I’m using TransferWise to get payments from EU countries, UK and US to Georgia (the country). The problem is that Georgian currency - GEL, is very unstable right now and TW fees are substantial for larger transfers. So I don’t really want to convert, I’d rather keep the original currency. Basically, what I want is an online bank account which supports registration by non-EU citizens (Georgia in this case) and can ship documents/cards to mail forwarding company addresses in EU/UK. I’ve tried signing up with N26 and specifying UK mail forwarding address, but it just does not want to accept my passport photos as valid. Any suggestions?
As you are already using TransferWise you should be able to get their borderless account/card. This should solve your issues and you can also keep the Lari on it.
That’s the thing, I don’t want to keep Lari, but the opposite. I want to keep the source currency and only convert it to Lari here, in the local bank when it’s needed.
Hi @gck1, you don’t need to keep Lari if you don’t want to. The important thing is that you already have an account with them and can get their card with multiple accounts.
You can also consider taking a short trip to Armenia (less charges than in Georgia) to open a USD savings account with a debit card (take note of the different requirements/charges). While the minimum deposits are generally low, your initial deposit/balance will help you decide what type of account(s) and card(s) you may consider.
Give it a try and hopefully it all works out well. Take care…
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