Banking in Georgia
- Thread starter catpower
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Three more comments about Georgian banks:
1. If the government thinks you owe them any tax then they can deduct the cash directly from your account. No court order or anything needed. Then the account holder must fight the government in its own court system to try and win the funds back. The bank stays out of it / does not help. It has not happened to me for business account transactions but they did do that to my personal TBC account when I was slow / past the due date for paying some import VAT I owed for importing some personal items from the USA. The government just took it from my personal account. No warning, no discussion, and the banks comply as its the law in Georgia.
2. Bank deposit guarantee amount in Georgia is peanuts, unlike EU banks at 100k.
My two cents worth? I wouldn't touch a Georgian bank unless I had fully legit business in Georgia and maintain regular inwards and outwards payments from ”˜clean' countries and every month show normal business activities payments (wages, taxes, expenses, etc).
As for funds coming or going to countries like those listed in the BoG SOLO rules quoted above”¦ then definitely advise / warn the bank in advance so they know what is going to happen and give them proof of legitimacy and maybe they will accept it. I prefer to use an EMI like WISE for such transfers but who knows if or when they might also start just rejecting transfers to / from such listed countries simply because its quicker and easier to reject rather than put in the time and effort to confirm legitimacy? It's probably a universal problem with banking these days.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Paysera is a registered bank in Georgia - so will be subject to same local laws and rules as the other Georgian banks. Just in case anybody saw the earlier mention of Paysera and didn't join the dots that Paysera advantages will be More limited since its a registered bank in Georgia. Time will tell how Paysera Georgia works for expats - but I will not be amongst the first to try it out.
Last edited: Jan 10, 2023
1. If the government thinks you owe them any tax then they can deduct the cash directly from your account. No court order or anything needed. Then the account holder must fight the government in its own court system to try and win the funds back. The bank stays out of it / does not help. It has not happened to me for business account transactions but they did do that to my personal TBC account when I was slow / past the due date for paying some import VAT I owed for importing some personal items from the USA. The government just took it from my personal account. No warning, no discussion, and the banks comply as its the law in Georgia.
2. Bank deposit guarantee amount in Georgia is peanuts, unlike EU banks at 100k.
My two cents worth? I wouldn't touch a Georgian bank unless I had fully legit business in Georgia and maintain regular inwards and outwards payments from ”˜clean' countries and every month show normal business activities payments (wages, taxes, expenses, etc).
As for funds coming or going to countries like those listed in the BoG SOLO rules quoted above”¦ then definitely advise / warn the bank in advance so they know what is going to happen and give them proof of legitimacy and maybe they will accept it. I prefer to use an EMI like WISE for such transfers but who knows if or when they might also start just rejecting transfers to / from such listed countries simply because its quicker and easier to reject rather than put in the time and effort to confirm legitimacy? It's probably a universal problem with banking these days.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: Paysera is a registered bank in Georgia - so will be subject to same local laws and rules as the other Georgian banks. Just in case anybody saw the earlier mention of Paysera and didn't join the dots that Paysera advantages will be More limited since its a registered bank in Georgia. Time will tell how Paysera Georgia works for expats - but I will not be amongst the first to try it out.
Last edited: Jan 10, 2023
This is usual practice.
It does not matter what the outgoing country uses, it only matters what the receiving country uses.
Inbound is much worse than outbound. Receive from one of the above countries and expect (at best) a large questionaire.
If you can't show local ties (e.g. residency) to one of the countries mentioned, expect the transfer to be returned to sender (even if it's your own account).
Last edited: Jan 21, 2023
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