TLDR: I believe all this bs is just a national origin discrimination, please suggest an alternative EMI which accepts Russian citizens (not residents).
A detailed story:
I am a proud owner of a sanctioned passport and a LLC in a joke jurisdiction so my banking options are quite limited. Reading this forum I came to a conclusion that a €2000 "introduction" via you-know-who would get me an account with Bankera.
I have successfully registered and everything was well until it did not...
All this proof-of-address nonsense started in March over e-mail with "Please kindly provide ... proof of address ”“ a recent utility bill (fixed-line phone, water, electricity), tax return statement, etc. with a visible home address and name, surname (not older than 3 months)"
I have sent to Bankera over email:
- a bank account statement showing my address
- a photo of utility bills (not in my name) and a rental contract (with my name)
- a Personal Income Tax return certificate showing my address
(the December emails were just a normal request for a recent Certificate of Incumbence)
And it seemed to satisfy them. But after two months I was asked to pass another proof-of-address questionnaire, this time on the Bankera website.
Now the questionnaire stated that a bank account statement is not anymore accepted as a proof of address and I must provide a utility bills and/or rental contract and/or other documents, so I have sent a PIT certificate again, also made a selfie in front of my house with clearly seen house number and have provided a location and a screenshot of Google Maps showing the same house.
The KYC staff reviewed the questionnaire and returned an error that the PIT certificate issued in April (3 months ago) is more than 6 months old.
WTF?
And how could I "provide a rent agreement issued less than 6 months ago" if I rent this house for several years already and the rental agreement is older than 6 months?
I have opened the questionnaire again and answered that I have no requested documents because they are older than 6 months and my account got blocked.
I believe Bankera just doesn't like my passport and doesn't want me as a customer so I will be very grateful if someone would recommend me another EMI that accepts Russian citizens and which does not cost €300/mo (€50/mo as in Bankera would be okay)
In return I could recommend my fellow citizens to use Currenxie: no €2000 "introduction" required, no monthly "account maintenance" fee, no quarterly proof of address nonsense, etc. I have an account with them but I'd like to have a backup bank account just in case.
Also will share my experience with other EMIs:
Verifo: does not accept russians
Statrys: does not accept russians
Finductive: does not accept russians
Payoneer: does not reply to emails
B2BPay: accepts russians but does not accept my company's joke jurisdiction
PayDo: accepts russians but costs 300/mo so I did not try to register
Octopuspays: accepts russians but costs 300/mo for a pooled IBAN 😀
GeMBA: should accept russians but costs 300/mo so I did not try to register
IBsettle: should accept russians but costs 200/mo so I did not try to register
Bilderlings: should accept russians but costs 200/mo so I did not try to register
Monetley: should accept russians but costs 200/mo so I did not try to register
CollectNPay: did not try to register because see below
NB: Bilderlings, PayDo, Monetley, CollectNPay are seem to be Russian EMIs, so you should not use them if you don't want Russia to know anything about your business.
Last edited: Jul 20, 2024
A detailed story:
I am a proud owner of a sanctioned passport and a LLC in a joke jurisdiction so my banking options are quite limited. Reading this forum I came to a conclusion that a €2000 "introduction" via you-know-who would get me an account with Bankera.
I have successfully registered and everything was well until it did not...
All this proof-of-address nonsense started in March over e-mail with "Please kindly provide ... proof of address ”“ a recent utility bill (fixed-line phone, water, electricity), tax return statement, etc. with a visible home address and name, surname (not older than 3 months)"
I have sent to Bankera over email:
- a bank account statement showing my address
- a photo of utility bills (not in my name) and a rental contract (with my name)
- a Personal Income Tax return certificate showing my address
(the December emails were just a normal request for a recent Certificate of Incumbence)
And it seemed to satisfy them. But after two months I was asked to pass another proof-of-address questionnaire, this time on the Bankera website.
Now the questionnaire stated that a bank account statement is not anymore accepted as a proof of address and I must provide a utility bills and/or rental contract and/or other documents, so I have sent a PIT certificate again, also made a selfie in front of my house with clearly seen house number and have provided a location and a screenshot of Google Maps showing the same house.
The KYC staff reviewed the questionnaire and returned an error that the PIT certificate issued in April (3 months ago) is more than 6 months old.
WTF?
And how could I "provide a rent agreement issued less than 6 months ago" if I rent this house for several years already and the rental agreement is older than 6 months?
I have opened the questionnaire again and answered that I have no requested documents because they are older than 6 months and my account got blocked.
I believe Bankera just doesn't like my passport and doesn't want me as a customer so I will be very grateful if someone would recommend me another EMI that accepts Russian citizens and which does not cost €300/mo (€50/mo as in Bankera would be okay)
In return I could recommend my fellow citizens to use Currenxie: no €2000 "introduction" required, no monthly "account maintenance" fee, no quarterly proof of address nonsense, etc. I have an account with them but I'd like to have a backup bank account just in case.
Also will share my experience with other EMIs:
Verifo: does not accept russians
Statrys: does not accept russians
Finductive: does not accept russians
Payoneer: does not reply to emails
B2BPay: accepts russians but does not accept my company's joke jurisdiction
PayDo: accepts russians but costs 300/mo so I did not try to register
Octopuspays: accepts russians but costs 300/mo for a pooled IBAN 😀
GeMBA: should accept russians but costs 300/mo so I did not try to register
IBsettle: should accept russians but costs 200/mo so I did not try to register
Bilderlings: should accept russians but costs 200/mo so I did not try to register
Monetley: should accept russians but costs 200/mo so I did not try to register
CollectNPay: did not try to register because see below
NB: Bilderlings, PayDo, Monetley, CollectNPay are seem to be Russian EMIs, so you should not use them if you don't want Russia to know anything about your business.
Last edited: Jul 20, 2024
