Offshore Banking

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Oceanmaid
Bilge Dweller
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Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:23 pm

Offshore Banking

Post by Oceanmaid »

Anybody got any experience with this kind of thing?

I have been working internationally for 3 months and have discovered all sorts of issues.
The latest one being a locked bank account due to an international money transfer
and then being required to phone them when its convienient for them,
not me.

So perhaps and international bank account may make my life easier.
Anybody got any recommendations?
Bad experiences?
Things to watch out for?

Thanks a bunch.
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JollyJack
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Re: Offshore Banking

Post by JollyJack »

I have banked offshore with Lloyds TSB in the Isle of Man and with Barclays in the Channel Islands. I had a Visa debit card with Lloyds, accessible world wide, no problems at all. Their "Overseas Club" was very helpful whenever I wanted help. On line banking and 24/7 telephone assistance if required.

Barclays, on the other hand, conveniently "lost" a couple of thousand of my pounds. They worked "bankers hours" and would not accept collect calls, the epitome of an arrogant British bank dealing with the "great unwashed".

That's my experience anyway.

Caveat Emptor!
Discourage incest, ban country "music".
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The Dieselduck
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Re: Offshore Banking

Post by The Dieselduck »

Banking is an issue when working abroad. When I was doing it, we had a US Money checking account with CIBC with US Visa credit card attached to it. The credit card rating helped with the long holding of Money Orders. Money orders are aparently quite easy to fake, so banks use that excuse to make you wait forever; but if you have some kind of credit attached to it, and you know the Money Order is legit, then no worries for you, they have no excuse to hold the money, since they gave you credit.

The US account was free, but there was a withdrawal fee of 0.75 cents per instance. The US Visa was 40 bucks a year, and most of my purchases were made on this. On cruise ships each $100 money order cost $1 buck to generate, but it was the easiest and most easy to send money home.

The exchange rate when withdrawing fluctuated, so we had to make sure we got the best rate (checking - set daily, cash - set hourly). Everybody tries to get their hand in your pocket with this money moving business. F^&%ing leaches. So you have to be careful to minimize the amount of time you exchange money, they ding you at least %2 everytime, so be aware. Overall we were losing about 2% in getting money home. Keeping the US Visa and US checking in US dollar account was good in preventing these exchanges of money = losing your 2-3 percent each time.
Martin Leduc
Certified Marine Engineer and Webmaster
Martin's Marine Engineering Page
http://www.dieselduck.net
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