Hi all, wondering if anyone has experience selecting a bank for investment fund transfers? We’re using GCS and they recommend either Bison bank or Atlantico – or using an escrow account for real estate transfers.
An escrow account would be our top choice as it has the fastest turn around time (and we all know time is of the essence right now). But, as a backup, we need to select one of the others (Bison or Atlantico).
Any relevant experiences to share to help decide?
Thanks!
Bison seemed reasonably quick and responsive for Portugal, though not good by American standards
Then again I’m also waiting on some American financial institutions so maybe it’s just everywhere now
Nuno at Bison is fantastic with service and responsiveness.
However, Bison is an investment bank not a retail one. So if you’re looking for a credit card or to walk in to their branch and make a withdrawal, that’s not the bank for you.
I bank with Atlântico and have had no problems. Tried Bison too at Holborn’s direction, but KYC procedures for both were a PITA so once one was up and running I let the other go.
Hi Chefe,
I am interested in opening an account with Atlantico. Could you help and provide me with your contact at the bank.
Also have you been happy with their service thus far?
Thanks!
You can open an account woth Atlantico online with their app
I bank with Atlantico and have an assigned officer to help me. It’s convenient because I don’t have to call the general customer service line. However, their fees are not low.
I know nothing about Bison.
Thanks Carson!
Hi, we are at the pre app stage. The lawyers we are using are recommending Bison Bank for sending our investment money to be invested in a GV approved investment fund. They said that, the top banks are generally disinclined to open GV accounts because there are just a pass through for money to be invested in the fund and that of the lot, Bison seems the best.
Just sharing. Would be happy to hear from others.
I am in the same stage as you are.
If my limited experience of account opening with them during August is anything to go by then I would definitely recommend Bison. It took just 7 working days for opening the account online. I had been told that bank account opening could take up to 3 months 
I got updates at each stage. When I could not submit some attested documents for 3-4 days (my lawyer was on vacation), a real person from the bank followed up to remind me.
Will wait to see how things are when we start with the transactions. I am optimistic.
Thank you, that is very useful to know. The lawyers also told me that it would just take a week to 10 days to open the account in Bison as compared to say Santander which they said may require 6 weeks for account opening (I am just quoting them, have no idea myself) while others such as Caixa (CSD) apparently require a physical visit to their office and in person verification. While Bison are fine with online uploads.
I recently opened a GV account with Bison online from the US. I think they’re a really good choice. I would anticipate at least a few weeks if all goes smoothly. Ours took two months, but we had delays due to very thorough fund verification, and with the receipt and processing of the original documents. It’s true you can email all the bank forms but you also have to mail the original “wet ink” signed docs, which we had to do twice as one was missing and we didn’t find out for two weeks. So before you overnight your docs, check and recheck their list!
In all, the folks at Bison were very helpful and professional from the start, and have continued to be so throughout my GV funding process and paying AIMA. My client services manager is very responsive and I like having one dedicated person managing my account. They also have communicated directly with my lawyers and fund manager (at my request), which was helpful. The fees are a bit high, especially compared to my free US account, but after reading some horror stories with other banks I feel better knowing I have proven solid support on the ground in PT.
Bad experience with Bison. DM for details.
My Bison account has been created, took 2 weeks. So far so good
Vivek
I’ve been using Banco BNI Europa. It’s not like a US bank but they are very good at responding and getting things done that need to be.