# Euro account, euro credit card in UAE



## gma222 (Feb 27, 2014)

Hello,

I am a Mshreq customer and have a EUro Account with savings inside. When I am travelling back to Europe, I am pissed as I pay twice the currency exchange.
Once when I change from EURO to AED (where my debit card is taking the money from) and then back from AED to EURO when I actually use my credit card 

Of course, when you ask Mashreq, they don't have any solution. I don't want to have an account in Europe as I am now a UAE resident, want to keep it clean.

Any suggestion?

G.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

I feel your pain...

One of the solution is to open ADCB foreign currency account and ADCB offshore account in Jersey. You will have one login details to your internet banking so you will be able to see your balances in these two locations and transfer money between them within few clicks.

The advantage of ADCB Jersey is that they can issue debit cards in EUR / USD / GBP.
You can read more about ADCB Jersey here and here is the schedule of charges.

Second idea would be to check with Citibank, they are famous worldwide of issuing debit card which simply can be switched between the accounts. This however, based on my experience with them in Singapore, is only good for ATM withdrawals and won't work for physical purchases.

Third idea is to use something like Skrill or Neteller which you can load via bank transfer and then use debit card issued by them. Of course you will pay bank transfer fees, but this would be no more than AED 100 in case of ADCB (no idea how much in case of Mashreq).

I would be happy to hear other ideas and solution for the same as well.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

There is a new product from Emirates NBD called Global Cash. This is a prepaid card where you can use any of the 15 currencies available. Just load the card and use it online, at retails, ATMs etc.. Very interesting product and the only one available in UAE as far as I am concerned. I am not a big fan of ENBD but it's a nice introduction to the market, especially considering the high limits and acceptable fees. The only negative issue I have found so far is that you can't really utilize multiple currencies at the same time due to some predefined priority currency order. They could do it smarter and let the user choose the default currency being used if multiple currencies have been loaded.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Malbec said:


> I feel your pain...
> 
> One of the solution is to open ADCB foreign currency account and ADCB offshore account in Jersey. You will have one login details to your internet banking so you will be able to see your balances in these two locations and transfer money between them within few clicks.
> 
> ...


It seems like opening an account in Jersey ADCB is a nightmare. It is now more than a month and it's still not open and everyday they just come up with new questions to answer. Does anyone have an experience opening an account with ADCB in Jersey, and also can it be relied upon as a true offshore bank account that can not be touched in any case (like the way local bank accounts can be frozen for various reasons)?


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

currently_indian said:


> It seems like opening an account in Jersey ADCB is a nightmare. It is now more than a month and it's still not open and everyday they just come up with new questions to answer. Does anyone have an experience opening an account with ADCB in Jersey, and also can it be relied upon as a true offshore bank account that can not be touched in any case (like the way local bank accounts can be frozen for various reasons)?


It took 2,5 week in my case.

Yes, it is an offshore account that is out of sharia law & local ADCB reach for any local (UAE) related disputes, at least according to my RM. I still wonder however if say you owe ADCB AE money from unpaid credit cards or loans, can they reach your Jersey account or not...


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

Malbec said:


> It took 2,5 week in my case.
> 
> Yes, it is an offshore account that is out of sharia law & local ADCB reach for any local (UAE) related disputes, at least according to my RM. I still wonder however if say you owe ADCB AE money from unpaid credit cards or loans, can they reach your Jersey account or not...


I am still looking for a written information on this, if you find any let me know.


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## ski_instructor (Sep 23, 2016)

You can open a swissquote account.
They have an office in DIFC and are very helpful and easy.
You do the paperwork with them here in Dubai,
the account is hold in switzerland, offshore and they can offer you cards in Euro and USD.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

ski_instructor said:


> You can open a swissquote account.
> They have an office in DIFC and are very helpful and easy.
> You do the paperwork with them here in Dubai,
> the account is hold in switzerland, offshore and they can offer you cards in Euro and USD.
> ...


Thanks for the info. I am not happy with ADCB, Jersey account is still not opened after 45 days of initiation even though they opened local accounts. Fortunately I came to know about other banks like Standard Bank which has fairly low minimum balance requirement and much better customer service and simpler documentation. Will also check with Swissquote.


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## currently_indian (Feb 24, 2013)

ski_instructor said:


> You can open a swissquote account.
> They have an office in DIFC and are very helpful and easy.
> You do the paperwork with them here in Dubai,
> the account is hold in switzerland, offshore and they can offer you cards in Euro and USD.
> ...


I spoke with Swissquote and they seem to be pretty helpful. But primarily they are a stock broker with banking license. Looks to be a very small bank with few million dollars in annual profit. How is their netbanking and overall experience?


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## ski_instructor (Sep 23, 2016)

Yes, they are a swiss bank dedicated to netbanking.
They are swiss regulated and subject to the swiss insurance of the deposits ( 100.000 CHF insured ?)
But it is not necessary to do a lot of trading, you can use the banking accounts as well to pay euro or usd bills and you can get a debit / creditcard for euro payments in european shops or at ATM's .
Not limited to switzerland.


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

ski_instructor said:


> Yes, they are a swiss bank dedicated to netbanking.
> They are swiss regulated and subject to the swiss insurance of the deposits ( 100.000 CHF insured ?)
> But it is not necessary to do a lot of trading, you can use the banking accounts as well to pay euro or usd bills and you can get a debit / creditcard for euro payments in european shops or at ATM's .
> Not limited to switzerland.
> ...


How do they decide about credit card limit? Or you have to place a fixed deposit equivalent to the limit?


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## ski_instructor (Sep 23, 2016)

Certainly you will have to place a deposit with them .
How should they know, you csn pay the bill ?



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## Day2000 (9 mo ago)

Malbec said:


> There is a new product from Emirates NBD called Global Cash. This is a prepaid card where you can use any of the 15 currencies available. Just load the card and use it online, at retails, ATMs etc.. Very interesting product and the only one available in UAE as far as I am concerned. I am not a big fan of ENBD but it's a nice introduction to the market, especially considering the high limits and acceptable fees. The only negative issue I have found so far is that you can't really utilize multiple currencies at the same time due to some predefined priority currency order. They could do it smarter and let the user choose the default currency being used if multiple currencies have been loaded.


Can you load it directly from EUR account ?


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## UKMS (Jan 9, 2017)

Day2000 said:


> Can you load it directly from EUR account ?


You are replying to a thread 6+ years old. You may not get a reply.


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