so If I become a Saint Lucian citizen, what kind of international bank account can I use?
Charles Schwab sounds not very ideal because they require the account owner to have a primary address in US. They may shut down my account if they find out that I’m not living in US?
N26 don’t work for me because they need me to have a permanent address within EU. They may shut down my account if they find that I’m not permanently residing in EU.
and many other options didn’t make sense…
Do you know how to get an online bank account as a Saint Lucian citizen? I want a debit card as well.
IBKR is available globally and might be a partial solution for you, at least for the brokerage part. Not sure if they will issue debit cards outside the US, but could work.
Otherwise, there’s always HSBC Expat, though it may take 3-4 months to open the account…
IBRK isn’t a bank. They don’t want to be a bank. If you attempt to use them like a bank they will summarily close your account. That they have a debit card in the US is a sidelight business. The card is issued by a US bank. Which you will not be eligible for anyway.
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At this time debit cards are available for IB LLC individual and joint accounts (excluding IRA and UGMA/UTMA accounts) with US as their country of legal residence. We are not able to confirm when the debit cards will be available to non-US residents. While being enabled for IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) is not required to enroll, it is required to pre-authorize purchases and is highly suggested. The full set of eligibility requirements are as follows:…
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Your best bet is something like HSBC Expat, I think Barclays has an expat arm. Or, contact one of the Swiss wealth advisory concerns, if you have enough money to do so, and they can hook you up probably.
Why not use a St Lucia bank? You will probably want/need one in any event and there are no shortage of them.
Thanks for your response.
HSBC Expat is located in UK. Does that mean I’ll have to travel to UK to open a bank account? let me check with them. It looks like the expat bank account is the best option.
I am guessing you are hoping to be purely nomadic.
You are running into one of the challenges of being truly nomadic. No one wants to provide you banking services because you represent regulatory/compliance risk. Especially if you are not going to generate for them any meaningful amount of fees.
If you are going to be a St. Lucia citizen, why not go to St. Lucia and open accounts there?
Yes, that’s correct. I’m not sure if I can trust the banks in St. Lucia. St. Lucia is a small island country. Do they have any reliable online banking service that comes with a VISA debit card?
I have searched for a bit. It looks like all banks in St. Lucia are quite outdated. Their websites look really poor. The only option that looks more reliable is CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank. CIBC is a Canadian bank. They’re running a business in Caribbean area as well. They have a legitimate VISA debit card that looks more secure. I’m not sure if I can use their service without a St. Lucian residential address. https://www.cibcfcib.com/credit-and-debit/cards/debit-cards/visa-debit-platinum
Hi, I was reading your comments. I have saint lucia citizenship and I don’t have residency due to being in a sanctioned country. What is the best bank you advice out of your search results, that does not require residency