I figured we could crowd-source the best options out there for travelers, both actual banks (such as N26, Charles Schwab, and Monzo) and other e-money providers (such as Revolut, Transferwise and LeoPay), that at least provide a bank-like account number (such as IBAN) and/or a payment card .
Letās focus on providers with one or more of the following characteristics:
Low costs for international use (POS, ATMs, transfers, exchange)
Good support and user friendly apps
Easy remote account opening, potentially even for non-residents
The ones Iāve now marked with are typically easy to open remotely, and usually easy to qualify for or get sufficient address proof to open an account.
If you live in the EU then N26, Bunq, Monese and Revolut are all easily opened using their respective mobile apps.
If you live in US, and have a Social Security number, then Charles Schwab, Capital One 360, and Simple can all be opened online (while in the US or using a VPN with a US server).
Getting sufficient address proof to open a Monzo account is quite easy, or at least it used to be. Iām not sure if they have or will become more stringent after launching their current accounts.
If you live elsewhere then LeuPay is probably the easiest to qualify for.
Where I live we live with 2 currencies: the euro and the US$. Any idea if there is a bank out there that accepts dual or multiple currencies? N26 typically accepts euros but we also have a $ account to transfer somewhere too. Weāre not US citizens though and donāt particularly care for American banks. Anyone knows whether there is a Swiss bank maybe that would do that? I saw a list of digital banks a couple of weeks back with a Swiss bank in it but donāt recall where I saw it.
@myriamh For keeping and spending USD, Revolut might be of useāeven though itās not a proper bank (yet). To receive USD, Transferwise Borderless might be useful.
They are also (slowly) rolling out their own multi-currency debit card linked to your Transferwise balances, so that will be useful once itās available to more people. Early reports suggest that you can use the Transferwise debit card to top up your Revolut account in the same currency for free (including USD).
Early reports suggest that you can use the Transferwise debit card to top up your Revolut account in the same currency for free (including USD).
Canāt you top up for free anyway? Wouldnāt you just send your money from Transferwise to your Revolut account like normal wire? Or are you talking about the transfer fees?
From TW Borderless I believe you can only transfer to USD to US based bank accounts (correct me if Iām wrong), meaning youād have to exchange your USD into either EUR or GBP before adding to Revolut. Thatās ~1% cost of the currency conversion, and then a tiny bit more for the bank transfer fee from your TW EUR/GBP wallet to your Revolut EUR/GBP receiving account.
Still not bad, but not free either. Also it takes way longer than doing an instant debit card top-up.
Makes sense. Really looking forward to the Transferwise card anyway. Any news on when youāll be able to get one? Last time I checked I couldnāt find anything official.
Thanks for the useful info. Believe it or not Iām in a bit of a conundrum with N26 which might be worth explaining in a separate post.
How does TW works? Letās say I have my card, then what? Do I put money on it? How do I use it?
Thanks for keeping me posted. Due to the difficulty with N26 I might have to look for something else.
TransferWise Borderless will give you local āreceivingā accounts in different currencies (like a US account to receive domestic USD transfers, a European account to receive EUR/SEPA transfers, etc). The debit card isnāt generally available yet, but would allow you to spend money directly from any of the currency wallets you have. So if you spend in EUR it will deduct money from your EUR wallet, and so on. This is similar to how Revolut works.
You can of course also move money between currencies (and pay approximately 0.5% FX fee between most currency pairs), and send money to external accounts in any country you can send regular TransferWise transfers to.
Hello all,
I use PaySera for almost 1 year.
Cheap and until now no problems. (except for bigger payments they want proof for the reason whyā¦)
Best regards,
John
Hi all, there is Ferratum Bank, where you can open different currency accounts. They are based in Malta. I opened an account a couple of weeks ago. In the same account, I have an Euro and a SEK separated account.
I did not know theyāre Finish based, however the accounts are Maltese.
It was really simple and online, the ID verification was via video call. They only odd thing was that I had to open a Spanish account, instead a Swedish, because of my nationality. But the card is being sent to my home address in Sweden.
I will go to US next week, so I will add an USD account and see how it works.
Have to agree with the other americans in the room. Charles Schwab is great. No ATm fees has saved me so much money while traveling. Not to mention Iāve had nothing but good experiences with their customer service team while abroad. The benefits arenāt bad either! Finding a finance company/bank thatās understanding about different currencies and systems is a rare thing in my experience!
Banks in Hawaiićbank of hawaii, first hawaian bank, and central pacific bank, send you credit/ debit card internationally. Central pacific bank discounts foreign ATM feećif you apply. Although you have to go to Hawaii or PolineciaćGum branch once you open account.
Inter active brokers llc accepts both ACH and SEPTA, and if you stay or have address in the US, you have master card.
.
, not 
. But are the IBANs provided Maltese?