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Sam4321 wrote:

At the moment we're still using our French bank account and credit card, but we'd like to have the same banking facilities based in Malta as we do in France.  We've not opened a bank account in Malta yet because it just seemed easier to keep using our French account for now.  Using the bank account is fine, but I doubt we should still be using the credit card.  After asking BOV about credit cards, we've been told they block €5000 of your own money if you want a credit card with a limit of €3000?  Is this always the case and if so, what's the point in having a credit card?

yes this is standard for all banks and its because you haven't been here long enough so they take a deposit to cover themselves however  may i suggest using yes money  you get a lower limit but no deposit is required .

Sam4321 wrote:

Thanks, that's great!

We've only just handed the forms in this morning for the residency, so it'll be a while until we can apply. We'd been waiting for our tax registration certificate.

I'm not bothered about a high limit, just some form of credit to get a credit rating here so the Yes Card will be fine .  The bank wasn't interested in our credit rating in France and just said not to give up anything in France until we had something in place in Malta.  I'm not sure if what we're doing is even legal because we've not done a change of address yet with the credit card.  It's all on the internet and our mail is being redirected so I daren't ask if we can still use it now we don't have an address in France.  It gets paid off every month, but I'd not want to lose the security before getting a replacement if possible.

My husband has just phoned Yes and was told a €700 limit is normal to start with, which would be fine for now.

my uk bank is to a uk address with mail redirected it was easier then having to fly back with proof of address to get stuff sent to malta lol

robpw2 wrote:

my uk bank is to a uk address with mail redirected it was easier then having to fly back with proof of address to get stuff sent to malta lol

We had no problem changing the address of our French account, they just froze any online payments until they got proof of address through the post.  The credit card came in useful then, so that's why I'm scared to change the address on that just yet.  I like to have two forms of payment in case one fails. 

We've had so much bad luck with our move here that it's like a security blanket.

scubaboy wrote:

If you have a Maltese ID you can apply for the Yes Card (Soon to be changed to the Insignia Card) or alternativley you can use the New Universe Prepaid Card



Hope this helps

Julian

I do not have or use credit cards but on occasion, other than here or in the UK, it would be useful to have one purely to satisfy car hire companies in other countries.  (Avis UK and many car hire companies in GOZO take my Debit card. )

The prepaid card you mention would not be acceptable but what about the 'yes card', is it a 'proper' credit card and is it accepted by all businesses including European and US car hire companies?

Ray

scubaboy wrote:

Ray,

The prepaid card is acceptable as it is actually a VISA card.  The actually proper description is a Secured Credit card, even to the fact that the premium version does have the facility to become a credit card. The "Yes" card is also a Fully functional Visa card like any one you get with the banks, just not tied to a bank.

I am surprised as most car hire companies specifically exclude prepaid cards because they can't 'ring fence' the deposit/excess, I have a Travelex prepaid Mastercard as a standby and used to have a FairFX Visa card, neither were accepted.
I would also have doubts about most cards issued by Maltese banks, my debit card does not have embossed numbers and this, in itself, causes problems.

I am not doubting what you say above, but has anyone hired a car in Europe using one of these cards?

Ray
J.

mikgrigor wrote:

I have had so much grief trying to open a bank account that i have advised my uk bank that i live in gozo and please accept all transactions be it cash withdrawals or purchases. They have agreed and for the sake of a few quid in charges my mind is easy plus you overcome a lot of the tax implications, so good luck but dont rely on to much help from the banking fraternity in this country.

We have two accounts still with UK banks who are aware we are in Malta and one bank in Gozo which we opened with just a passport and it was done same day!
We have pensions paid into the UK banks and then use 'Transferwise' to transfer to our Maltese bank.

Generally, if you remit money to Malta from the UK, unless it is from capital, it is taxable, so I am not sure that you will avoid tax implications.

Ray

scubaboy wrote:

My HSBC advance works fine abroad with hertz, Europacar and enterprise.  As these are hybrid cards as in not true prepaid but secured credit cards as Long as the money is on the card then it's accepted, the yes card is obviously a standard credit card so again as long as the credit is available then it's fine.  The HSBC standard quick cash will not work in hire companies, and I don't know how the Bov would fair either.

I can however guarantee that as long as the required amount is on the card that they ring fence then you can hire on the Universe, actually you could hire the car through the concierge on the universe premium and get the discounts as well.

Thanks, will look into them purely for car hire purposes.
Cheers

Ray

Sam4321 wrote:

We've got all this to come.  We don't intend to open a bank account until we have residency because there's no rush with us having a euro account in France.  Our accountant advised us to do it this way because he said it can take a long longer trying without it.  I'm not sure if that's true, but that's why we stuck with the French bank account to lessen the hassle when moving.

We also moved from France and the issue we had was HSBC sent the in inquiry to our French bank in English.
The French bank refused to respond until it was sent in French.

Ask the Maltese bank you choose to send any request in English and French (you can write it out for them)  that's what we did.

Terry

tearnet wrote:

We also moved from France and the issue we had was HSBC sent the in inquiry to our French bank in English.
The French bank refused to respond until it was sent in French.

Ask the Maltese bank you choose to send any request in English and French (you can write it out for them)  that's what we did.

Terry

We deal with the bank in English, so luckily they're okay with getting the request in English.  We checked with the bank before coming to Malta about leaving the account open and everything. I'm not sure how it happened because we set the account up with Credit Agricole in French when we first arrived, not expecting anything in English.  Then one day, out of the blue, we got a letter inviting us to a vineyard where we were given a glass of wine and told we now have an account manager assigned to us so we can do everything in English. I'm not even sure how they knew we were English because we never gave them any references to open the account, just the fact we had children in school straight away seemed good enough for them to get a residents account.  It doesn't sound that simple here though!

scubaboy wrote:

If you have a Maltese ID you can apply for the Yes Card (Soon to be changed to the Insignia Card) or alternativley you can use the New Universe Prepaid Card



Hope this helps

Julian

For anyone who may be thinking of applying for the 'Yes' card, don't bother if you are retired and have a rock solid pension!
I was told you cannot even be considered unless you are employed.

Even with a guaranteed income in excess of 24000 euros a year which only ceases if you die they don't want to know. They apparently would rather take the risk of someone losing their job.

Never mind

Ray

KJulii wrote:

Banif bank- you do not need to be employed. They have saving accounts which u can have with debit card or with out . in Malta withdraw from any Maltese bank cashpoint without charges - good for pensia  I guess.

Wrong!   We are talking 'Credit Card' not 'Debit Card', we have three of those!

We went to Banif first because we have been banking with them for over 2 years, but the answer is: - Of course you can have a credit card, put 1000 euros, minimum, in an account you can't touch and we will give you a credit card! (Credit limit 1000 euros)

I only want one for car hire purposes so would, hopefully, never actually owe anything as it would only come into play if I had an accident!

Never mind, I will try Indigo Car Hire who can source companies throughout Europe who will accept debit cards but I would not be sure about it till I was at the car hire desk to pick up the car!

Ray

maltadave1 wrote:

go to banif,e card,housing contract passport,bank account 15 mins, I went to st.pauls branch,really good,    dave

Already have a Banif account, see my post, No.30

Ray

mkiel wrote:

I looked @ application for YES card no option for pension.
Same stupid thinking as other maltese banks even though pointed out many times my pension is for life & more than average wage.

Incidentally the link to the 'Universe card' did not work and when I Googled it I found nothing!

Ray