International bank accounts

[Cornfed]

You seem to have online platforms like Revolut and TravelWise that allow you to bank from anywhere. When I next earn online income I want it to go into one of these. Does anyone have any experience with such services?

[publicduende]

I have been using Wise (new name for TransferWise) with success for the past 2 years. It's a great all-round banking product: foreign currency payments can be made using the competitive exchange rate + low fees typical of TransferWise, plus there's the convenience of multi-currency accounts. I have been using GBP, EUR, USD and SGD seamlessly, no problem.

One of the (few) drawbacks is that, depending regulations on digital/agent banking in individual countries, traditional transfers into Wise use different banking entities depending on currency. For USD transfers from outside the US, Wise has partnered with a tiny, semi-obscure Community Federal Savings Bank, which in the past created delays with some of my clients. In the UK, Wise is registered as a digital bank called "Transferwise", and so on...

Another drawback is that, for transfers into a bank account in a currency different from the country's official currency, the SWIFT network is still used, which means the fees are slightly higher. A good case is payment in USD to a Philippine bank account.

All in all, I am very satisfied with Wise. I am using it as the only business account for my Singapore-registered company.

[Tsar]

I have been using Wise (new name for TransferWise) with success for the past 2 years. It's a great all-round banking product: foreign currency payments can be made using the competitive exchange rate + low fees typical of TransferWise, plus there's the convenience of multi-currency accounts. I have been using GBP, EUR, USD and SGD seamlessly, no problem.

One of the (few) drawbacks is that, depending regulations on digital/agent banking in individual countries, traditional transfers into Wise use different banking entities depending on currency. For USD transfers from outside the US, Wise has partnered with a tiny, semi-obscure Community Federal Savings Bank, which in the past created delays with some of my clients. In the UK, Wise is registered as a digital bank called "Transferwise", and so on...

Another drawback is that, for transfers into a bank account in a currency different from the country's official currency, the SWIFT network is still used, which means the fees are slightly higher. A good case is payment in USD to a Philippine bank account.

All in all, I am very satisfied with Wise. I am using it as the only business account for my Singapore-registered company.

Do you have any advice on how someone should start a successful business? How long did it take you to get clients? It it an online business or do you also have a physical office?

[Gali]

I have been using Wise (new name for TransferWise) with success for the past 2 years. It's a great all-round banking product: foreign currency payments can be made using the competitive exchange rate + low fees typical of TransferWise, plus there's the convenience of multi-currency accounts. I have been using GBP, EUR, USD and SGD seamlessly, no problem.

One of the (few) drawbacks is that, depending regulations on digital/agent banking in individual countries, traditional transfers into Wise use different banking entities depending on currency. For USD transfers from outside the US, Wise has partnered with a tiny, semi-obscure Community Federal Savings Bank, which in the past created delays with some of my clients. In the UK, Wise is registered as a digital bank called "Transferwise", and so on...

Another drawback is that, for transfers into a bank account in a currency different from the country's official currency, the SWIFT network is still used, which means the fees are slightly higher. A good case is payment in USD to a Philippine bank account.

All in all, I am very satisfied with Wise. I am using it as the only business account for my Singapore-registered company.

I use Wise too. It works well.

[publicduende]

Do you have any advice on how someone should start a successful business? How long did it take you to get clients? It it an online business or do you also have a physical office?

I made my fair share of fu**ups, so I am no position to give advice. It depends on your skill.

Learning to code seems to be a good investment these days, as there are literally tens of thousands of jobs requiring a relatively simple set of skills (Javascript/TypeScript, React/React Native and SQL) that can be picked up in less than a year of self training.

A physical office is the last thing you need...

[Cornfed]

Excuse my ignorance, but is it possible for anyone to open an account and use Wise cards to make transactions in most countries?

[Tsar]

Excuse my ignorance, but is it possible for anyone to open an account and use Wise cards to make transactions in most countries?

No, and Mexico isn't a nation that they issue cards. I think you can open an account because you're a New Zealand citizen but I don't know if they will send your card to Mexico. They have a list of nationalities that they offer their services.

You might want to think about Revolut assuming they have less restrictions on getting a card.

Still, I heard you need Wise to fund your Revolut account easier than other methods of funding so it makes sense to have both, especially if you can't get a debit card with Wise.