Bank Accounts

[Bigbrother]

Dear All

Does anyone have a bank account in Tunisia? I don’t know the exact procedureon opening one and what do***entation is required. I asked my bank about transferring money into a account abroad and was told that they could arrange a fax indemnity which cost £18 per payment for a standard transfer which could take about 3-4 weeks for the money to be deposited or for a urgent transfers it would cost £25.00 per payment and the money would be in the account within 2 working days. They also mentioned foreign drafts costing £18.00. With all these methods, my bank said I could possibly be charged at the other end also! When sending family money overseas, I do use Western Union, however there are charges with this also. Basically I want to open an account and start putting money in without the heavy charges. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

Thank you in anticipation.

Regards.

[Kris]

I tried to do this the other month Hajer asked her bank Bank Habitat and they said that a non resident couldn't have a tunisian current account with them.

No doubt this may be rubbish as many things of this nature are unclear again this is another thing I will have a look at when i am over next month as i want an account to facilitate a house purchase.

[Bigbrother]

Thanks Kris, I’d appreciate any information you find out, I’ll try to source further information and will post any updates.

[Bigbrother]

Kris
I found this piece of information on another site, and its ‘only’ someone’s ‘personal’ experience …

The banking sector in Tunisia has been slowly opening up over the past few years, with a number of international banks acquiring local ones, new foreign banks opening up, privatization of govenrment-owned banks and more.

I think this is great, and I hope it will move the whole banking industry forward, revitalize it and make it more client friendly.

I truly think the most important thing the banks in Tunisia need is a change of mentality. They currently treat the client as if he needs them more than they need him, which is not true. Without the client, the bank has no reason to exist and will shut down, so they have to do their best to satisfy the client.

Every added service a bank provides for its customers is an added value that will make them more satisfied and less likely to take their money some place else.


And these services shouldn't be created to use the client even more and suck more money out of him, but to make his life easier and win his loyalty.
And most of these services should be free.

Now, in the bank I'm dealing with, and which I'm totally unsatisfied and pissed off with, for example I can't believe I have to pay a yearly fee for my debit card, that's totally supposed to be free, especially that it's such a crappy service in the first place with the network screwing up regularly.
In another bank, you're charged a fee for every single transaction, even when you physically go to the bank, stand in a queue and fill out a check manually to withdraw some of your own money.


And the list of examples goes on.
It's unbelievable and unacceptable.

Another thing I find unbelievable is how in this age of technology and information, I can't walk in to any branch of my bank and withdraw money or do any other transactions. I'm only limited to the branch I opened my account in, unless I'm willing to wait while phones and faxes go back and forth between the two branches for a possibility that I might get to do what I want to do.


What were networks created for then?
What were databases created for?
What were these banks computerized for?

As for flexibility, only a few banks give you the possibility to do more than withdraw cash from an ATM machine. I don't understand why. An ATM machine could take a lot of load off the bank branches by providing basic stuff like account statements, checkbook orders and even cash deposits.
Most Tunisian banks either have or are working on e-banking solutions now. These solutions come at different levels, with some just providing account statements, and others providing a bit more like checkbook orders and certain simple transactions.


I think this is something all banks should invest further in to provide as much as possible online and enable as many transactions. When it comes to the online service, it doesn't all have to be free. The basic stuff can be free, and fees can be required for more complicated features.

The only things I find Tunisian banks focusing on are credits. They have home credits, car credits, study credits, travel credits, business credits, small credits and the long list goes on.


I guess it's because these are the products that suck the most money out of people and are most profitable for the banks.

These of course are my personal ideas from a regular consumer's point of view, based on my experiences and those of my friends, which I only intend as constructive criticism for Tunisian banks.

[UKPhil]

we opened an account as non-residents with STB in Tunis, had to go to the head office. It's a foreign-currency account (we chose sterling) and can be used to transfer money in and out of the country. We just had to fill in a form and give photocopies of passports, from what I recall.

Phil

[Bigbrother]

Thanks Phil for that. Do you transfer money from the UK to your bank there, and does your bank charge you for this service?

Cheers

[UKPhil]

I have not used the account much, but have transferred some funds there from the Halifax bank. They charged about £20 I think and it took about a week to transfer. For most things, I just use the ATMs.

Phil

[Bigbrother]

Thanks Phil for that.

Does anyone know much about a convertible account whereby if you pay pounds or dinars into the account you can withdraw your money in pounds or dinar, but if you put dinars into the account you can only withdraw that amount in dinars.

Appreciate any comments

[tracnad]

Hello,

Wealso send money to Tunisia for our family there (my husband is Tunisian too).
We opened an account with Biat. We transfer money from our sterling account in UK and are charged about £20 for each transfer. It works out cheaper than Western Union which is what we were using.

hope this helps!

Where is your husband from in Tunisia?

[Bigbrother]

Hi

Thanks for this tracnad, much appreciated! I’ve looked up BIA on the net, but couldn’t find anything in English! Just found something that said this bank’s rating is - Rating on Qualisteam:**** which suggests to me that this is a good bank. I would be grateful if you could tell me how you went about setting up the bank account as it’s something we would really like to get started. We usually send money by Western Union and it’s expensive. We would like to put money into an account in a regular basis. I would like to know what do***entation is required from me. Do you know how many types of accounts they do, as I don’t know anything about non-resident accounts, and am not entirely sure on the ins and outs of convertible accounts, etc. Would I need to go to offices in Tunis or do they have regional branches. My husband is from Sousse.
Thank you in advance for any info you can provide.
Cheers.