Personal Finance

How to open a Euro bank account without traveling to Europe?

  • Last Updated:
  • May 10th, 2020 1:56 am
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Dec 18, 2007
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Has anyone tried N26?
Yes you have to go to Germany, but seems good based on what I've read.

Thoughts?
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May 7, 2017
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snowhite445 wrote: Hi,

How can I open a Euro bank account in Germany, UK, France or somewhere where money is relatively safe?
I would also like to know if they have some insurance like CDIC ($100,000 insured by goverment) that we have here in Canada.

Thanks,
If you’re HSBC premier you can do it with Jersey. It’s secured to a good bit of amount GBP 60000 equivalent.

Also their service is beyond amazing + they reply on emails and have protocols for handling secure stuff.
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May 7, 2017
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Another bank I can recommend is CitiGold either in Singapore or Jersey. But you need to invest $200k+ last I checked.
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Jul 3, 2017
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MehtabS wrote: I was talking about conversion fees. Also when you want add money by debit/credit card.
Transferwise has very competitive fees, and they don't hide anything in a poor exchange rate. They do charge additional fees for using a debit or credit card, because they get charged an additional fee for those sources.
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Jul 27, 2017
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the trick is finding a safe/secure offshore banking system where your money is safe, high interest as well as low FX, either daily interest to term deposits

https://www.deposits.org/world-deposit-rates.html

India being one of the best places that has good annualized rates ranging from the 12 mth term deposits in the 7.75% range, or 6% for 30 days & with an FX average of 50 rupee to one Cdn dollar

https://india.deposits.org/deposits/

what about borrowing at a low rate from one country, use that to get a high rate savings account in another country?

seems simple enough ... right?
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Dec 13, 2014
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Niagara Region
porticoman wrote: the trick is finding a safe/secure offshore banking system where your money is safe, high interest as well as low FX, either daily interest to term deposits

https://www.deposits.org/world-deposit-rates.html

India being one of the best places that has good annualized rates ranging from the 12 mth term deposits in the 7.75% range, or 6% for 30 days & with an FX average of 50 rupee to one Cdn dollar

https://india.deposits.org/deposits/

what about borrowing at a low rate from one country, use that to get a high rate savings account in another country?

seems simple enough ... right?

Higher deposit interest rates usually mean higher inflation there, and usually because of that the exchange rates are creeping higher.

After a term, you will have more foreign money, but after exchanging it back onto your base currency you most probably receive some 1-2% (annually) over your initial investment. Or you may receive even less than your initial investment, if the fixed exchange costs eat your gains and some more...


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Mar 22, 2017
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TD does have Euro currency bank accounts you can open although they don't really advertise them.
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Nov 9, 2017
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torcraw2014 wrote: TD does have Euro currency bank accounts you can open although they don't really advertise them.
SEPA transfers is an important tool that will be lacking from a TD Euro account...
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Feb 4, 2019
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IceBlueShoes wrote: Has anyone tried N26?
Yes you have to go to Germany, but seems good based on what I've read.

Thoughts?
I have an N26 account. I opened it using just my phone and while in Canada. I have an EU passport and address but it should be possible with a Canadian passport and an address in one of the supported countries. See https://nomadgate.com/open-n26-account/.

The account itself is OK. It's a real bank account with German IBAN and deposit protection. Free SEPA transfers and free debit Mastercard with 0% FX fee. Up to 5 free ATM withdrawals within the EEA. Their app is OK too, it's clean and simple. It also integrates with Transferwise for transfers outside SEPA (e.g. to Canada).
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Nov 9, 2017
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rhw123 wrote: I have an N26 account. I opened it using just my phone and while in Canada. I have an EU passport and address but it should be possible with a Canadian passport and an address in one of the supported countries. See https://nomadgate.com/open-n26-account/.

The account itself is OK. It's a real bank account with German IBAN and deposit protection. Free SEPA transfers and free debit Mastercard with 0% FX fee. Up to 5 free ATM withdrawals within the EEA. Their app is OK too, it's clean and simple. It also integrates with Transferwise for transfers outside SEPA (e.g. to Canada).
Don't they require tax information like an ID at sign up? if so, how can a Canadian fill that?
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snowhite445 wrote: Don't they require tax information like an ID at sign up? if so, how can a Canadian fill that?
Yes, you have to specify your tax residency and provide a TIN. So a Canadian would enter "Canada" and their SIN.
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Nov 9, 2017
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rhw123 wrote: Yes, you have to specify your tax residency and provide a TIN. So a Canadian would enter "Canada" and their SIN.
I called they said Canadian residents not qualified. Maybe a system glitch allows it which can be troublesome in future.
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ProductGuy wrote: You might be able to open an HSBC account in Europe from a Canadian branch. Google it or go talk to someone in a branch. They are known for letting their customers bank with them across multiple countries.
Correct! But in order to do that, you need to have a HSBC account first. Afterwards you can open the Europe account (UK, France, etc) via the International Banking Center (IBC), free if you have Premier, $100 if you have Advance. The IBC will then do an interview with you for the account opening.
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snowhite445 wrote: I called they said Canadian residents not qualified. Maybe a system glitch allows it which can be troublesome in future.
I think you probably called N26 US (1-888 number) because N26 EU doesn't even have a phone number AFAIK, they only do support via chat.

But anyway, it is perfectly normal to have multiple residences, there are many people like that (e.g. snowbirds). So your second residence is in the EU and you sign up with that address. You can still use your Canadian passport as ID and specify Canadian tax residency.

Of course, if your EU address is not an actual second home but a relative's address or even a mail forwarder, you run the risk of not being able to provide proof of residence if N26 ever decides to ask you for it, so don't go this route if you are not comfortable with it.

Alternatives:
  • If you just want to be able to do occasional Euro SEPA transfers, look at Transferwise Borderless Account. Available in Canada, no maintenance fees, free Euro IBAN account, free to receive SEPA transfers, small fee to send SEPA transfers. No real bank though so not directly insured although your money is parked in an insured partner bank.
  • If you just want to park your Euro stash, Scotiabank offers a Euro account but you can't really do anything useful with it.
  • For a fully functional legit account with a traditional brick and mortar bank in Europe, something like HSBC may indeed be what you are looking for.

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