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Finance & Legal How to send money in the cheapest way from Europe

Discussion in 'Businesses - Services - Products' started by Justice911, Feb 13, 2018.

  1. OP
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    Justice911

    Justice911 DI Member Restricted Account Showcase Reviewer

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    Hi Forum members, I want to say a big Thank you to all of you, who tried to help, that my Filipina gets a German Bank-Account !!!!:happy::happy::happy:........I got many ideas....
    the idea to go to Germany, just to open a bank-account was not a good option for us, as we have 8 dogs, who love us (and vice versa) sooo much and it would be also too expensive and a Long-haul flight is not without risks.
    So I tried it with several banks and the difficulty was, the conservative ones, wanted the German Post Identification, other online-banks wanted the same as DKB and DKB does not take foreigners since years.
    But finally I came across N26, they have a very nice Support-Team and the good thing is, they have Debit-Cards, so no Finance-Check-Up is needed. And the Debit-Card does not charge foreign currency fees. Other banks charge 1,7 % and more. So I was happy to find this for my wife ....but....but....but the next problem came. The filipina must identify herself with a passport and this goes normally with Video-Ident per "IDnow"-Company, the business partner of N26. So I asked IDnow per email, if they accept Philippine Passports and they said "No sorry, they are not in our system". I was in rage and wrote "How can it be, that Mexico and Columbia and other countries which are infiltrated with money laundering, drug trafficking and drug gang warfare" are in your system and the Philippines with their new cleaning-up-President not?!"
    They answered "this in not a question how criminal a country is, it is a question how safe against counterfeiting the passports are". But I did not give up and nerved them until I finally got the information, that Philippine Passports issued after the middle of 2016 are in their system and they advised me their App from IDnow to make Video-Identification....but this App needs an Entrance-number given by the bank. So I asked N26, as their App offers to my wife only Post-ID in Germany, to give me such an Entrance-Number, but they did not give me. So I said to them, "how can it be, that your App does not offer Video-Ident to my wife and IDnow your business-partner does?" The answer was, "Because the Philippines are not in our system". So I said, how weard it is, that your business-partner has the Philippines (after 2016) in his Identification-System and N26 not.
    After some days I tried it again with the N26-App, because the no-reply-Newsletter nerved us alway with the demand to Identify and..........
    what a miracle, the N26-App suddenly offers Video-Ident for my wife....so the App connected directly to an employee of IDnow and he was very nice and identified the passport and my wife................uuuuuuuuuufffff :banghead::banghead::banghead: , this was a real Odyssey, but I did not give up and succeeded finally.

    Soon we will get the Debit-Master-Card to our German Address.
    Thanks again to all of You, who tried to help us.
     
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  2. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    I salute your determination and persistence - sometimes it is all we have available against bureaucracy.
     
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  3. scorpion1958

    scorpion1958 DI New Member

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    WESTERN UNION are more or less scammers, they take their shares from a lower Euro/PHP rate, I would not advise!
    I am now a happy User of Transferwise, they charge only 1% per transaction in total, the conversion rate is from the daily MidMarket rate. Also for any transfer they already predict the arrival at the destination with very high accuracy.
    For those who have no Bank account within the SEPA-Region (I am not sure if really Germany is required, since SEPA region is not considered as abroad within Europe), Transferwise has now started a new service called "Borderless account". Here is the screenshot of the FAQ page,
    pay attention to the red frame, I am certain the Customer support may also provide German Bank Data for your convenience. Good luck!

    Borderless.png
    transferwise.com
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2018
  4. scorpion1958

    scorpion1958 DI New Member

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    I have doubts about a joint account, most European Banks do not accept joint accounts for retirees since many partners cashed in after the main account holder had passed away for many months.
    Identification proof in Transferwise - was my Bank account in Austria, and my Philippine Alien Registration Card, uploaded to their website, in addition to a proof of address, in my case a physical Landline with Cruxtelco.
     
  5. scorpion1958

    scorpion1958 DI New Member

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    Joint accounts will not be accepted on retiree's accounts! History shows that many times surviving partners have cashed in up to one year after the account holders dead, so banks in most EU countries don't accept joint accounts, Solution hassle free = Transferwise borderless account
     
  6. scorpion1958

    scorpion1958 DI New Member

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    How unfortunate that most of the users here see only the own perspective and don't really read what you write. If you contact the transferwise support, connect first your own bank account with them, explain the whole story with the obstacles you and your wife are going through, they will most certainly find a solution for you, at least, they are very flexible if it comes to uploaded ID's and proof of adress, I have no doubts the borderless account will suit well for your needs.
    Regards
     
  7. scorpion1958

    scorpion1958 DI New Member

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    I hope the review stop blocking my replies here soon, you are highly in demand and the admins here simply disregard that urge too.
    AS I stated in multiple posts by now, Transferwise offers a borderless account, they provide bank account data for any place inside the SEPA-Zone, which I think is the most important thing for your wife. It comes for EURO with BIC and IBAN as a real physical account where she most certainly can receive the pension.
    Just be aware, that money transfer from Europe to the Philippines are only transferred to Peso accounts, not to Euro accounts. Anyway, that would be nonsense.
    Identification is no problem, those people are very comforting if it comes to ID's from the Philippines, and I assume, if you explain to their support team what's the case, I believe they are most eager to assist in any way. I also suggest, that you start to send your money from your account to the Philippines with Transferwise as well, so they get to know you both.
    again a screenshot from their FAQ's page Borderless.png
     
  8. Dave_Hounddriver

    Dave_Hounddriver DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster

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    I also use that company. They work well for me. But just because they are the right way for you and I does not mean other ways are wrong.
     
  9. OP
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    Justice911

    Justice911 DI Member Restricted Account Showcase Reviewer

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    Hi Scorpion, thank you for your suggestions, my wife got a good German-Account now at N26, Seat in Berlin, but I had to fight for it, because 99 Percent of the banks want to force you to show your face in a German Postal Office. And the good thing is, that the N26-Debit-Mastercard does not charge fees for foreign currencies.
    .........But what you said about the difficulty to send Euros to the Philippines is not right: If you have an Euro-Account for example at the Metrobank, you can transfer Euros from your German IBAN (Sepa)-Account to the Philippine Euro-Account...the transfer-fee for example for 9900 Euros is about 30 Euro at Commerzbank and DKB for example.
     
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