Easy Equities good or bad?

Does it not make sense to use a foreign bank account and invest via a foreign platform. That way money stays abroad. It should not be a problem moving the money back one day.
 
SergioDomngos said:
Bump.
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Anything over R100K, offshore broker every time. Offers better risk mitigation if SA goes full Venezuela/Argentina.

Offshore broker will also offer a wider variety of securities, lower fees, better liquidity and margin (if your account is large enough). It's about 30 min admin to set up an Interactive Brokers account so I'm not sure why people with significant capital who want the protection of offshore investing waste their time with EE or the local banks' offerings.
 
JayM said:
Anything over R100K, offshore broker every time. Offers better risk mitigation if SA goes full Venezuela/Argentina.

Offshore broker will also offer a wider variety of securities, lower fees, better liquidity and margin (if your account is large enough). It's about 30 min admin to set up an Interactive Brokers account so I'm not sure why people with significant capital who want the protection of offshore investing waste their time with EE or the local banks' offerings.
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Your money is safe with GT247. They have an offshore registered business and bank account in the US where your US investments' funds are held. Even if SA goes this route and, in the unlikely event the government nationalizes all local businesses, they will not be able to touch this side of EE's business. It will be only your local ZA investments that will be at risk.
 
LPCPT said:
Does it not make sense to use a foreign bank account and invest via a foreign platform. That way money stays abroad. It should not be a problem moving the money back one day.
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It's a good outlook. Which sort of service provider would you use?
 
JayM said:
Anything over R100K, offshore broker every time. Offers better risk mitigation if SA goes full Venezuela/Argentina.

Offshore broker will also offer a wider variety of securities, lower fees, better liquidity and margin (if your account is large enough). It's about 30 min admin to set up an Interactive Brokers account so I'm not sure why people with significant capital who want the protection of offshore investing waste their time with EE or the local banks' offerings.
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Thanks for the information. I've heard Interactive Brokers come up quite a bit on the internet, never really thought about using them until I recently decided to invest in a USD etf.

I was always kind of scared to use IB previously because I didn't know what their support would be like as I believe they were in Asia (I see now they have a few HQ's)

For me the main thing is ease of withdrawal and reasonable fees.

Also, would I need to set up a USD bank account somehow? Or can I use Shyft?
 
SergioDomngos said:
Thanks for the information. I've heard Interactive Brokers come up quite a bit on the internet, never really thought about using them until I recently decided to invest in a USD etf.

I was always kind of scared to use IB previously because I didn't know what their support would be like as I believe they were in Asia (I see now they have a few HQ's)

For me the main thing is ease of withdrawal and reasonable fees.

Also, would I need to set up a USD bank account somehow? Or can I use Shyft?
Click to expand...

I am using Interactive Brokers. Happy to give you guidance if you need it. You do not need an international bank account to deposit funds with IB, you can use pretty much any SA bank account.
 
SergioDomngos said:
Also, would I need to set up a USD bank account somehow? Or can I use Shyft?
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It is not possible to open a US Bank account remotely. You physically need to visit the US and open a foreign-owned account at some of the banks that do allow it. In terms of big banks, I almost think it is only Wells Fargo and Citibank that still allow these accounts. You just need your passport, Visa and proof of address here in SA to open an account. I have a Wells Fargo personal Check account and I pay $15 a month in fees for the account.

Services like Shyft, Wise, TryNovel.com are not really banks. They are known as 'Neobanks'. They are IT companies with a software platform. They do have agreements with actual banks in the US and you can get an account number through them, but it is not really your own bank account and these companies manages all the money in ring-fenced accounts. There are still some legal questions surrounding these companies and their services and I know investigations are still ongoing in terms of their legality. By the way, I do have a business bank account with TryNovel.com (who works through Blue Ridge Bank) and they have a fantastic platforms. Extremely cheap fees and services too. Virtually all their services are free, including international wire transfers, ACH payments and more. You also get a VISA business bank card which you can use globally.
 
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SergioDomngos said:
Thanks for the information. I've heard Interactive Brokers come up quite a bit on the internet, never really thought about using them until I recently decided to invest in a USD etf.

I was always kind of scared to use IB previously because I didn't know what their support would be like as I believe they were in Asia (I see now they have a few HQ's)

For me the main thing is ease of withdrawal and reasonable fees.

Also, would I need to set up a USD bank account somehow? Or can I use Shyft?
Click to expand...

Their support is not great, but for what you're doing, you won't need it. You get one free withdrawal per month (SWIFT), and their fees are in general quite low. I've only ever withdrawn funds to my Isle of Man account, not to my SA account, but an FNB global account or similar should be fine.
 
rvZA said:
Services like Shyft
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I was going to create a thread about Shyft. Just a warning about them. I have had two issues lately, and it's really put me off using them again.

1. I wanted to send US Dollars to eToro. Things were fine until it got to eToro. They wanted proof of payment from me with specific details on the document (IBAN, bank name, reference, etc). Shyft cannot provide this. The details they have on their proof of payments is minimal. I complained and they informed me it's the best they can do because of the provider they use. I understand that, but it has cost me 2 x transaction fees, and I'll have to get the cash back with FNB and start all over again. I don't completely blame Shyft here, but I am still upset with them.

2. I wanted to send AUS Dollars to my EE AUS account. The first transaction failed because the address in the details I gave to Shyft was wrong. I partially blame EE here as the details they have for EFT's to their AUS account is minimal, but I have never had an issue using FNB. The second transaction failed because the account number was apparently wrong. I complained to Shyft and EE - EE couldn't work out why it failed, Shyft said it was an account number parsing issue - so it must be my fault.

All the Forex charges I saved using Shyft has been wiped out. I am pretty burnt.
 
mr_norris said:
I was going to create a thread about Shyft. Just a warning about them. I have had two issues lately, and it's really put me off using them again.

1. I wanted to send US Dollars to eToro. Things were fine until it got to eToro. They wanted proof of payment from me with specific details on the document (IBAN, bank name, reference, etc). Shyft cannot provide this. The details they have on their proof of payments is minimal. I complained and they informed me it's the best they can do because of the provider they use. I understand that, but it has cost me 2 x transaction fees, and I'll have to get the cash back with FNB and start all over again. I don't completely blame Shyft here, but I am still upset with them.

2. I wanted to send AUS Dollars to my EE AUS account. The first transaction failed because the address in the details I gave to Shyft was wrong. I partially blame EE here as the details they have for EFT's to their AUS account is minimal, but I have never had an issue using FNB. The second transaction failed because the account number was apparently wrong. I complained to Shyft and EE - EE couldn't work out why it failed, Shyft said it was an account number parsing issue - so it must be my fault.

All the Forex charges I saved using Shyft has been wiped out. I am pretty burnt.
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Unfortunately, this is the problem with Neobanks. Some of them do have some impressive 'banking' platforms, but you are restricted in terms of normal banking services and features you would get from an actual bank like Wells Fargo. What I do like about my TryNovel.com account is that I do get to create virtual cards and they work perfectly, even when buying in SA. Also, there are no extra fees for forex payment conversions. The same for their physical Business Debit Card. I too lack the function of printing proof of payments, which is offered by normal banks. I can see the transactions in my transactions history list, it shows a summary, but that is that.

I have not tried making a payment to eToro, as I normally use Paypal for that. Have you tried linking your Paypal account to your bank account and then making a Paypal payment to them?
 
mr_norris said:
I was going to create a thread about Shyft. Just a warning about them. I have had two issues lately, and it's really put me off using them again.

1. I wanted to send US Dollars to eToro. Things were fine until it got to eToro. They wanted proof of payment from me with specific details on the document (IBAN, bank name, reference, etc). Shyft cannot provide this. The details they have on their proof of payments is minimal. I complained and they informed me it's the best they can do because of the provider they use. I understand that, but it has cost me 2 x transaction fees, and I'll have to get the cash back with FNB and start all over again. I don't completely blame Shyft here, but I am still upset with them.

2. I wanted to send AUS Dollars to my EE AUS account. The first transaction failed because the address in the details I gave to Shyft was wrong. I partially blame EE here as the details they have for EFT's to their AUS account is minimal, but I have never had an issue using FNB. The second transaction failed because the account number was apparently wrong. I complained to Shyft and EE - EE couldn't work out why it failed, Shyft said it was an account number parsing issue - so it must be my fault.

All the Forex charges I saved using Shyft has been wiped out. I am pretty burnt.
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Interesting, I have nothing but positive experiences using Shyft. Of course, we all have very different experiences.

I used my Shyft to send USD to eToro using the online card service, and it worked. Did you try using SWIFT/money transfer rather?
 
rvZA said:
I have not tried making a payment to eToro, as I normally use Paypal for that. Have you tried linking your Paypal account to your bank account and then making a Paypal payment to them?
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I might give that a try, I will see. For now, I'm just waiting for the funds to come back.
SergioDomngos said:
Did you try using SWIFT/money transfer rather?
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Yeah that's how I roll :D
 
rvZA said:
It is not possible to open a US Bank account remotely. You physically need to visit the US and open a foreign-owned account at some of the banks that do allow it. In terms of big banks, I almost think it is only Wells Fargo and Citibank that still allow these accounts. You just need your passport, Visa and proof of address here in SA to open an account. I have a Wells Fargo personal Check account and I pay $15 a month in fees for the account.

Services like Shyft, Wise, TryNovel.com are not really banks. They are known as 'Neobanks'. They are IT companies with a software platform. They do have agreements with actual banks in the US and you can get an account number through them, but it is not really your own bank account and these companies manages all the money in ring-fenced accounts. There are still some legal questions surrounding these companies and their services and I know investigations are still ongoing in terms of their legality. By the way, I do have a business bank account with TryNovel.com (who works through Blue Ridge Bank) and they have a fantastic platforms. Extremely cheap fees and services too. Virtually all their services are free, including international wire transfers, ACH payments and more. You also get a VISA business bank card which you can use globally.
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Trynovel only gives an account if you have business registered in the US?
 
Tman543 said:
Trynovel only gives an account if you have business registered in the US?
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Unfortunately, yes. But, I do have a business registered there, hence the reason I opened an account with them even though I live in SA. (BTW it is very easy to register a US business and get an EIN). I use them more than what I am using my Wells Fargo account due to the mostly free fees I get.
 
Anybody know how to change your EE account username? (Getting help is a mission, notice no contact numbers etc )

Last few days i am getting password reset emails - but i never requested a password reset - seems like somebody is trying to access my account.
 
Ecco said:
Anybody know how to change your EE account username? (Getting help is a mission, notice no contact numbers etc )

Last few days i am getting password reset emails - but i never requested a password reset - seems like somebody is trying to access my account.
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Tried these 2 ?

support.easyequities.co.za

How to request or update your user name with EasyEquities

✅ App ✅ Website ✅ Discovery Bank ✅ Capitec Widget Your username can be found on the Welcome email which was sent to you when you first registered your EasyEquities account. If you are unable to find it or if you cannot remem...
support.easyequities.co.za support.easyequities.co.za

support.easyequities.co.za

Submit a ticket

support.easyequities.co.za support.easyequities.co.za
 
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