EMI recommendation for travel agency

[WGWORLD]

Hello,

Not sure it's the right forum, but ..
I have a relatively large travel agency in Peru. Legal, audited, IATA member, etc... Unfortunately level of banking services provided by Peruvian banks is not the best. Even in BBVA where we have account.
So we're starting to look in EMI direction. The list of requirements is as follows:
- multi currency (EUR,USD,CLP,ZAR,ARS,MXN... etc etc..)
- SEPA/SWIFT. Having ACH option is a bonus
- cards. multiple debit cards with large single transaction limit (at least $10K). 3DS support.
- decent app to be used on the road
- fees not too high

is there anything like that on the market?
Would appreciate your recommendations.

 

[Sols]

Travel agents are often classified as high-risk, which unfortunately makes this even harder, and a lot of companies that offer some or all of these services don't take Peruvian companies.

You can try 3s.Money, Airwallex, Currenxie, OFX, and TransferMate. None of them offer cards, so you'll need to get a card somewhere else.

 

[ilke]

Travel agents are often classified as high-risk, which unfortunately makes this even harder, and a lot of companies that offer some or all of these services don't take Peruvian companies.

You can try 3s.Money, Airwallex, Currenxie, OFX, and TransferMate. None of them offer cards, so you'll need to get a card somewhere else.

Airwallex does offer cards and they are very good, you can make 4 for free and they even work with Apple Pay and Google Pay, which is pretty uncommon for EMIs. But, according to their contracting entities list, they don't take Peruvian companies.

I guess 3smoney would work for this, but the costs are pretty high.

 

[Clearsky Network]

Consider establishing a representative EU company. I dont think with current structure you will find a good EMI if any.

 

[WGWORLD]

Consider establishing a representative EU company. I dont think with current structure you will find a good EMI if any.

Thanks for the tip. Why EU entity would be better for that purpose, than US one? Which EMI would you recommend for such entity, given our requirements?
Indeed, opening foreign EMI/bank accounts for a Peruvian company is not easy.

 

[Clearsky Network]

Thanks for the tip. Why EU entity would be better for that purpose, than US one? Which EMI would you recommend for such entity, given our requirements?
Indeed, opening foreign EMI/bank accounts for a Peruvian company is not easy.

The majority of the good EMIs are UK or EU licensed. Most of them do not want to deal with US companies. Therefore, i would go for a EU company and open an account that supports SEPA and SWIFT.

 

[Forester]

Not sure it's the right forum

It is...

Travel agents are often classified as high-risk, which unfortunately makes this even harder, and a lot of companies that offer some or all of these services don't take Peruvian companies.

You can try 3s.Money, Airwallex, Currenxie, OFX, and TransferMate. None of them offer cards, so you'll need to get a card somewhere else.

I would just add Verifo to the list above. (They are open-minded and a lot of things is negotiable; and even are issuing cards. SWIFT can be problematic, though.)
And if you get just banking somewhere, you can get cards from Soldo or Wallester...

Consider establishing a representative EU company. I dont think with current structure you will find a good EMI if any.

A good idea in general...

The majority of the good EMIs are UK or EU licensed. Most of them do not want to deal with US companies. Therefore, i would go for a EU company and open an account that supports SEPA and SWIFT.

Yes, OK. And what about a US Ltd and connected banking?

More generally:
You have a Peruvian travel agency, @WGWORLD. Are you in an incoming or in an outgoing travel business? In any case, it's probable/possible that you have some prevailing destination(s) (incoming or outgoing, it does not matter, in fact). What about to consider to establish your representative company there? You have clear business ties to this country, so opening a bank account can be much less problematic than anywhere else... (Of course this is not a good idea if the destination/s/ are “problematic” coutries but...)

 

[WGWORLD]

It is...

I would just add Verifo to the list above. (They are open-minded and a lot of things is negotiable; and even are issuing cards. SWIFT can be problematic, though.)
And if you get just banking somewhere, you can get cards from Soldo or Wallester...

A good idea in general...

Yes, OK. And what about a US Ltd and connected banking?

More generally:
You have a Peruvian travel agency, @WGWORLD. Are you in an incoming or in an outgoing travel business? In any case, it's probable/possible that you have some prevailing destination(s) (incoming or outgoing, it does not matter, in fact). What about to consider to establish your representative company there? You have clear business ties to this country, so opening a bank account can be much less problematic than anywhere else... (Of course this is not a good idea if the destination/s/ are “problematic” coutries but...)

Thank you for the tips and ideas. We're incoming travel operator, with focus on South America and Africa. As I mentioned, we do have a presence in Peru, and have bank accounts here, but are extremely dissatisfied by the level of service. Faling card transactions, expensive SWIFT, no multi-currency, non-functional mobile apps, etc, you name it. I suspect in other countries that we target (maybe with the exception of South Africa), the situation would be similar. Establishing an EU entity sounds like a good idea, so I think we'll go that way. List of provided EMIs also looks interesting. I'll check them up.

 

[Clearsky Network]

It is...

I would just add Verifo to the list above. (They are open-minded and a lot of things is negotiable; and even are issuing cards. SWIFT can be problematic, though.)
And if you get just banking somewhere, you can get cards from Soldo or Wallester...

A good idea in general...

Yes, OK. And what about a US Ltd and connected banking?

More generally:
You have a Peruvian travel agency, @WGWORLD. Are you in an incoming or in an outgoing travel business? In any case, it's probable/possible that you have some prevailing destination(s) (incoming or outgoing, it does not matter, in fact). What about to consider to establish your representative company there? You have clear business ties to this country, so opening a bank account can be much less problematic than anywhere else... (Of course this is not a good idea if the destination/s/ are “problematic” coutries but...)

1. I dont have enough experience working with US entities, therefore, cant advise
2. Majority of EU and UK licensed EMIs do not want to onboard US companies

 

[Forester]

Thank you for the tips and ideas.

You are welcome.

We're incoming travel operator, with focus on South America and Africa. As I mentioned, we do have a presence in Peru, and have bank accounts here, but are extremely dissatisfied by the level of service. Faling card transactions, expensive SWIFT, no multi-currency, non-functional mobile apps, etc, you name it. I suspect in other countries that we target (maybe with the exception of South Africa), the situation would be similar.

I understand and agree – nevertheless, South Africa seems like a viable option for me (or e.g. Mauritius). E.g. with Standard Bank you can be fine, IMO – and not only with them; banking in Africa need not be so horrible as it seems. Check e.g. discussion here African banks .

Establishing an EU entity sounds like a good idea,

Well, at the first glance – yes; but when I am thinking about it, I see that
– if you have no real business presence in the selected European country, opening a business account can be difficult in your case; I do not say impossible but you are a little bit in a danger of being trapped as an offshore company with no bank account...
– the European (especially EU) conditions for running/registering a travel agency are quite harsh: obligatory insurance with a big deposit etc...

so I think we'll go that way.

It's up to you, of course

List of provided EMIs also looks interesting. I'll check them up.

Good luck!

1. I dont have enough experience working with US entities, therefore, cant advise

Thumbs up!

2. Majority of EU and UK licensed EMIs do not want to onboard US companies

Very true. But see above re: Europa...

 

[WGWORLD]

You are welcome.

I understand and agree – nevertheless, South Africa seems like a viable option for me (or e.g. Mauritius). E.g. with Standard Bank you can be fine, IMO – and not only with them; banking in Africa need not be so horrible as it seems. Check e.g. discussion here African banks .

Well, at the first glance – yes; but when I am thinking about it, I see that
– if you have no real business presence in the selected European country, opening a business account can be difficult in your case; I do not say impossible but you are a little bit in a danger of being trapped as an offshore company with no bank account...
– the European (especially EU) conditions for running/registering a travel agency are quite harsh: obligatory insurance with a big deposit etc...

It's up to you, of course

Good luck!

Thumbs up!

Very true. But see above re: Europa...

Actually we do have a lot of clients from Europe, never thought it would make any difference. However, opening an EU entity, even with bank account, would drag us into "licensing territory" in the EU, and this is the last thing we want at this point.
Oh well, can't have it all. We've opened a WISE account. Works fine, but no cards for Peruvian entities. Soldo and Wallester wan't onboard a Peruvian entity either (i doubt if they can find Peru on the map at all).

 

[Forester]

Actually we do have a lot of clients from Europe, never thought it would make any difference.

I think it would...

However, opening an EU entity, even with bank account, would drag us into "licensing territory" in the EU, and this is the last thing we want at this point.

I understand fully...

We've opened a WISE account. Works fine, but no cards for Peruvian entities.

Well, congrats – but be careful. Beware of Wise – at least, never keep with them a substantial part of your resources. The transactions can (and will) run smoothly – until it stops. Wise (as well as Revolut, BTW) is well known to have one pitfall: Closing the (especially business) accounts without any warning or notice, without any reasonable explanation and freezing the cash for undefined time. Yes, it is true that a big, even perhaps major part of horror stories that you can read here and elsewhere (you can search) is de facto concerning an account misuse or abuse; but it is not always so. There is really a very remarkable number of cases where their AI machine just makes a false deduction / misinterprets data (or/and some poorly paid trained monkey at the first line of compliance departement does the same); and the dispute takes eons. Yes, AFAIK, nobody lost the money, finally they return it to the owner but even freezing your cash for some months can ruin your life and/or business perfectly.
Of course, it can happen with another EMI, too; but with Wise/Revolut it is IMO quite frequent.
I guess that the core problem there is that they are
– too big (and probably underpowered in resources) to handle all the agenda properly;
– too known not to attract very different people, sometimes definitely with really shady intentions...
As a result, you can simply have a bad luck quite often...
OK, they are not second to evil but definitely not sufficiently reliable – and generally there is a lot of another (better) financial institutions. Of course, in your country there is a problem...

Soldo and Wallester wan't onboard a Peruvian entity either (i doubt if they can find Peru on the map at all).

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

G check PaySet idk if theyll onboard a Peruvian company but you can try