With features such as multi-currency accounts and more tax benefits offshore merchant accounts facilitate international trading. This type of offshore bank account is a new addition to the offshore banking system and it allows you to trade 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
As these accounts are tax-free it allows offshore companies to offer products to clients at a much lower rate than competitors. High risk companies engaged in activities such as gaming, pharmaceuticals, phone card sales, timeshare rentals, multilevel marketing, credit card repair and counseling are best suited to have offshore merchant accounts.
Offshore merchant accounts offers immense benefits such as more tax benefits, better privacy and security, multi-currency trading enabling international trade, setting in currencies of choice, zero restrictions on transactions which means unlimited transactions, short set up time requiring just one week, international forgery/fraud protection cover etc.
All this however comes with a high price tag and expenses such as initial set up costs, discount rates and transaction fees are much higher in comparison to domestic banks. Almost anyone can open such an account and it is simple and easy. All you require is to own an offshore trading company and must have a bank account in its name.
There are however exceptions, with some offshore banks insisting on security in the form of either upfront cash deposit or ongoing cash reserve. Apart from offshore banks, offshore merchant accounts are also offered by certain international financial service providers.
You can also apply online to open such an account after you have decided on a particular offshore bank. Before opening such an offshore account you need to check out the background of the bank and services being offered by it such as privacy, security and tax benefits.
With offshore banking becoming more and more popular the need of the hour is offshore ecommerce merchant accounts and offshore destinations are going all out of their way to provide their clients with this facility. In offshore business it is no longer feasible to transact through onshore accounts and with offshore accounts giving clients so many benefits that they did not even think that they would get with their onshore accounts.
Tax and investor-friendly countries like Mauritius, Seychelles and BVI possess the most secure financial sectors in the world. Applying for offshore e-commerce merchant accounts in such countries will account for a single corporate structure. You get privileges such as the option to choose your settlement jurisdiction either within the Caribbean or Europe thereby giving you a dual acquiring presence.
This facility enables you to implement a comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional and multi-currency acquiring services. Other benefits includes opportunity of presenting your customers secure payment alternatives, currency solutions, advantage of offshore and e-zone tax structures and channeled marketing which in turn reduces currency and location costs and also simplifies cross-border processing.
This is a risky product but it allows for a certain amount of flexibility, the loan is secured against a UK property but can be denominated in a range of varying currencies, such a Sterling, US Dollars, Euros, Swiss Francs and Japanese Yen. Borrowers can benefit from the lower interest rates, thus reducing the outstanding sum on the mortgage by switching the funds between difference currencies as the values of each rise and fall.
The turbulent market 2008 has seen so far may be the perfect time for investors to choose their mortgages very carefully, options such as this allow borrowers to keep their money safer than it may be tied into the UK property market. This is good news for advisers, brokers and mortgage lead companies who are likely to see money continuing to go into mortgages if a wider range of mortgage options are available.
HSBC recently launched a multi-currency mortgage called 766, it gives customers access to three month fixed term deposits offering rates of interest in Sterling, US Dollars and Euros.
HSBC's deal pays 7% on deposits in Sterling and 6% each on US Dollars and Euros, the offer is currently available until the end of March, and to take it up customers need to open a Premier Bank account with the company and have ?60,000.
Having a Premier Bank account with HSBC will get you a dedicated relationship manager who will deal with any questions or problems, it will also give you exclusive access to 250 Premier centres around the world and access to your accounts at any time of the day or night.
The 766 account will also provide fee-free international money transfers over the internet and financial guidance on tax, property, investments and pensions.
Alexander Associated Group (AAG) has said that investors would be wise to look into multi-currency mortgages to avoid the damaging effects of the falling UK property market. The financial management company believes that multi-currency loans can reduce mortgage debts by 5% per year, although single currency mortgages can prove beneficial in some cases.
Similarly to all investments, these deals should be looked at from a long-term perspective. AAG's CEO, David Alexander said: "You would hope over a period of 25 years that you would clear your whole mortgage if you're managing it via a multi-currency mortgage.
"It's just like any other type of fund: it's a currency fund, and you need a currency manager to move it from one currency to another, to where he perceives the likelihood of sterling strengthening against the other currency.
"What you have to do is understand that it's a long-term, not short-term investment ? just as a mortgage is a long-term debt. And over the long term you should always do very well," Mr Alexander finished by saying.
Consumers must however be aware that there are serious risks involved in investing the large sums required into multi-currency mortgages as the level of return seen is reliant on the interest rates in different countries, which no one can predict, especially in today's uncertain market.
Mortgage specialist, James Cotton, who works for London & Country, said: ?There is a danger in getting a foreign currency mortgage for interest rate purpose reasons only. If you look at US interest rates, they are currently above UK Base Rates and stand at 5.29 per cent, whereas in 2001 they where cheap as chips at 1 per cent. However, the main risk comes from having a different currency mortgage to that of your income as there is an exchange rate risk. Luckily for people holding mortgages in US dollars, the currency has recently depreciated against the sterling.?
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