Yada Yada / The Off Topic Arena

I'm not playing any one's game. Actually, I do have more important things to do that I neglected out of boredom. Thanks for the appreciatuve ratings! God bless you all!

 

@Show Pony said it all - I'm a biologist and we are all the same inside! Most aliens are here because they actually like the VERY BEAUTIFUL skin colour - something white people spend billions a year FAILING to achieve.

 

Please just move on and let this go. We both have better things to do, let's go do those things.
Will it be OK to get back to the subject of the Bamboo Hut and the various other building methods here in the Philippines, this seems to have an interest from many here on DI?

 

I noticed your occupation, now says FIRE. Does that mean you are retired or just working to be FIREd?

 

I tried to get a credit card through an online bank - I had hoped it was a virtual one - but they still asked for my UK address (don't have one).

Is there any way an 'alien' here can get a (purely) online bank account without needing a home country address or can get a virtual credit/debit card (I found one but it is for US citizens only)?

 

I don't think it is possible to register an account from outside Europe. I have friends in Thailand that could not get an account from there. 2 of them left Thailand due to the pandemic and went back to Europe, got an account with Revolut and are now going back to Thailand. They will be able to use all the benefits within the account. I now do all financial transactions via the Visa card and the app, both incoming and outgoing money. Cancelled all other bank accounts.

 

Revolut fan as well, but I'd never rely on a single bank account. Especially these new style "fintech" companies are quick with denying transactions they (or, more correctly, the software they run) deem inappropriate for whatever reason.

Didn't have any unpleasant experiences with revolut yet, but transferwise has a talent to always hold the urgent transfers for "further investigation".

I'll hold on to my "real" European bank accounts, and I have a local bank account here as well, which is used mostly for getting cash without any fees. No need to break a sweat for 50k, that's one trip to the ATM. Money goes in via transferwise or revolut so there's no or minimal fees and no exchange rate ripoff on that side as well.

 

I tend to agree with most of it, although I have had a Revolut account now for 5 years, my salary goes straight there and soon my pension will too. I never had a single problem with them so far and now with their rather new EU set-up in Lithuania they are operating as any other authorized bank operator. I might open an account in The Phil's as soon as they let me in but it will surely be a "reserve" one.