Wise account for Cyprus company - waitlist

[Jabbar]

I tried to set up a Wise account today for my company in Cyprus. During registration, I received information that:
"Due to high demand, we can't onboard business from this country right now. Join the waitlist, and we'll email you when you're able to sigh up"
Has anyone had a similar situation recently? Anyone know how much is in practice waiting on this waitlist?
Has anyone recently created an account on Revolut or is there a similar situation there too?

 

[Sols]

This is the case for a number of countries with Wise right now. I have heard about people who have been on the wait list for over a month, Cyprus and elsewhere.

 

[Jabbar]

do you think it's only like that on Wise? My second choice is Revoult, I wonder if it looks similar there. If it really lasted a month, it wouldn't be so bad

 

[Sols]

It's specific to Wise. Nothing stops you from going with one EMI now and Wise later when it's your turn in the wait list.

 

[Fred]

It's the same with Revolut for Cyprus & Malta.

Most likely becaue of pressure from the EU as Wise is Belgium based and Revolut Lithuania based.

I'm pretty much sure that they receive as by far the biggest EMI's in EU some pressure from the EU to not make it too easy for EU nationals switching there base to the islands - BoC and all Malta banks already reflect this since years.

Furthermore both relay on correspondence network and therefore you couldn't send with Cyprus Company USD with Wise since forever.

The best replacement if you deal with EUR is Paysera as they give you dedicated SEPA/SWIFT IBAN via TARGET2.

However when you deal with USD you can't work with EMI's as no other EMI actually really provides you with a facility like Revolut / Wise does.

You can only stick to a few high risk EMI's that charge you an Arm and a Leg for transfering around - see Wallter they have a St. Lucia based Correspondence Bank and chagre you flat % for incoming and outgoing up to 5%.

I have seen them recently being used by a lot of clients based on Cyprus switching to Dubai - as there is no other possibility actually for those opening Cyprus lately - Malta is already longer a problem - they stopped already in 2019/2020 onboarding Malta and now with the FATF grey listing it's even getting more worse.

A waitlist is always a nice looking excuse:

Take a look on moneynetint.com they have actually a waitlist as well but not because they want to - it's because there daughter company Globalnetint has regulator issues in Lithuania:

GlobalNetint, UAB

Our mission is to bring benefits to society while seeking to foster a reliable financial system and ensure sustainable economic growth.

www.lb.lt

payswix - connecting payments

Storing and sending funds have never been easier, so apply for your account now.

www.globalnetint.com

Ask yourself if you want to count on small islands in 2021.

I'm pretty sure like @Martin Everson said as well - Malta & Cyprus are easy targets to set an example from EU as they don't have any economy beside of getting you CySec CFD licenses & Gambling licenses.

 

[Member]

Buy a Ledger Nano, integrate cryptocurrency, be your own bank and have patience.

 

[Jabbar]

Info from Wise:

Unfortunately, due to high demand, we can't onboard businesses from some countries, including Cyprus, right now.

We would not have the ability to appropriately provide adequate service at this time.

We expect to be able to offer this again sometime in the future, but we don't have an exact time frame for this. I would personally estimate at least not for several months.

We're sorry that we are unable to help in this circumstance and we wish you the best for your business plan.

 

[Jabbar]

It's the same with Revolut for Cyprus & Malta.

Most likely becaue of pressure from the EU as Wise is Belgium based and Revolut Lithuania based.

I'm pretty much sure that they receive as by far the biggest EMI's in EU some pressure from the EU to not make it too easy for EU nationals switching there base to the islands - BoC and all Malta banks already reflect this since years.

Furthermore both relay on correspondence network and therefore you couldn't send with Cyprus Company USD with Wise since forever.

The best replacement if you deal with EUR is Paysera as they give you dedicated SEPA/SWIFT IBAN via TARGET2.

However when you deal with USD you can't work with EMI's as no other EMI actually really provides you with a facility like Revolut / Wise does.

You can only stick to a few high risk EMI's that charge you an Arm and a Leg for transfering around - see Wallter they have a St. Lucia based Correspondence Bank and chagre you flat % for incoming and outgoing up to 5%.

I have seen them recently being used by a lot of clients based on Cyprus switching to Dubai - as there is no other possibility actually for those opening Cyprus lately - Malta is already longer a problem - they stopped already in 2019/2020 onboarding Malta and now with the FATF grey listing it's even getting more worse.

A waitlist is always a nice looking excuse:

Take a look on moneynetint.com they have actually a waitlist as well but not because they want to - it's because there daughter company Globalnetint has regulator issues in Lithuania:

GlobalNetint, UAB

Our mission is to bring benefits to society while seeking to foster a reliable financial system and ensure sustainable economic growth.

www.lb.lt

payswix - connecting payments

Storing and sending funds have never been easier, so apply for your account now.

www.globalnetint.com

Ask yourself if you want to count on small islands in 2021.

I'm pretty sure like @Martin Everson said as well - Malta & Cyprus are easy targets to set an example from EU as they don't have any economy beside of getting you CySec CFD licenses & Gambling licenses.

why is paysera not subject to the same pressure as Wise or Revoult? just because it has fewer customers? it doesn't make any sense?
paysera only supports euro or you can also open a balance in USD?

 

[Fred]

why is paysera not subject to the same pressure as Wise or Revoult? just because it has fewer customers? it doesn't make any sense?
paysera only supports euro or you can also open a balance in USD?

Only dedicated EUR IBAN for SEPA/SWIFT payments.

You basically answered the question already to yourself - Paysera avoids USD and therefore they don't get the same pressure like Revolut and Wise - both Revolut and Wise operating in US.

I know it's surprisingly for you if you are new to the offshore space at all but USD was not working for Cyprus with Wise since forever and this below is just one of the reasons:

Banking and Shell companies in Cyprus - IBCCS TAX LTD

Despite its very favourable tax regime, Cyprus has successfully avoided being implicated as a tax heaven and maintains its place among the lawful jurisdictions for business development. Nevertheless, the Cypriot banking system continuous to be closely scrutinized in the international press...

ibccs.tax

Clarification on shell companies | Revised definition by the Central Bank of Cyprus | Article | Chambers and Partners

This Article gives an overview about "Clarification on shell companies | Revised definition by the Central Bank of Cyprus". Find out more on Chambers and Partners.

chambers.com

Cyprus simply considered for too long banking Belize etc companies so that US even responded with canceling US correspondence for the whole island in 2018.

 

[Jabbar]

Only dedicated EUR IBAN for SEPA/SWIFT payments.

You basically answered the question already to yourself - Paysera avoids USD and therefore they don't get the same pressure like Revolut and Wise - both Revolut and Wise operating in US.

I know it's surprisingly for you if you are new to the offshore space at all but USD was not working for Cyprus with Wise since forever and this below is just one of the reasons:

Banking and Shell companies in Cyprus - IBCCS TAX LTD

Despite its very favourable tax regime, Cyprus has successfully avoided being implicated as a tax heaven and maintains its place among the lawful jurisdictions for business development. Nevertheless, the Cypriot banking system continuous to be closely scrutinized in the international press...

ibccs.tax

Clarification on shell companies | Revised definition by the Central Bank of Cyprus | Article | Chambers and Partners

This Article gives an overview about "Clarification on shell companies | Revised definition by the Central Bank of Cyprus". Find out more on Chambers and Partners.

chambers.com

Cyprus simply considered for too long banking Belize etc companies so that US even responded with canceling US correspondence for the whole island in 2018.

ok thanks
I have the option to open an account directly with a hellenic bank in cyprus and maybe it will be the best solution. the only problem is the long waiting time to open accounts and high fees. Alternatively, I will consider Paysera

 

[AMD]

I have the option to open an account directly with a hellenic bank in cyprus and maybe it will be the best solution.

it will work well as long as you always have invoices to backup each transaction you are doing.

 

[JohnLocke]

it will work well as long as you always have invoices to backup each transaction you are doing.

It's paramount to always have your documents in place. Invoices are some of the most important to generate for each incoming transaction you receive on your account.

That does not only apply for EMI's but as well for bank account's.

 

[RedSquirrel]

WorldFirst is good - been using it for over a year and very good experience

 

[spepe]

Hi everyone, I've been on the waitlist for two weeks already. Same CY LTD, but already client with them from my previous Delaware Corp

 

[EliasIT]

Hi everyone, I've been on the waitlist for two weeks already. Same CY LTD, but already client with them from my previous Delaware Corp

WAIT List for your CY company or why wait ?

 

[backpacker]

Only dedicated EUR IBAN for SEPA/SWIFT payments.

You basically answered the question already to yourself - Paysera avoids USD and therefore they don't get the same pressure like Revolut and Wise - both Revolut and Wise operating in US.

I know it's surprisingly for you if you are new to the offshore space at all but USD was not working for Cyprus with Wise since forever and this below is just one of the reasons:

Banking and Shell companies in Cyprus - IBCCS TAX LTD

Despite its very favourable tax regime, Cyprus has successfully avoided being implicated as a tax heaven and maintains its place among the lawful jurisdictions for business development. Nevertheless, the Cypriot banking system continuous to be closely scrutinized in the international press...

ibccs.tax

Clarification on shell companies | Revised definition by the Central Bank of Cyprus | Article | Chambers and Partners

This Article gives an overview about "Clarification on shell companies | Revised definition by the Central Bank of Cyprus". Find out more on Chambers and Partners.

chambers.com

Cyprus simply considered for too long banking Belize etc companies so that US even responded with canceling US correspondence for the whole island in 2018.

Even as an ordinary private customer (a simple retiree without any business) you can not transact in USD via Wise when being a resident of Cyprus. @Fred mentioned the reasons, which are applicable for both, private- and business clients.
The elite which is still allowed to transact in the almighty US-Dollar is listed here -> https://wise.com/help/articles/3MObHiWysjT2DzDNHTupa4/what-countries-can-i-receive-usd-from?

 

[Sols]

Even as an ordinary private customer (a simple retiree without any business) you can not transact in USD via Wise when being a resident of Cyprus. @Fred mentioned the reasons, which are applicable for both, private- and business clients.

That is not entirely correct.

Wise has had USD for Cyprus (individuals and companies) for many quite a while now. You get local bank details like they have for GBP in UK, SGD in Singapore, and so on. The account cannot be used to send or receive SWIFT in USD, though. It only works for domestic transactions in the US. If you need to send USD out, you'll need to convert to another currency first which is certainly not ideal.

So it depends on your use case.

The elite which is still allowed to transact in the almighty US-Dollar is listed here -> https://wise.com/help/articles/3MObHiWysjT2DzDNHTupa4/what-countries-can-i-receive-usd-from?

Can I get USD account details? | Wise Help Centre

It depends on your registered address. You won't be able to get USD account details if your registered address is in one of the countries where we don't have balances yet. You can find the full l...

wise.com

 

[backpacker]

That is not entirely correct.

Wise has had USD for Cyprus (individuals and companies) for many quite a while now. You get local bank details like they have for GBP in UK, SGD in Singapore, and so on. The account cannot be used to send or receive SWIFT in USD, though. It only works for domestic transactions in the US. If you need to send USD out, you'll need to convert to another currency first which is certainly not ideal.

So it depends on your use case.

Can I get USD account details? | Wise Help Centre

It depends on your registered address. You won't be able to get USD account details if your registered address is in one of the countries where we don't have balances yet. You can find the full l...

wise.com

Of course, Cyprus is not in the same sad league like Malaysia or India (funny that Wise does not allow USD acc. for these jurisdictions). However, if I can only receive USD, I am not able to (properly) transact in USD. As you already mentioned, it requires me to convert my USD in another currency and then proceed with the transaction.
Not sure how others see it but for me this classifies as a heavily restricted account with which I am unable to fulfil a transaction properly.
It also begs the question: If somebody sends me USD from inside the US, can I pay another person within the US via ACH? I did not try this but I guess the answer is No because all outgoing USD transactions (not only USD SWIFT) are blocked.

 

[Sols]

It seems that you can send USD from Wise from Cyprus, within and outside of US. The limitation is just that you cannot receive USD from outside US.

https://wise.com/help/articles/2946451/sending-usd-to-countries-outside-the-us

What countries/regions can I send USD to via Swift? | Wise Help Centre

With Wise, you can send USD to bank accounts located outside of the United States that are also in USD. We send these transfers via the Swift payment messaging network. It’s not the same as sendin...

wise.com

 

[spepe]

WAIT List for your CY company or why wait ?

I'm a long-time customer (around six years), with both my personal and US company accounts on Wise. I tried to add my new company (CY Limited) and I've been put on the waitlist...