Most of the banks charge around the same; statements, maintenance, debit cards, paying invoices using the bank tellers are also charged for, although most of the charges are fairly minimal. I bank with the Bank of Cyprus as I have found them very friendly, helpful and easy to use, all transactions are notified direct to my phone (very useful when my wife is out with the debit card!). However the bank I have heard most complaints about is the Alpha Bank who seem to charge for everything they can think off with an attitude if you don't like it tough! But no doubt others may disagree.
We use an internet system called JCC Smart to pay most of our bills online which is a very easy and simple process both to set up the and to use and doesn't incur any bank charges. You enter the invoice details and the money is transferred from your direct to the payee.

 

Very useful, thank you.

 

I concur with JonandGaynor - I've been with the BoC since the Laiki bank folded.

I've only had one problem. I made a claim on my health insurance and had to visit my agent to collect the cheque. I've never had to do this before as the claim money is paid directly into our .

My agent called the insurance company who said that the bank refused deposits to the . Some more information at my local branch - the bank wanted to confirm my wife's income, address, residency status etc. Soon sorted that out.

It seems that all the banks are checking their customers regularly following numerous allegations of money laundering.

Regards,

 

Banks are banks everywhere - we have to tolerate them. I've been with Bank of Cyprus for 10 years now. Recently they closed the branch in Polemi which means that there is no BoC branch between Polis and Paphos. Not very customer friendly.

The alternative approach would to be to not bother with a Cyprus bank and just get a Revolut card. I got one when offered by Primetel. It gives you every facility of a bank except loans via your smartphone including currency exchange that has better rates than Currency Fair and can be operated with no charges at all.

Pete

 

It’s important to consider where you are going to live here before opening a bank . If, for example, it’s going to be somewhere like Paphos, then all banks are available to you. However, that is not the case in the smaller towns and villages where there may be only one particular bank located there. Be aware that your bank will charge you for using another bank’s ATM, so if you intend to live outside of Paphos, convenience may be a factor in your final decision.

We’re with Hellenic Bank, and I have no hesitation in recommending them. They have good customer service and lots of ATMs available. Hellenic recently took over the Co-Op Bank here.

Opening an is easy enough, but give some thought to the type of you need. I suggest that a current may not necessarily be the best type of , depending on your needs, and it will certainly be a little more involved than opening a savings , which we have after recommendation. The main difference between them, of course, is a cheque book, so you need to prove to the bank your creditworthiness to open such an . Our savings comes with a less debit card each with which to pay bills or access cash from the ATM. The cards can, of course, be used to pay bills online and we receive text notifications every time a transaction is made using them. We are also able to log-in to our s online for various transactions. Highly recommend!

 

I concur with what David & Letitia have said above re: Hellenic Bank. We have been using them for about 6 months and are happy with the services and the fees.

 

Thanks for all your replies.

I spoke by phone to BOC and Hellenic. The anti-money laundering paperwork they (and I suppose all Cypriot banks) require is remarkable. But I found Hellenic to be more friendly and wanting to help, so I opened a savings with them. I went to the Ellados Avenue Branch, which was extremely busy, but the staff, while overworked, were polite and efficient.

I will also get a Revolut card.

I would like to receive all my bills by email (or online) and pay online: electricity, water, rubbish collection, village tax and property tax. I am confused because Hellenic Bank mentioned standing orders. Someone else has said direct debits. And then there is JCC Smart. There seem to be many different ways to pay online...and I would like to see all my bills and check them before paying! Any views? Thank you.

 

I use an Isle of Man Bank which issues Debit Cards in £,€ & $ and makes no charge for the card or ATM withdrawals anywhere in the world. They have branches in Jersey and London too. Their service is like banking was 30 years ago (helpful, knowledgeable staff). All usual UK banking facilities like direct debit, cheque book, BACS transfers, online banking and a great mobile app.

The downside, they require a minimum balance of £50,000 or equivalent but this can be made up of cash and investments so you can hold shares, investment funds to make up that balance. any income from those investments drops into your bank .

 

Thanks, GSmith. Could you please tell me the name of the bank?

 

Hi Blueparrot

I work as an IFA in Cyprus and I use the bank as a custody provider for my clients. I'm happ to send you the name of the bank. Please send me a PM and I'll send you the name and a link.

 

Info Bank in the Island of Man

Dear Garry, I am new in the expat forum and I am going to move to Cyprus in May 2020. I was reading your post and I would like to ask you some question regarding the bank based in the Island of Man. Can I send you a private message ? Thanks

 

Hi fguidi

I was about to reply to you this morning but see that you managed to track down my email address. I'll respond to your email.

 

Many thanks Gary I received your message by email. I really appreciated your help and . I will you asap. Kind Regards

 

Yes Bank of Cyprus are good, nice easy to use app for your smartphone, if you open an with them ask at the time to create you a name and for the app. One thing I found is they reluctantly comply with EU bank transfer rules on how long a transfer should take between EU countries. Sometimes my transfers arrive next working day even if I do the transfer in the morning. O and try to do everything on your app, like UK banks theres always a big Q in the branch and here they love to chat so much to the customers even if theres 20 in the Q, otherwise no problems.

 

I replied to your PM.

 

Hi
While the revolut card (I have a monzo card, similar thing) is a good idea I never rely on it too much. I when the banking crisis happened someone went to their local bank to quickly do a large withdrawal only to be told he had ed for online banking only, so must the online bank in question, however they had taken the site down(technical problems!) to stop a run on the bank. I want to walk into a bank and demand whats mine and make a fuss, online you cant do this.

 

If there's ever a risk with a run on a bank it makes no difference whether it's online. You can walk into the bank and make all the fuss in the world, they will still refuse to give you your money if that's what they decided to do.

The big advantage of the Revolut card is the ability to transfer money to any bank anywhere at zero cost instantly. Try doing that with Bank of Cyprus: first they want you to pay €20 for the app or device to enable transfers, then they act at their own speed and may or may not charge you. Without the app/device you are forced to go into a branch which is a thoroughly undesirable experience. When I pay into BofC, even when it is an instant transfer, they never show the balance until the afternoon of the next day - just a bit more interest for them.

Pete

 

Garry, email sent. John

 

Yes I agree with you Pete, but it makes me feel better and somehow seeing an angry group outside an office makes very good/bad publicity (amazing how it focuses the minds of don,t care board of directors seeing their names outed) news on the tele as oppose to blah blah bank internet site is down error 404 on a laptop

 

I recently opened an with Hellenic Bank and it was a very easy process in a modern and pleasant setting.

 

I realise this is an old thread but the issue of which banks to use is always there.
My folks are looking to retire to Cyprus in 2025 and wondering what banks to look at for "safe" EUR and GBP banking with reasonable charges. In line with Garry's suggestion they are looking at Channel islands (ie non-UK and non-Cyprus) but the options seem to be limited.
Any recommendations please. Standard Bank (IoM) with its Optimum looks the most reasonable but the parent is a South African bank which Im not familiar with
Thanks
Chris

 

What a difference 5 years has made since the last post before yours! As I stated in my previous post of 2019, we are with Hellenic and are very happy with them. Opening the in 2014 was extremely simple and the services available over the last 10 years have been one improvement after another. All of our Cyprus banking is now done via their App which is excellent, intuitive, secure and allows us to pay all our bills from tax, to utilities and online purchases.

HOWEVER

Our daughter and her husband bought a villa here last year and we recommended opening a Hellenic . I accompanied them to the bank when they were over in October, but no walk ins are allowed. You have to make an appointment online so we went online and made an appointment for December when they came over for Christmas. To facilitate this appointment, they took ports, title deeds for their villa and Cyprus utility bills, only to be told that it wasn’t enough. The bank actually wanted copies of their U.K. bank statements and proof via those statements of their income. I found this astounding and queried why, as the they wanted to open was, like ours, a savings which comes with debit cards so you can’t spend more than is in the . I could understand the necessity for a current but that was not the case. Their answer was ‘policy’. My son-in-law owns his own business in the U.K. is an employer of 10 staff and has substantial savings there in both his business and their personal s. He clearly could have shown them online U.K. bank statements but was understandably reluctant to do so. They have a Wise and over the last 14 months, they regularly transfer Sterling into the Wise and convert it to euros. They then pay all bills over here including tavernas etc using their Wise via their phone, so there’s seemingly no necessity to have a ‘High Street‘ bank here like ours. Whilst I can ‘maybe’ understand that the policy (which no doubt will apply to all the banks here) is due to U.K. Nationals being 3rd country nationals, my daughter also has an Irish port (which she presented) so is a fully fledged EU citizen. We’re still happy with our Hellenic and would still recommend them to others. However, be aware that things have changed here now and opening an is not as simple as it used to be. In these days of digital currencies and Apple-pay etc I would have thought that bank ‘policies’ would recognise that their banks and the s that they offer are fast becoming pointless.

 

Many thanks David & Letitia for the follow-up post. What mixed experiences!
Very encouraging to hear that Hellenic's banking services have modernised over the years but unfortunate that it's gone hand-in-hand with extra /excessive bureaucracy.
I hear WISE being routinely recommended for the practical day-to day banking so will have to investigate.
I was thinking that for managing or moving savings it would be better to have a traditional bank than a "virtual" digital one. However after the 2013 bailout bank raids I figured it better not to use a Cyprus bank for that and go for an offshore in a neutral territory like the channel islands. Will need to investigate further.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences,
Chris

 

I'm currently retired in the UK but moving to Cyprus at the end of the year. I've recently upgraded my standard Revolut to Revolut . So far I've been impressed and I'm not going to rush into applying for a Cyprus bank . Guess, it's a similar experience with Wise.

 

Hi Charles, it does. I'd rather not post the name as my company has an exclusive agreement with them to use their custody service. Send me a PM and I'll send you the details.