Apr 13, 2020

Open an account with a Puerto Rican bank that has been doing extremely well

In the times of the pandemic, we invite you to consider the opportunity to set up a secure bank account while staying home just the way you are advised these days. The bank is registered as an International Financial Entity in Puerto Rico that is legally an overseas territory of the United States. Thus, you can enjoy the security and the scale of the US banking system, among many other things.

The bank specializes in servicing expats and perpetual travelers in the first place. However, residents of most countries of the world are welcome to open accounts there. In addition to a personal account, you can set up a corporate account with this bank on the condition that your company is not engaged with certain types of business activities. (Please find the lists of the restricted countries as well as restricted business activities below.)

The Puerto Rican bank offers a great number of important benefits indeed. One of its biggest advantages is hundred percent liquidity. The bank does not issue loans and neither does it use its clients’ money for speculations. It keeps the deposits in the bank vaults of its large partner banks and it lives almost exclusively off commissions and service fees.

Open a bank account in Puerto Rico remotely: multicurrency accounts

We will be happy to assist you in setting up an account in Puerto Rico without having to travel to the country. The bank operates in thirteen national currencies that include the following ones: USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, CAD, CHF, HKD, JPY, NOK, NZD, PLN, SEK, and SGD. You can set up and manage your account in any operational currency from home.

If you would like to make US dollar transactions, you can do it as the Puerto Rican bank has Federal Reserve Bank of New York as its correspondent bank in the United States of America. If you would like to make transactions in euros or other European currencies, you can also safely do it as the bank has Novo Banco, SA Portugal as its correspondent bank in the Old World. If you would like to make transactions in Japanese yens, there is a correspondent bank in Japan too.

Moreover, you can manage your account when you are travelling, as mobile banking applications are also available. The bank offers competitive currency exchange rates and you can perform currency conversion operations using your computer, your tablet or your smartphone. When you convert one currency into another in the amount whose value does not exceed US$ 30,000, the conversion commission is less than 1%. If you convert a larger sum, the conversion commission is lower than 0.5%.

The bank offers most up-to-date and most secure remote account management electronic tools. With their online platform, you can be absolutely sure that all your transactions are safe. In addition to that, you can enjoy 24/7 customer support service. The support is provided in English, Spanish, and some other national languages on your request.

Corporate accounts can also be opened in any of the currencies that are specified above. The bank services a large number of small startups, medium-sized and large-scale business companies. Various forms of company ownership as well as many company registration jurisdictions are acceptable. Yours can be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, an LLC, a foundation or a trust: the bank managers are prepared to consider applications from many kinds of business entities.

This said, however, the Puerto Rican bank does not accept for services business companies that are engaged or may be engaged in illegal commercial activities. The anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing requirements are followed very strictly by the bank administration. In addition to that, companies working in the business areas listed below cannot establish corporate accounts with the Puerto Rican bank:

  • Arms  and ammunition dealing;
  • Cash-based investment companies;
  • Charities;
  • Trading in commodities;
  • Financial services (taking deposits, processing payments, etc.);
  • Gambling of all kinds;
  • Online pharmaceuticals (trading in prescription drugs);
  • Pass-through transactions and payable-through accounts;
  • PEP’s (Politically Exposed Persons/ Companies);
  • Pornography and other adult services;
  • Real estate trade (account opening may be possible in individual cases);
  • Shipping industry;
  • Virtual currencies.

If you are unsure whether your business falls in any of the categories given above, please clarify this issue with us by writing to [email protected]. The bank reviews every application individually and the officers are prepared to be very flexible with each client. At the same time, the bank does have its own compliance requirements and risk assessment policies, which means that only trustworthy individuals and companies can establish accounts there.

A far as the country of the company registration is concerned, the bank applies rather lax requirements. You company can be domiciled even in a classical offshore jurisdiction such as Nevis, for example, and you still can set up an account with the Puerto Rican bank that we are advertising here.

However, the bank does not open accounts for citizens, legal residents, or business entities of the United States of America and its overseas territories including American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Below please find the list of other countries whose citizens will not be able to obtain services from the Puerto Rican bank:

Afghanistan

Albania

Angola

Bangladesh

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Belarus

Burundi

Central African Republic

Cuba

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Egypt

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Equatorial Guinea

Guinea

Guinea Bissau

Iran

Iraq

Kosovo

Laos

Lebanon

Libya

Macedonia

Mali

Moldova

Montenegro

Myanmar (Burma)

Nicaragua

North Korea

Palestinian Territories

Russian Federation

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Serbia

Somalia

South Sudan

Sri Lanka

Sudan and Darfur

Syria

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Ukraine

Vanuatu

Venezuela

Yemen

Zimbabwe

If you do not find the country of your company domiciliation among the ones listed above, you are most welcome to apply for setting up a corporate account with the Puerto Rican bank that we are promoting here.

Now, a corporate bank account will often have to have multiple user access and the Puerto Rican bank makes this possibility available. You can use the online platform to set up acceptability limits for a number of company employees. While the company owner can enjoy full access to the account, a department head, for example, can have the ‘view only’ option available.

Every corporate account signatory obtains a login and a password that allows him or her to use the eBanking platform in accordance with his or her operating authorities. Besides, in case you own multiple accounts with the Puerto Rican bank, you can have access to all of them simultaneously with a single login.

You can also make use of the mass payment possibility to pay salaries to your staff, for instance. You can transfer money from your account with the Puerto Rican bank to several accounts at a time with only one click, which is very convenient indeed.

You are welcome to apply to the bank manager for a contactless pay card. The card will give you the possibility to withdraw cash from millions of ATM’s in 210 world countries. Besides, you will be able to make contactless payments in any POS terminal where this function is available. Where it is not, you can always insert the card into the slot and enter the PIN code. Only prepaid cards are issued, which means that you have to fund your bankcard prior to obtaining and using it.

Open a bank account in Puerto Rico remotely: precious metals accounts

The bank offers a very attractive opportunity to protect yourself from currency fluctuations and various economic crises by storing physical gold and/ or silver. The Puerto Rican bank is the only offshore bank that is an authorized dealer of the Perth Mint, Australia. This is where your gold and silver bullions will be kept.

The Perth Mint, in its turn, is the only precious metal storage program that works under the guaranty of a national Government, namely, that of Australia. The Government of this country, in its turn, enjoys a triple-A rating from international agencies such as Standard and Poor’s and the like. Thus, nothing can make your assets as secure as a precious metal storage account with the Puerto Rican bank. The fact that you can easily access this account via a private bank that offers all the modern account management tools makes this opportunity even more inviting.

How can you set up a precious metal account with the bank in Puerto Rico? It is quite simple, as a matter of fact. All you have to do is log onto the electronic platform, access your fiduciary currency account, and select the Buy/ Sell option. You can choose to purchase a certain quantity of gold or silver or to spend a certain sum of money on the buy. Simply click on the preferred option and you can have a gold bullion or two in the Perth Mint depository.

The depository is located in a geographically remote area and it is as secure as a depository can only be. State-of-the art physical protection technologies are used there as well as modern electronic and procedural security protocols.

In addition to that, you can have access to your precious metal account with the Puerto Rican bank from (almost) any place in the world. With this account, you can obtain a golden pay card that you can use in ATM’s, stores, supermarkets, etc. thus drawing on your gold or silver account. You can keep track of all your account operations via the online platform.

Precious metals can be purchased and sold at market prices with commissions as shown below:

Order Amount Buy Sell
US$1 – US$5,000 4.00% 4.00%
US$5,000.01 – US$20,000 3.00% 0.50%
US$20,000.01 – US$50,000 2.50% 0.50%
US$50,000.01 – US$100,000 2.25% 0.50%
US$100,000.01 – US$500,000 2.00% 0.50%
US$500,000.01 – US$1,000,000 1.50% 0.50%
US$1,000,000.01 + 1.00% 0.50%

Please note that orders can be processed only during the Perth Mint working hours.

Gold storage comes for free while the storage of silver will cost you 0.95% of its value per year.

Here are the main advantages of having a precious metal account with the Puerto Rican bank in brief:

  • The account is 100% physically protected and guaranteed;
  • Competitive gold and silver prices;
  • Private and secure storage in Australia;
  • Buy and sell online 24/7;
  • Have worldwide access to your metals;
  • Minimal risk of metals confiscation.

Open a bank account in Puerto Rico remotely: brokerage services

You are welcome to apply for trading services to the bank via your eBanking account.

The banks fully owns a brokerage subsidiary that deals in securities. It has been serving clients for more than 15 years already. The award-winning electronic trading platforms together with the bank’s international banking products have made it a unique broker in the eyes of investors from all around the globe who seek flexibility, security, and access to global markets.

You can choose from two trading platforms that serve as most efficient links between you as the investor investors and various financial markets. You have the possibility to trade on your PC, Macintosh, smartphone or tablet staying connected to the markets regardless of where in the world you are at the moment. Whether you are an individual trader or an asset manager, you can obtain direct access to thousands of instruments in the European, Asian, US, and Canadian markets.

The trading platform that has been designed and put into operation only recently is the most advanced tool for electronic trading. It offers desktop, web, and mobile trading opportunities with products on over 120 exchanges, including Stocks and ETF’s, Fixed Income, Options, Futures, FOREX, CFD’s and so on. The minimum commissions are quite low and the array of markets is quite wide. Thus, the platform provides for a perfect trading experience whether you are an individual trader or an asset manager; whether you are a beginner or a long-established professional.

Open a bank account in Puerto Rico remotely: the service fees, commissions, first deposit, and minimum balance requirements

There is no account opening fee with the Puerto Rican bank and the service fees that it charges are extremely low in comparison to those found in most other banks.

The security balance for a personal account is only US$ 60. The monthly account maintenance fee is US$ 5. The minimum required first deposit is US$ 500.

The security balance for a corporate account is US$ 360, which is not much at all. The monthly account maintenance fee is US$ 30. The minimum required first deposit is also US$ 500, same as with the personal account.

The transaction commissions are also rather low with this bank. The table below describes the commission amounts charged on wire transfers:

Transfer amount US$ 0 – 15,000 US$ 15,000 – 60,000 US$ 60,000 +
Incoming US$ 30 US$ 55 US$ 130
Outgoing US$ 50 US$ 75 US$ 150

Offshore Pro Group works with over two hundred banks located all over the world. We are especially pleased to watch the progress that this particular Puerto Rican bank has been making over the last few years. It remains stable and keeps attracting new clients even during the hard times. Its 100% liquidity coupled with low services fees makes it an option to consider without any doubt.

If you are interested in setting up an account with this bank or if you would like to clarify certain issues pertaining to this endeavor, please contact us at [email protected] without hesitation. We will get back to you promptly.