Altery

[Sols]

These all look completely standard⁠ nowadays, unfortunately. You can thank the government for passing laws that force banks/financial institutions to⁤ behave like this. If you can't explain every cent, you are presumed to be a⁣ tax evader laundering money.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

I entered 2 payments, one of 178 Eur to a vendor in Italy and one of 10,000 Eur to myself in France. Both payments blocked for “review”:

Last edited: Feb 17, 2025
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[Martin Everson]

Depositing 100k likely puts you outside their model client activity and into a high risk‌ client bracket.

That EMI sounds unworkable if a first party wire and a small third-party‍ wire are being held up. I would think carefully about continuing to use them if⁠ you have alternatives.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

They executed both payments today.

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[cherry]

Testing your money in a UK based financial institution is like putting your hand in‌ a fire and testing if the fire will burn you.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

cherry said:
Testing your money in a UK based financial institution is like putting your hand in a fire and testing if the fire will burn you.
Click to expand...

Same as with any other bank in any country.

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[Forester]

Why? Could you elaborate more on that?

 

[cherry]

Not sure where‌ to start because it's such a mountain. They have a body called the FCA -‍ the Financial Conduct Authority, which has massive overreach controlling financial activities of both individuals and⁠ businesses. Among other things, they mandate banks to do manual checks for anything that looks⁤ "suspicious" must be investigated - as @JohnnyDoe is experiencing. That's just the tip of the⁣ iceberg. If you try taking out more than 2000 in cash, banks are obligated to⁢ ask interogative questions about why you need it, and ultimately refuse to let you have︀ your money, like this guy:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1808120724197953885

The latest push in the UK is to allow︁ governments to actively watch everybody's bank statements in the UK:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1886469024047096076

I made a simple︂ eBay transaction the other day with a new card, and the bank sent an automated︃ call asking me to confirm my payment with their fraud department.

 

[JohnnyDoe]

cherry said:
Not sure where to start because it's such a mountain. They have a body called the FCA - the Financial Conduct Authority, which has massive overreach controlling financial activities of both individuals and businesses. Among other things, they mandate banks to do manual checks for anything that looks "suspicious" must be investigated - as JohnnyDoe is experiencing. That's just the tip of the iceberg. If you try taking out more than 2000 in cash, banks are obligated to ask interogative questions about why you need it, and ultimately refuse to let you have your money, like this guy:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1808120724197953885

The latest push in the UK is to allow governments to actively watch everybody's bank statements in the UK:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1886469024047096076

I made a simple eBay transaction the other day with a new card, and the bank sent an automated call asking me to confirm my payment with their fraud department.
Click to expand...

All true, but non UK citizens/residents have a slightly easier life.
Unfortunately what you describe is common practice all over Europe and things will only become worse.

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[Forester]

You are right, unfortunately.
This was a background of‍ my question above. Yes, there are some differences between countries; yet as far as I⁠ can see, what FCA does is not exceptional – on the contrary.

 

[russelw65]

I am not sure if the FCA is easier or worse than any other 'regulator'.‌

I was about to sign up to Altery....! However, if I am a UK citizen,‍ but EU resident, is using Altery a bad idea? Let me hear your opinions.

 

[russelw65]

Update:

Altery works well and sign up was very easy. Platform is very user friendly‌ (not buggy) and actually dynamic in terms of what you can or cannot do (unlike‍ a lot of EMI app's)

 

[brianK]

I want to know if you lost money or only difficult to⁤ work with them ?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

brianK said:
I want to know if you lost money or only difficult to work with them ?
Click to expand...

No money lost. So far they executed all the transfers I ordered, even though some went through a “manual verification” process.
The debit card works well, I also used it to withdraw some cash in a foreign currency with decent fees.

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[jorge]

I’ve been using Altery for just over 5 weeks now and so far, no issues‌ at all. Onboarding was relatively smooth, especially compared to other fintechs I’ve tried, and support‍ was surprisingly responsive during setup.

They handled incoming wires without delays, and the UI is⁠ clean and functional. I haven’t tested their card system yet, but for SEPA payments and⁤ basic EUR account functionality, it’s been working reliably.

Of course, it's still early days, but⁣ if you're looking for an alternative banking solution that doesn’t overcomplicate compliance and actually responds⁢ to tickets, they seem like a solid option so far.

Would be interested to hear︀ from others who’ve used them longer, any issues over time?

 

[undercover]

It reminds me of WireCard somehow!