Remote banks for shopping/traveling expenses for non-EU residents?

[scooterguy]

Currently most of my accounts are investment accounts or local accounts in a few different countries.

This works well, but I want to add at least one remote bank for additional peace of mind. In the past I used CIM Banque, which is fine but it has expensive maintenance fees, and I'm looking to avoid it if possible (although it ticks all the boxes of what I'm looking for).

Any ideas for other remote banks that take non-EU residents with the intention of keeping around $20K in the account, which would be used mainly for traveling/shopping expenses?

By the way, I'm looking for real banks, not Revolut or EMIs.

Thanks

 

[Forester]

Any ideas for other remote banks that take non-EU residents with the intention of keeping around $20K in the account, which would be used mainly for traveling/shopping expenses?

By the way, I'm looking for real banks, not Revolut or EMIs.

Honestly, I'm not sure whether it is even possible to find something that fits your requirements (I guess you have in mind not only a real bank but also a reliable one). Check Dukascopy, I think it is (for about 20k balance) cheaper than CIM Banque but I do not recall exactly...
(BTW, you travel quite cheaply )

P.S. If you have an account with Swissquote, bring some business to them and use their card for travelling and shopping expenses at the range of 20k, they are perfectly OK with you, AFAIK. But is is probably not the solution you are looking for.

 

[scooterguy]

Honestly, I'm not sure whether it is even possible to find something that fits your requirements (I guess you have in mind not only a real bank but also a reliable one). Check Dukascopy, I think it is (for about 20k balance) cheaper than CIM Banque but I do not recall exactly...
(BTW, you travel quite cheaply )

I do travel cheaply I do the occasional luxury trip, but usually I stay "long term" in places (1 month and up), which makes each trip much more affordable.

I did try Dukascopy, but I didn't really like their system of onboarding and support (including customer support with broken English, not the case of CIM Bank where they speak multiple languages fluently), so I canceled the onboarding process half way.

Thanks for the recommendation though!

 

[Sols]

Assuming you're paying for travels and shopping with a card and not bank transfer, I think Swissquote and several Mauritian banks could fit your needs. No or much lower maintenance fees and you can get cards in USD and EUR (and other currencies). Depends on residence, nationality, and source of funds. Swissquote expects first party wires only (to/from your own accounts) but you can use the credit card however you want. Mauritian banks tolerate occasional third-party transfers.

 

[scooterguy]

Assuming you're paying for travels and shopping with a card and not bank transfer, I think Swissquote and several Mauritian banks could fit your needs. No or much lower maintenance fees and you can get cards in USD and EUR (and other currencies). Depends on residence, nationality, and source of funds. Swissquote expects first party wires only (to/from your own accounts) but you can use the credit card however you want. Mauritian banks tolerate occasional third-party transfers.

Any particular Mauritian bank that you can recommend that would fit what I'm looking for?

 

[Sols]

MCB is excellent but wants 500,000 USD from non-residents, but more or less all of the rest are worth taking a look at: Bank One, Absa, SBM, ABC, MauBank, AfrAsia. Not saying they're all good fits, but check their websites and contact them. See if what they offer and pricing align with your needs. I haven't seen anyone with fees as unattractive as CIM Banque, and AFAIK all of them can provide cards. Minimum deposits (if any) is usually in the 10-50,000 range and can be negotiated.

You'll sometimes hear that an introducer is required for banking in Mauritius. It's often not the case if the client's overall profile is low risk, which is heavily influenced by your nationality, residence, and source of funds.