporate accounts. Finding a bank that did would obviously be the best way, but some things are out of my control.

Are there any offshore banks that let you open an account online? the reputable banks require full documentation and some even want to meet you. the whole process can take a month...

[davee58]

Why does it have to be an offshore account ?

Why does it have to be a company account ?

Where do you want to open it ?

Are you trading online ? It might be better to get a paypal account or similar.

Why do you need access to the funds using a VISA/ATM card ?

Are you aware of the total hidden cost of doing a foreign currency ATM withdrawal from a USD or other currency account. This can range from very little, to several percent, when various charges are taken into consideration.

If I withdraw baht in Thailand from my GBP accounts:

One of my UK banks charges me about 5% in total hidden fees.

My Citibank UK bank charges about 2% in hidden fees, from non-Citibank ATM.

Citibank charges less than 1% if I use a Citibank ATM.

Don't forget that there are many controls these days to prevent money laundering. Many of these controls can make it very difficult for you to open an account, even for legitimate purposes, as I assume yours are. The best place to open an account depends upon your country of residency, and where the bank is based.

It might be best to go for a reliable international bank like Citibank, HSBC etc, they will demand full proof of your identity, certified copy of your passport, proof of residential address, proof of income, a reference from your current bank, details of your credit history etc.

Why not see whether your regular bank can provide recommendations, and a reference to their offshore division.

[krangol]

There are a lot of scams but some companies can now open accounts for you by post. Secure credit cards are easy to get as you have to deposit some money before you can use them. You send the money direct to the bank not the company.

I opened a UK business account and a Euro account with a mastercard. I had to send my ID but theres no credit check.

Have a look here

Bank Wizard

[Khun ?]

Wait till you have a problem with offshore banking. They will want certified copies of everything with original signature, it will take you months dealing with problems.

I pay U.S. $1 for each withdrawl with Citibank at any ATM overseas, or at least so far that has been the case. In the U.S. I pay whatever the ATM of the bank charges which is normally more than$1 and they have small limits that can be withdrawn. A phone call normally corrects any problems. If you are self employeed overseas you will have the normal tax exempt status. If you are trying to do business back home from overseas I am

quite sure the tax codes apply. Your benefits are at risk so be carful. Doing business between 2 individuals of the U.S. also may be a taxable status.

[ZZZ]

Most banks can arrange offshore debit cards, check with the bank you normally deal with.

Have a look at www.loyalbank.com , not using them myself so can not comment.

[roamer]

Here is one, never tried it. Here. I think Asia debit also have a hook up with something similar but can't find it.

[somtaamgaiyang]

Many many in the Channel Islands. Just check the various charging structures for the cards that they offer on cash transactions from ATM's for example. They vary massively. All the major high street banks in the UK have offshore arms dotted around Isle of Man and Channel Islands and most of them can be found on the internet.

Regards,

STGY

[ChiangMaiThai]

Why does it have to be an offshore account ?

Why does it have to be a company account ?

Where do you want to open it ?

Are you trading online ? It might be better to get a paypal account or similar.

Why do you need access to the funds using a VISA/ATM card ?

Are you aware of the total hidden cost of doing a foreign currency ATM withdrawal from a USD or other currency account. This can range from very little, to several percent, when various charges are taken into consideration.

If I withdraw baht in Thailand from my GBP accounts:

One of my UK banks charges me about 5% in total hidden fees.

My Citibank UK bank charges about 2% in hidden fees, from non-Citibank ATM.

Citibank charges less than 1% if I use a Citibank ATM.

Don't forget that there are many controls these days to prevent money laundering. Many of these controls can make it very difficult for you to open an account, even for legitimate purposes, as I assume yours are. The best place to open an account depends upon your country of residency, and where the bank is based.

It might be best to go for a reliable international bank like Citibank, HSBC etc, they will demand full proof of your identity, certified copy of your passport, proof of residential address, proof of income, a reference from your current bank, details of your credit history etc.

Why not see whether your regular bank can provide recommendations, and a reference to their offshore division.

Thanks for all the responses.

There are various reasons that I prefer to have an offshore account. I won't go into them here...(I will say that I don't trust my money in a US account) although I am completely legit.

It has to be a company account because its the company's money.

Without Visa/ATM how do I conduct business? Every time I need to pay for supplies or services I wire money or send an international check? I don't think so.

I wasn't aware of the high fees involved with foreign currency transactions. Is there any way around them or is there little we can do if we want convenience?

Thanks again for the replies. I will let you know what I finally come across.

[ChiangMaiThai]

There are a lot of scams but some companies can now open accounts for you by post. Secure credit cards are easy to get as you have to deposit some money before you can use them. You send the money direct to the bank not the company.

I opened a UK business account and a Euro account with a mastercard. I had to send my ID but theres no credit check.

Have a look here

Bank Wizard

I've taken a look at the site. Can you let me know exactly whioch product you chose and what kind of fees you pay when you go to the ATM or make a purchase here?

[john b good]

Why not open an Offshore Bank Account (online) and get your Plus/Cirrus Debit Card by post?

get your Plus/Cirrus Debit Card by post?

That in itself might not be so easy if you are in Thailand as most card providers won't even courier a card to Thailand let alone post them as they would generally do.

I wonder why this is so!!?? You don't really need to be Einstien to answer that do we.

[12call]

Organization:

epassporte, N.V.

Gregory Elias

Landhuis Joonchi - Kaya Richard J. Beaujon z/n

P.O. Box 837, Curacao

AN

Phone: 599-9-7366277

Fax..: 599-9-7366161

Email: [email protected]

Registrar Name....: Register.com

Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com

Registrar Homepage: http://www.register.com

Domain Name: EPASSPORTE.COM

Created on..............: Thu, Mar 21, 2002

Expires on..............: Fri, Mar 21, 2008

Record last updated on..: Thu, Mar 06, 2003

Administrative Contact:

epassporte, N.V.

Gregory Elias

Landhuis Joonchi - Kaya Richard J. Beaujon z/n

P.O. Box 837, Curacao

AN

Phone: 599-9-7366277

Fax..: 599-9-7366161

Email: [email protected]

Technical Contact:

epassporte, N.V.

Gregory Elias

Landhuis Joonchi - Kaya Richard J. Beaujon z/n

P.O. Box 837, Curacao

AN

Phone: 599-9-7366277

Fax..: 599-9-7366161

Email: [email protected]

Zone Contact:

epassporte, N.V.

Gregory Elias

Landhuis Joonchi - Kaya Richard J. Beaujon z/n

P.O. Box 837, Curacao

AN

Phone: 599-9-7366277

Fax..: 599-9-7366161

Email: [email protected]

[ChiangMaiThai]

What do you think, is sending your money to this epassporte.com place taking a risk? A PO Box in Curacao. Hmm.

I find it quite interesting that nowhere in their site is there a list of fees. I imagine they're not doing it for free...

[ChiangMaiThai]

Okay, I'll send them a million baht and see what happens.

[Davidcharles]

By November 2004 I hope to be living with my Thai wife in our house in Pattaya.

I am thinking of having my State Pension paid into my UK Nationwide Flexaccount, as they do not charge you for using your debit Card overseas.

But what will the exchange rate be, if say, I draw Bahts from a Bangkok Bank ATM ?

Will it be BBk's Sterling/Baht rate at that time? Or Nationwide's rate???

Also I have some capital that I want to get a decent return on, in an Off Shore

Account. But I must be able to draw on it if necessary.

Any of you guys, got a good off shore Bank Account ?

Thanks in anticipation of the usual good advice.......