Sending money to CoinFlux, from Romania— the options

We know recent changes have made it more difficult for some of our customers in Romania to trade digital currencies using CoinFlux. This article describes the findings of our research into the subject of Euro bank transfers and is meant to make it easier for you to trade using our platform.

What do I need in order to trade digital currencies at CoinFlux?

1. A CoinFlux account — you can sign up at CoinFlux.com, it only takes a few minutes.
2. A EUR account with a bank or financial institution in Europe.

How do I choose which bank or financial institution to use?

Picking the right bank or financial institution will influence the time and the cost involved in sending and receiving money using your CoinFlux Wallet.

We want to highlight the following institutions:

• Revolut
• Telekom Banking
• Mistertango
• Idea Bank

Revolut

Revolut seems to be the most cost-efficient method. They are a regulated Electronic Money Institution from the United Kingdom. By law, all funds deposited with them are kept in a safeguarding account with a bank.

Cheapest option

a. Some relevant advantages:

• You can deposit money for free with your basic bank card (Eg. Visa Electron, Mastercard). It works like an online payment, so it’s nearly instant.
• You get an individual current account with EUR IBAN, for free. You can get a MasterCard bank card for a small fee.
• You can exchange fiat currencies at very reasonable rates within Revolut (you can deposit RON and exchange them into EUR within the app)
• You can use it for online payments, ATM withdrawals or POS payments if you opt for their debit card.

b. Some downsides:

• For deposits using gold, platinum, business, corporate or credit cards they apply a fee, which is displayed prior to confirming the deposit. (We noticed a 1.14% charge for Mastercard Gold cards).
• Sending money from Revolut to other accounts (including ours) can take from a few hours to one business day.
• If you top it up by bank transfer, and not by card, your bank’s SEPA charges will apply.
• They have limits on how much money you can deposit, you’ll have to share documents about your source of funds to increase the limits, if needed.

c. How to use Revolut for CoinFlux, if you already have a RON bank account

-> Download the app and create a Revolut account
-> Within the app, activate a RON account and a EUR account
-> Top Up your RON Revolut account, by using your existing bank debit card
-> Within Revolut, exchange your RON into EUR
-> Send EUR to CoinFlux (details in the deposit screen in your EUR wallet).

If you have a EUR account, the process with Revolut is the same as above, minus the exchange step.

Telekom Banking

Telekom Banking is a new joint venture between Telekom and Alior Bank. They offer bank accounts, payments and currency exchange, and at just 5 RON, they are the cheapest option for SEPA payments from Romania. You can deposit RON with them, exchange it to EUR and send from their internet banking platform.

Best option from Romania

a. Advantages:

• You get an individual current account in RON and EUR IBAN and a MasterCard bank card. If you use the account, there are no monthly fees, or 3 RON/month if you don’t use the account on a monthly basis.
• SEPA payments cost just 5 RON. RON payments are free.
• no limit for transfers from your accounts
• multiplatform usage — browser and app

b. Disadvantages:

• You can sign up via the app, but you will need to visit a Telekom store to finish the account opening process. They are everywhere, and it takes a few minutes.
• You need to transfer money in, or deposit in store; they don’t allow you to deposit using your bank card.
• They have two options for FX exchange, and the cheaper option involves a bit of work to set up.
• The app and web interface still need work.

c. How to use Telekom Banking for CoinFlux

• Open the website and create a Telekom Banking account -> Go to a Telekom store and finish the onboarding process, you can deposit money to your account while you’re there -> Log in the the web interface -> Open a EUR current account -> Transfer RON to your EUR account (automatic currency exchange, decent rate) -> Payments -> Foreign Currency payments -> Send EUR to CoinFlux (details in the deposit screen in your EUR wallet).
• In order to benefit from better exchange rates, you can register for their Currency Exchange service at this address. You will need to transfer money from Telekom Banking to the Currency Exchange account (instant transfer), exchange RON to EUR, and then transfer your EUR to your Telekom Banking account (instant). We don’t understand why they made the system so complicated, but the exchange rate is good, and you will want to use it for larger amounts.

Mistertango

Mistertango is a regulated Electronic Money Institution from Lithuania. By law, all funds deposited with them are kept in a safeguarding account with a bank. Our corporate accounts are with Mistertango, so transfers will be instant and free.

Fastest option

Some banks, including BRD-Groupe Societe Generale and Banca Transilvania, are known to refuse sending payments to digital currency exchanges. To get around that, open a personal Mistertango account and send money from your bank to your Mistertango account first (normal bank transfer fees apply). After that, send from your Mistertango account to CoinFlux instantly for free. The banks can’t refuse payments to your own account at another financial institution.

a. Advantages:

• You get an individual current account with EUR IBAN and a MasterCard bank card, for free.
• Instant transfer to CoinFlux Mistertango account, 24/7, for free.
• Free SEPA transfers, once you have money in the account.
• no limit for deposits or withdrawals
• multiplatform usage — browser and app

b. Disadvantages:

• 4% commission for deposits via card
• If you are depositing money via a RON bank card, your bank may charge up to 2% for the EUR-RON conversion.
• customer support could be improved (sometimes answers can take days)

c. How to use Mistertango for CoinFlux, if you already have a RON bank account
-> Download the app and create a Mistertango account
-> Create account (provide email, set up password & PIN, send passport or ID -> Confirm your phone number

Option 1:
->Visit Mistertango’s website
-> Login and copy your IBAN
-> Send EUR to your personal Mistertango account
-> Once the EUR arrive, Send EUR to CoinFlux (details in the deposit screen in your EUR wallet).

Option 2:
-> in your browser visit Mistertango’s website
-> Login and Top Up your EUR Mistertango account, by using your bank debit card (EUR, RON or other)
-> Send EUR to CoinFlux (details in the deposit screen in your EUR wallet).

Traditional banks

Using your current bank account

If you are already trading with us through your EUR bank account, then you can continue the same way, using your current bank.

If you’ve used your RON bank account for deposits and withdrawals in the past, you’ll have to open or use a EUR account in your name. You can do so using your current bank or financial institutions, or find one with lower fees; we’ve compiled a list to help you choose.

a. Advantages

You can use the services of the bank you are already accustomed to, maybe even get some special perks, if you’re a loyal client and they’re a nice bank.

b. Disadvantages

• Costs: All banks in Romania apply SEPA transfer fees. Here’s a list with the most banks in Romania and their SEPA transfer charges, as of late March 2018.
• Duration: it usually takes 1 to 3 business days, depending on the bank.
• Convenience: banks usually require that you visit a branch to open a bank account.
• Risks: some banks are blocking payments to digital currency exchanges. Some of our clients recently experienced that with BRD-Groupe Societe Generale. You will choose to transfer your money from your bank account into your Revolut or Mistertango account and then to CoinFlux, they payment will not be blocked.

Idea Bank has the lowest fees in the local market for SEPA payments (5 EUR), and excellent RON->EUR exchange rates. Marfin Bank and Patria Bank also have lower fees than most banks.

With Libra Internet Bank, you can open an account online and confirm it with your existing bank account. They have average fees, at 0.1%, minimum 10 EUR for SEPA payments.

Services we heard about, but haven’t tested yet

Some of our cool clients, such as yourself, have mentioned other payment options, which we haven’t been able to test yet. We’ll list them below and, if you’ve used them already, please share your experience with us at alex@coinflux.com. We’ll update the article once we’ve completed our testing.

1. Monese
2. Transferwise.com

Why do other services still offer exchange in RON?

This is one of the more frequent questions we’ve received since discontinuing trading in RON. We don’t have insight into what other companies are doing, but here are some of the possible explanations:

1. They have probably received notifications from their banks, stating that their account will be closed soon. We know finding stable banking relationships in Romania can be difficult, and we wish them good look in all endeavors. We enjoy healthy competition in our field in Romania and hope it will continue. Competition results in better services to end customers, and our aim is to provide the best service.
2. They found a bank that was willing to service them, probably due to existing business relationships. Though few banks are willing to understand our business, we’ll continue to seek a local partner.
3. They are being dishonest with their banks about the purpose for which they opened the bank account. One example is misrepresenting their main business activity with the Commerce Registry, while actually only operating an exchange service. We know account opening routines are not perfect, and sometimes, inadvertently, banks open accounts for companies they know too little about. Some services are able to do this because they operate a small exchange, with few incoming and outgoing payments.

CoinFlux never took route 3 with any banks, because we never wanted to risk temporarily losing access to client money while the bank investigates what is actually going on. We believe in building relationships, not taking advantage of imperfect onboarding procedures. We also don’t want to hurt the industry as a whole. We’ve had days with over 2,000 bank operations. You can’t fly under the radar at our scale.

I went into some details about our situation in my previous blog post, and I’m reiterating that we are still in discussions with banks to reopen RON trading. We expect to find more open doors with banks next month, when the European Parliament is scheduled to issue legislation that will regulate digital currency exchanges and custodial wallet providers.

I want to thank our customers for trusting us with their digital currency transactions, and hope this guide will help make the transition to EUR trading easier for them. As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to Customer Support via the website (green button on lower right hand side).