What about the small matter of currency fluctuation risks? And the possibility that deposit interest from offshore accounts may be assessable for income tax rather than just DIRT?
Is it that easy to open an account in another country? Don't you need proof of address and suchlike?
Sprite
When you apply online for Rabo, you have to send in proof of identity and address with your documentation if you are a new customer - no? You do for Northern Rock. Would be stunned if the same wasn't true for Rabo.
Sprite
Where? Are you sure that no terms & conditions apply that might restrict the availability of such accounts?Well for Rabobank (who only offer online banking in Ireland) you just apply online, fill in some documentation and post it off to them! No need to do it in person.
The point about proof of address is that you have to be resident in the country you are opening an account. For e.g. you can't open an account in AIB in Ireland if you live in Germany. Don't know about other countries though but would imagine that you need a residential address in the country in which you are seeking to open a bank account. One "exception" I know of is that you can open a US$ (and presumably other currencies) account here but you will only get US interest rates, which are significantly lower than here. Never heard of e.g. opening a NZ$ account with a bank here, although I realise this is prob not what you are hoping to do.
Sprite
the banks insist on you being resident here for anti-money-laundering requirements. I'd be really amazed (and am prepared to be amazed!) if you could open an account in a foreign country for a normal savings account without being resident there.
Sprite
http://www.swissbanking.org/en/home/faq-kontoeroeffnung.htm
Whatever about whether or not you can open a foreign or foreign currency denominated bank account do you accept the cons involved in chasing higher interest rates in foreign currency denominated bank accounts as outlined above?
I suspect that the cons and risks will outweigh the pros in most or all cases. Have you checked out the tax issues?But do you accept my premise that there must be higher rates out there, and depending on the rate, how much you can lodge per yr, currency used, etc, such a foreign account would be worth investing in?
Feel free to collate and maintain such a list yourself and we can stick it up as a key post.I'm surprised there isn't a list of great worldwide rates anywhere...
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