Moving Money To A Bank Abroad

yourname

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If I wanted to open a bank account in another country, would there be any issues as an Irish Citizen opening an account in another EU country? I.e Germany. I am not going to have an address in that country.

Also, would anyone have any recommendations on where to open? I would just like to diversify my monies location .
 
Banks are not currently required to open an account for anyone and can use residence as a reason not to. Having said that, most German high street banks will open an account with a Passport and some Irish utility bills (or preferably bank statements for your Irish bank). The likes of the Sparkasse will probably be the easiest as they are required to open accounts for anyone that wants one, even if they are not the sort of customer the other banks would want.

You will have to visit Germany in person to open an account with them.
You could try your luck with my bank, DKB.de, if you can at least read German. You can theoretically prove your identity to them using a notary in Ireland (or your own bank can stamp the forms if they will oblige!). Their target foreign audience is German expats though, so your mileage may vary! They have a bit of a reputation for refusing people even resident in Germany, but if you manage to open an account with them you won't be disappointed. Good service and absolutely no fees. You can even withdraw cash worldwide for nothing (even at those awful private ATMs in the states that charge you a few dollars..if you keep the receipt DKB will reimburse!).
 
Thanks for your help.

Do you know of any bank's that will accept an account opening remotely?

Most EU countries would be acceptable, UK even.
 
Thanks for your help.

Do you know of any bank's that will accept an account opening remotely?

Most EU countries would be acceptable, UK even.

Banks are required to follow strict anti money laundring practices when opening accounts, one of which is that they meet the person in person before opening the account. So I doubt you will find a reputable bank that will be willing to open an account for you without a meeting. And I have to say I'd be concerned about putting my money in a bank that was happy to ignore such procedures.
 
Bank abroad

I have used Lloyds-TSB who offer an offshore account when I was travelling and working abroad. Theres a bit of paperwork, due to moneylaundering checks, some notarised paperwork and copies, but it can all be done by post, email and telephone from Ireland and you can use an irish address for corrrespondence and statements. You can get 3 accounts with 3 debit cards £ $ and Euro and pay one fee (Eur 20 per month altogether). Min balance in any account of £2500 equivalent for no monthly standing fee.
John
 
Banks are required to follow strict anti money laundring practices when opening accounts, one of which is that they meet the person in person before opening the account. So I doubt you will find a reputable bank that will be willing to open an account for you without a meeting. And I have to say I'd be concerned about putting my money in a bank that was happy to ignore such procedures.

Now where are you getting the personal meeting from? Maybe that is the case in Switzerland but not in most countries of the EU.

There are plenty of banks out there that will open an account via postal services if they can identify the person opening and validate the address used. This can be authentication by a partner bank or notarized copies of identification papers etc. There is no requirement to have a face to face.

In fact my German bank account was opened without a face to face because I went into a German post office and did the identification procedure there. They don't even have real branches anywhere anymore so it's mostly done the postal way.

So did my UK bank, which is the same as JMJR, all by post with a passport certified in the way they required.
 
Yep. German online banks will open using the postIdent process within Germany and using other methods such as identity verification by existing bank or notary for non-German residents,
 
Now where are you getting the personal meeting from? Maybe that is the case in Switzerland but not in most countries of the EU.

EU directive on KYU and yes I'm aware that certain German banks, including one of the very big ones, are willing to accept third party validation of identity, most often by the German Post. However this is not considered to be within the spirit of the directive and as I already said, I for one would be uncomfortable about putting my money on deposit with such a bank.
 
Key Trade in Belgium allow Irish residents open a bank account remotely. They offer 'current accounts' to Irish customers but do not offer a debit card to Irish residents.

Used them as well and had no problems.Customer care was also very efficient when I needed them.
 
Hello,

BNP in France and NatWest in UK both seem happy enough to provide bank accounts, cards and even credit limits to non residents once relevant paperwork is provided. Granted, both accounts were opened a few years ago so their policies may have changed a little since ....
 
Dutch banks RaboDirect and ING also use PostIdent in Germany. To be honest a clerk on a post office counter is just as capable of "verifying" the ID of a person as a clerk in the bank itself. They just look at the picture and take a sample of the handwriting. A good fake passport or ID card will not be spotted by a clerk in the bank any faster than the clerk in the post office.
 
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