Transferring Large Amounts to Foreign Accounts

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1

Hi all,

In the first quarter of next year I’ll be spending some time in Vietnam. Whilst there I intend to get tattooed and will be sending circa ~4K gbp to a Vietnamese bank account.

I have already sent my initial deposit without hitch! But wanted to notify monzo of my intention as dont want them to freeze my account on the suspicion that my account has been compromised.

I have tried to call, and also explore live chat options but cannot figure out how to speak to a monzo representative directly.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Many thanks in advance.

2

Should’ve sent the full lots in one go, small then large is a good way to trigger.

Letting banks know ahead of time doesn’t change much.

Have you evidence of the purchase of goods in form of invoice?

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3

With all due respect, when it comes to tattooing you pay per session. I’m not going to pay upfront for a tattoo that isn’t completed.

Apologies if I wasn’t clear, but I’ll be sending the money across around a 6 week period.

I’ll enquire about an invoice.

Thank you for your response.

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4

Is the account in Vietnam in your name or are you sending it to the tattoo artist each time?

Why not just load your £4k upfront into whatever app you’re using (Wise is usually best) to transfer money?

Though I’d imagine it’s a non issue, I have had no issues moving similar amounts before, and the scam prevention team solve things in a few days at most usually

5

£4k for a tattoo in a country that has an incredibly low monthly wage?!

But telling Monzo in advance won’t change anything. They’ll still flag it as suspicious if they think it is suspicious at the time.

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6

Sending to the artists account each time.

Was just going to use the in app transfer (using wise) but hadn’t thought to circumvent and download wise separately. Will look in to that now. Probably better doing it now rather than on the road.

Appreciate your response. Thank you Jon.

7

Yes sir!

The same tattoo over here would cost upwards of 8k!

Such is the price we pay for vanity…

Thanks for your response.

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It’s really quite a small amount. I know it might be a lot to you but realistically in the context of international banking it’s not a big transaction. I wouldn’t worry about it tbh.

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Appreciate the response, thanks for the reassurance BM!

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Without wanting to go too far off topic and of course if you’re happy to share.

I’d be intrested to see what an £8k valued tattoo looks like and more detail around it. I.e. the brief, the technicalities, I assume it’s bespoke etc.

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11

Japanese style tattooing (Irezumi/wabori/horimono)often comes at great cost. Especially if opting to go for a full backpiece!

Top Artists in the UK often charge £150+ p/h (although discussing specific pricing in an open forum is typically considered taboo!) Naturally artists in countries with a lower gdp cost less though you should consider foreigner tax…!

A backpiece can take upwards of 50 hours…

Lots of great documentaries on YouTube (and the irezumi subreddit is also a treasure trove of info)

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You would think logically that informing a bank in advance would prevent action, however in most cases it will not. UK banks are the most stringent that they have ever been because of the immense pressure and threat of fines from the UK regulator. EU banks are bound by MLE laws etc. but are far better in this regard than UK 1s.

It is still worth talking to Live Chat as they can pop a note on your account which a compliance officer will see when they look into a freeze, however support agents do not have the tools to set custom parameters as to what is and isn’t going to trigger a freeze on your Monzo account for obvious reasons.

Have you considered Wise for international banking? You can use it anywhere, no need for dodgy-to-UK bank looking local bank accounts in Vietnam, international money exchange is their bread and butter.

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