Keeping money on a Transferwise Borderless Account?
Aug 3rd 2019, 5:25 pm
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Keeping money on a Transferwise Borderless Account?
Hi there, I posted before in the very helpful Netherlands forum but now I have moved back for a while I feel like this is the right place to ask some questions. I still have my Dutch current account, I never closed it because even though it has a small monthly fee, I felt like having a current account in the Eurozone was a good thing - I'm in the process of trying to reclaim some tax from that year I spent in the Netherlands, and I also thought it to be useful to keep if Brexit becomes ugly or whatever "just-in-case" scenario.
Recently I made a bold move and moved most of my savings to this EUR account to protect its value for when the pound sinks. (Yes I know it is a gamble but I read a lot of forecasts beforehand and it felt like the right thing to do - it is not the risky bit I'm asking advice about, don't worry!
) I used Transferwise and it seems to be great and transparent. On their website I noticed their Borderless Account service and that it even comes with a card and everything. So the question is: do you use this pseudo-account other than making transfers between real banks? Do you keep actual money on it?
My money is now in a real bank, but in essentially what is the opposite of a savings account: instead of earning interest, it's slowly chipping away at the monthly keeping fee so obviously it is only a short term solution (until the end of the year or something). This whole move from my part isn't about profiteering, more like damage limitation. I don't particularly use EUR otherwise, apart from short travels, however, I'm from a third country (in Europe but not in Eurozone), and I wondered if I can also use this account to gather money at a preferred exchange rate in my home country's currency so I would have it cheaper when I travel back, instead of using my normal card at retail bank exchange rates of the day (I do like spending money at home ).However, I don't go back that often (once a year maybe), so I don't know how much it's worth keeping on it with no protection and no particular use at the time.
So, do you use this "electronic money" account other than quick transfers between real banks? E.g. for saving up on a currency you plan to use? What do you think? I'm aware that they are FCA regulated but are not in the FSCS guarantee scheme and their website says that if they went bust, I'd get my money back, but if Barclays did (where they keep their money in Europe), I wouldn't. Now I'm not particularly worried about Barclays going bust but it is still not that safe and I'm quite wary.
I hope it is OK to ask here, some money-related forums don't like currency related questions but I'm not asking for gambling advice, I just want to know if it's a popular service to use among expats or travellers, and what would you say the pros and cons were?
Recently I made a bold move and moved most of my savings to this EUR account to protect its value for when the pound sinks. (Yes I know it is a gamble but I read a lot of forecasts beforehand and it felt like the right thing to do - it is not the risky bit I'm asking advice about, don't worry!
) I used Transferwise and it seems to be great and transparent. On their website I noticed their Borderless Account service and that it even comes with a card and everything. So the question is: do you use this pseudo-account other than making transfers between real banks? Do you keep actual money on it? My money is now in a real bank, but in essentially what is the opposite of a savings account: instead of earning interest, it's slowly chipping away at the monthly keeping fee so obviously it is only a short term solution (until the end of the year or something). This whole move from my part isn't about profiteering, more like damage limitation. I don't particularly use EUR otherwise, apart from short travels, however, I'm from a third country (in Europe but not in Eurozone), and I wondered if I can also use this account to gather money at a preferred exchange rate in my home country's currency so I would have it cheaper when I travel back, instead of using my normal card at retail bank exchange rates of the day (I do like spending money at home
).However, I don't go back that often (once a year maybe), so I don't know how much it's worth keeping on it with no protection and no particular use at the time.So, do you use this "electronic money" account other than quick transfers between real banks? E.g. for saving up on a currency you plan to use? What do you think? I'm aware that they are FCA regulated but are not in the FSCS guarantee scheme and their website says that if they went bust, I'd get my money back, but if Barclays did (where they keep their money in Europe), I wouldn't. Now I'm not particularly worried about Barclays going bust but it is still not that safe and I'm quite wary.
I hope it is OK to ask here, some money-related forums don't like currency related questions but I'm not asking for gambling advice, I just want to know if it's a popular service to use among expats or travellers, and what would you say the pros and cons were?
