# Banking problem



## Guest (Jun 10, 2013)

I have heard a lot about how the Cyprus banks work (or not..) but today they really proved it.

We went to Paphos to open a bank account for my little self employed business. I wanted to contribute to this country now when we live here. But that was not easy. The first thing the manager said was that it is not possible. First we need approval from Nicosia. For that I need to give the reason for why I need the account, proof of income and I need to sign a paper that I have no other account in a Cyprus bank. Then PERHAPS I can be approved, but they are strict said the manager. 
Ok but how can I give proof of income, I just start my business here. He did not know.

But then I asked him about management fees for the account. He said he would tell me if I was approved. Then I asked him about other fees and told him that I would get money transferred to the bank as payment from my customers. Aha he said, that cost money. If the transfer is over 500 euro the fee is 10 €, under its free. (Another bank charged minimum 5€ whatever the transfer amount was. So if customer transferred 30 euro, bank wanted 5€) And it seemed that everything cost money. I tried to argue that I put money in your bank, I get no interest, you lend the money to someone else and get interest, but still I have to pay. Yes he said we must get paid to put the money on your account. In the end I asked him the cost when I pay my suppliers outside Cyprus, and the cost for that made up my mind. I will not put one euro in a Cyprus bank, its better to use our German accounts and do all this for free. It will take a day longer but save a lot of money.

Perhaps there is a reason that banks go down.....

Anders


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

It seems that since the bail out lunacy some new rules must have been put into place for opening bank accounts. I have never heard of anything like this in the past. We certainly had no problems opening personal and business accounts and the many clients we have taken to open bank accounts have never had problems like this.


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## Guest (Jun 10, 2013)

Veronica said:


> It seems that since the bail out lunacy some new rules must have been put into place for opening bank accounts. I have never heard of anything like this in the past. We certainly had no problems opening personal and business accounts and the many clients we have taken to open bank accounts have never had problems like this.


No this is new. He said that all new accounts must be approved by the commission in Nicosia. And ok that I can understand, but all the fees was a chock. But there is solutions to everything

Anders


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## Patg (Jul 19, 2012)

Different banks? There are several of them.

Sounds like you tried Bank of Cyprus? Not the nicest of places, although I did get a smile, once.

Pat G


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## Guest (Jun 10, 2013)

Patg said:


> Different banks? There are several of them.
> 
> Sounds like you tried Bank of Cyprus? Not the nicest of places, although I did get a smile, once.
> 
> Pat G


No it was not BoC or Laiki but 3 others. I don't know if the fees are the same but about I think. But the approval procedure is the same. Must be approved by the commission that also approves high payments and transfers abroad. Take about a week.

And you can't open a second account if you already have one. You must close the one you have first

Anders


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## Patg (Jul 19, 2012)

I should have known better having followed many of your threads, sorry!

The only other suggestion I have is if the Commerzbank, Deutschbank et al in Germany have an international branch (in Cyprus)? LloydsTSB in the UK do (in Spain) but, sadly, not here in Cyprus.

Pat G


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2013)

Patg said:


> I should have known better having followed many of your threads, sorry!
> 
> The only other suggestion I have is if the Commerzbank, Deutschbank et al in Germany have an international branch (in Cyprus)? LloydsTSB in the UK do (in Spain) but, sadly, not here in Cyprus.
> 
> Pat G


With Internet banking you can do most of what you need anyway so it will be ok. And I suspect that if the German banks were here, they would perhaps work the same way as the locals. Here is some foreign banks already but they seem to follow the local tradition. One of the banks we visited were a foreign one and the manager was very aware of the problem but said that they had to learn.

But as said, as long as my bank-need is to pay bills and receive money, then the 3 banks we have accounts in in Germany works well, they even have Internet banking in English.

Anders


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

I think you are falling foul of many of the aspects of the reaction to the Troika demands. A lot of this wasn't thought through properly such as the approval required for paying large invoices which held goods up in the docks and prevented them reaching the shops.

There has been a lot of confusion in the banks and I suspect you may hear different stories of what is required from each bank and possibly even each branch.

Your shock at the charges is not surprising. Cyprus banks have always been very expensive and your argument against charging you for putting money in and out of your account while they earn interest will fall on deaf ears, I'm afraid.

Far better to follow the route you have chosen at the present time.

Pete


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## Patg (Jul 19, 2012)

The only other thing that comes to mind is the restriction on currency movement out of Cyprus, haven't they set limits on how much you can take out f the Country?

I am thinking about your customer invoice payments being made to German banks.

Pat G


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2013)

Patg said:


> The only other thing that comes to mind is the restriction on currency movement out of Cyprus, haven't they set limits on how much you can take out f the Country?
> 
> I am thinking about your customer invoice payments being made to German banks.
> 
> Pat G


The invoices fall under the limit anyway so that is no problem. The problem as I see it is the cost for the customer to pay using SEPA transfer. But that we have to sort out.

Anders


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## Guest (Jun 11, 2013)

PeteandSylv said:


> I think you are falling foul of many of the aspects of the reaction to the Troika demands. A lot of this wasn't thought through properly such as the approval required for paying large invoices which held goods up in the docks and prevented them reaching the shops.
> 
> There has been a lot of confusion in the banks and I suspect you may hear different stories of what is required from each bank and possibly even each branch.
> 
> ...


You are right. The thing that every bank seems to demand is the declaration about no other bank account in Cyprus and approval from the commission. All other seem to differ between the banks we visited

Anders


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## MartynKSA (Aug 7, 2011)

can you all see a cash based, invoice free "black" economy coming?

If they thought they had problems before with income not being declared, it will only get worse now


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## Patg (Jul 19, 2012)

This thread is starting to expand beyond the original post, yet again! Not a problem.

Martyn is correct but isn't it that which caused the initial problems in Greece? No PAYE (Pay as you Earn) system as in Northern Europe (UK anyway)?

No taxes paid = no income to cover the excessive costs of Government policies brought in by excessively rich politicians who wish to be remembered by history but not at a cost to themselves personally, our taxes = their money!

"We get the government we deserve", or do we? 

Governments are private clubs, sure the names/faces change but we end up with a load of amateurs making decisions that they have no training to carry through intelligently. Hence the current state of affairs, not only in Cyprus but across much of the world, politicians thinking our money is theirs and using it to make themselves richer, at our expense (Tony Blair, multimillionaire?).

Before you ask, no I am not a socialist/communist, 23 years a soldier tends to conservatism, until recently. Now? I just see fools of all colours making fools of us and themselves at our expense.

Since the end of the cold war (the BIG frightener until the USSR surrendered) we have new frighteners to distract us, global warming (rubbish), (we are still going through part of the ice age, if the whole of the Arctic and Antarctic melted it would result in a one inch (25cm) rise in sea levels, world wide). If you have ever experienced weather in Northern Europe you will know it is "inconsistent", Winter of 1963, 8 foot of snow in North East England, I know I had to clear it from the front step! 1972-74, flattened forests in Germany and no water in the UK!

In the UK you can make a secure selection of your wishes via the National Lottery which can be worth millions of Pounds but, you can't have a say in Government by a similar means, why not? Are they scared that we might disagree with THEIR decisions? Of course they are!

Enough, we all have our pet hates, mine are wide and varied, perhaps you disagree with mine, fine, I don't have a problem with that and even if you agree with me (which would be nice and ego enhancing), what can we do about it? Nothing!

End of Rant

"Have a nice day"

Pat G


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## Tanager (Mar 14, 2009)

When we opened it in 2011 it was easier. It seems that they won't attract people to use Cypriot banks. You won't trust them anyway.


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## Rema (Aug 12, 2012)

Vegaanders said:


> The invoices fall under the limit anyway so that is no problem. The problem as I see it is the cost for the customer to pay using SEPA transfer. But that we have to sort out.
> 
> Anders


I'm not altogether surprised at your experience although I opened a bank account for my wife and myself last week in Paphos and had no such problem.
Only strange thing was that they would not let me pay cash into the account - I was told that any funds must come from a salary/employment or a transfer from outside Cyprus. Never had a bank refuse to take money in before.


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## Guest (Jun 13, 2013)

Rema said:


> I'm not altogether surprised at your experience although I opened a bank account for my wife and myself last week in Paphos and had no such problem.
> Only strange thing was that they would not let me pay cash into the account - I was told that any funds must come from a salary/employment or a transfer from outside Cyprus. Never had a bank refuse to take money in before.


That means that I cant get cash payment from my customer and then put the money on the account. It seems that they don't want any money. even if that is what they need most

Anders


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## Rema (Aug 12, 2012)

Vegaanders said:


> That means that I cant get cash payment from my customer and then put the money on the account. It seems that they don't want any money. even if that is what they need most
> 
> Anders


Apparently so.
As was mentioned previously "black economy" here we come!


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## Patg (Jul 19, 2012)

Rema said:


> I'm not altogether surprised at your experience although I opened a bank account for my wife and myself last week in Paphos and had no such problem.
> Only strange thing was that they would not let me pay cash into the account - I was told that any funds must come from a salary/employment or a transfer from outside Cyprus. Never had a bank refuse to take money in before.


This just gets stranger and stranger, surely they must be breaking one or more European Union rules?

The only thing I can think of is that they are trying to beat the grey economy (or is it black?) i.e. cash wages, no tax. That at least would explain this in part but business accounts?


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## bencooper (Mar 20, 2013)

Patg said:


> This just gets stranger and stranger, surely they must be breaking one or more European Union rules?
> 
> The only thing I can think of is that they are trying to beat the grey economy (or is it black?) i.e. cash wages, no tax. That at least would explain this in part but business accounts?


Controlling laundered money which includes black economy (earnings free of tax) is the obvious reason and has been employed by other countries in the past. This speaks of the pressures being imposed by the troika: however there must be accommodations for dealing with capital sales such as car and house sales where arisings need to be paid into an account. In Libya many years ago I had to get Central Bank approval to pay the money from car sale into my account to remit before I finally left the country.


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## Pam n Dave (Jun 11, 2007)

I read on another forum that there may be another extended bank closure over the next bank holiday in just over a weeks time. Having said that, if the news is slipping out then things may change but I'm going to withdraw some extra cash just in case.


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## die7 (Nov 6, 2012)

We also heard that.......


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## bencooper (Mar 20, 2013)

Kulli-wulli ("never mind", in the Gulf) bank freezes. If you have in the local bank more than enough to get you through the next month or two, you're risking it. Seems you have to draw money from a local account from a branch of your own bank, regardless of whether your card is Visa, Mastercard etc, but you can withdraw from a foreign account through ATM (at a little cost). I appreciate businesses have little choice (no one would advise stashing under the bed, but one has to weigh up the relative risks of where to place cash, and arisings from car and property sales need to be considered carefully.


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