Euro Pacific Bank - Personal Accounts?

[bigladsmith]

Hi all,

I know that a great many on the forum have experience of EPB from a commercial perspective but I'm keen to hear from those of you who have (or have in the past) held personal accounts with EPB.

From what I can gather this is a service that EPB offer and because of my location, I could even get a debit card for such an account as i'm in the SEPA area.

The reason for asking is because I need an account in a non-CRS location, a bank that offers a debit card and a bank with an online portal too. My current commercial bank fulfil the non-CRS bit, but don't really offer personal accounts as such and don't have a card provider set-up yet.

I look forward to hearing from the forum on this specific topic.

 

[Sols]

EPB, like many offshore banks, have problems with correspondent accounts (moving money in and out) and cards (due to Visa and Mastercard regionality regulations).

It can be a very long and slow process to money any significant sums of money out. And smaller sums will be eaten up by fees.

I'd bet the cost of incurring tax is less than the cost of using EPB, both in pure monetary value but also in the time spent trying to get response from their support team and the back and forth when something inevitably goes wrong.

 

[Edge]

Depends what are you gonna use the account for.

As mentioned above, their wire transfer fees are ridiculous right now (like 70 USD outgoing, and 50 EUR I think, not sure).

As for their support, there are maybe couple of good bankers there, I even recognize their names cause they have been there for a long time, think "senior support team", if you get responses from these two you're fine, the others have no clue what they are doing .. it's like they recruit new people with no training whatsoever ... Doesnt sound like a big issue, but if you spend a week talking back and forth to resolve one minor issue, it gets frustrating.

If you will be sending and receiving money from your own accounts, no problem whatsoever (except for the fees). if it's from third parties, you need to provide documentation always (which, if everything is clean, it's fine I guess).

Never tried their trading platform.

Their mutual funds are the worst (Peter schiff not the best money manager in the planet). But if you want diversification, why not.

They offer physical gold and silver (using perth mint storage in australia) which is I guess convenient.

On the other hand, some people in this forum think the bank will implode within few months, maybe a year .. so you gotta look into that!

And finally, Puerto Rico non-crs .. how long will that last ? Honestly I don't know .. Is the US trying to make Puerto Rico the new switzerland ? (americans used to hide their money in swiss banks, maybe now europeans will put their money in puerto rico) .. Oh we are kinda sorta part of the US, but not really ... I mean go figure..

My verdict, go for it, but put only the minimum there, see where the wind blows these next couple of years.

 

[bigladsmith]

Thanks for the replies!

My use is quite simple, my current business IBC (in a location with minimal compliance) uses a business bank in PR. All fine with this but this bank I use have no real card facility and no real personal account. So my options to get my money back to the EU are limited from a CRS perspective. I cant just go wiring from PR to the EU as this has huge risks.

As EPB have a card facility and a personal account option I could transfer funds from my business bank to EPB and then have the use of a card where I can draw out some cash in the EU.

I leave very very little in any account for more than needed, usually less than 24 hours just in the event that something goes bang!!

 

[Spinat]

Have you looked into TransferWise, Fidor Bank, AdvCash and so on, all of them are providing debit cards which you can use for ATM withdrawals.

 

[bigladsmith]

Lots of good info, thanks all.

does anyone know of the EPB SEPA cars is just a pre-paid card or an actual bank issued card?

 

[Sols]

It's a prepaid card. They aren't licensed by any card scheme directly to issue cards.

 

[bigladsmith]

Well, so far so good!

Personal account is progressing with verification likely in a day or two.

Debit card fees advised and all other fees too which is good to know up front.

The last thing to check is the situation with their correspondent banks, who they use and timescales etc.

ill keep this thread updated!

 

[Martin Everson]

On the other hand, some people in this forum think the bank will implode within few months, maybe a year .. so you gotta look into that!

You provided a great and fair summary of EPB . However I will stick to my guns that this banks business model of attracting offshore shell companies and CRS avoidance clients is incompatible with today's reality. Yes it will be gone soon as I can't see how it cannot be. I said this on here at the beginning of the year and I have not seen anything that changes my mind .

 

[bigladsmith]

So I’ve been informed my personal account with EPB is now open!

The process was quick and painless when compared to other providers I’ve used and to be fair the comms from their team has been first rate. My docs passed their electronic verification process although my passport needed to be notarized which cost me $79 via NotaryCam.com.

For those of you seeking an offshore personal non CRS account this might be an option.
The only issue is the ATM card which is $150 up front but the fees are resonable.

I’ll report back in a few weeks once I’m using this regularly.

 

[JohnLocke]

The only issue is the ATM card which is $150 up front but the fees are resonable.

Please let us know if you receive the card and if it works as they claim in all ATM's.

 

[bigladsmith]

I’ll report back.

Have others had issues using the card in ATM’s?

 

[Martin Everson]

So I’ve been informed my personal account with EPB is now open!

Oh boy

Sounds like I will be the one offering to buy you a beer soon mate .

 

[Martin Everson]

as a transactional account works well but I don't suggest to have money there

Loss of money is least of his concerns. He knows what I am talking about.

I would trust the below bank, its credibility and its digital platform before I would EPB .

AIB -Afghanistan International Bank

Home Page

www.aib.af

 

[bigladsmith]

Happy to have your comments, you too Martin

This will be a small sums account for the excess cash I have from various places, and yes it will be a transactional function account. I’ve put a limit on how much will go through here in the event it goes turtle I’m prepared to loose a few $$’s if it serves a purpose for a while.

 

[neweraoffshore]

I still have an account there. However no balance anymore as I share the same opinion as @Martin Everson . The card works/worked fine at ATMs, no problems at all.
EPB was one of the first banks I used when started in the offshore business with my first offshore company which i bough at an online offshore provider, as almost 99% of offshore providers will tell you to open a bank account at them. However I always had problems transferring money to them. Sometimes it took weeks until the money was shown in the balance and sometimes they even said that the money was never received and I had to file a swift investigation.... . Always very annoying.
I ran into a lot of problems with them and also with my tax authority. Tax authorities know their intermediate banks and they know the EPB as it is the most common used bank at online offshore providers. So CRS or not, in case you don't have a good infrastructure to cut the ties to EPB you will run into problems. Never do a direct transfer from your company to them. Remember one thing, the EPB does not report, however their intermediate banks do! So if you opened the personal account on your real name, I don't think that non CRS will help you a lot.
Better get a company account as only your company name and not your personal name will be seen in the SWIFT transfer.

 

[Martin Everson]

@neweraoffshore Thank you so much for the facts.

Tax authorities know their intermediate banks and they know the EPB as it is the most common used bank at online offshore providers. So CRS or not, in case you don't have a good infrastructure to cut the ties to EPB you will run into problems. Never do a direct transfer from your company to them. Remember one thing, the EPB does not report, however their intermediate banks do!

@bigladsmith The above is what I am trying to tell you in your situation. You just gone and f*cked yourself now .

 

[bigladsmith]

Thanks as always. There is a new development!

My current business bank now route payments through an investment management company rather than through Bank or America so as I’ve found out with today’s transaction when the funds went to an EMI my company name dosent appear and the management company are based in Europe.
Now I’m not saying this is bomb proof but again makes the process of tracking me to the offshore company just that little harder

In that case I might use EPB for other uses.

 

[Osleak]

I still have an account there. However no balance anymore as I share the same opinion as @Martin Everson . The card works/worked fine at ATMs, no problems at all.
EPB was one of the first banks I used when started in the offshore business with my first offshore company which i bough at an online offshore provider, as almost 99% of offshore providers will tell you to open a bank account at them. However I always had problems transferring money to them. Sometimes it took weeks until the money was shown in the balance and sometimes they even said that the money was never received and I had to file a swift investigation.... . Always very annoying.
I ran into a lot of problems with them and also with my tax authority. Tax authorities know their intermediate banks and they know the EPB as it is the most common used bank at online offshore providers. So CRS or not, in case you don't have a good infrastructure to cut the ties to EPB you will run into problems. Never do a direct transfer from your company to them. Remember one thing, the EPB does not report, however their intermediate banks do! So if you opened the personal account on your real name, I don't think that non CRS will help you a lot.
Better get a company account as only your company name and not your personal name will be seen in the SWIFT transfer.

How about ameriabank? For personal account in ameriabank is same thing? Will the intermediary bank exchange information about my personal bank account or about my transfer from ameria to porto rico?

 

[joseph15]

I dont understand this big assumption by people that the banks will inevitably fail at some point in time... This bank has been around for a long time - would you feel more comfortable keeping your money on an EMI or something like TransferWise than at least a licensed bank??