Off shore banking is a practiced used in finance in which an individual or company transfers or deposits cash into a company in a different country.

This is done for two reasons.

• Other country’s bank’s sometimes have special interest rate accounts for out of the country business.
• Most off shore accounts come with taxation advantages.

Some individuals or companies will transfer funds into an off shore account in order to avoid the taxes in their country because the country that is being used has lower or no tax rates on bank funds.

Off shore banking regulations

Many times, other countries will not allow out of the country businesses or individuals to set up these accounts because they do not want to be used as a financial shield against taxation.

However, apart from governmental regulations, off shore banking accounts have very few restrictions. One of these being a minimum amount in the account; often off shore companies do not allow banking to be done by companies or individuals from other countries if they do not meet a certain dollar amount.

But because it is so expensive to set up one of these accounts, money usually is not an issue and will meet the minimum requirement with relative ease. Apart from this, there are no serious regulations in place for most off shore banks.

An off shore bank may refuse to do business with a company or individual for personal reasons, but this is not commonplace.

Difference between Personal and Business Off shore banking

There is not much difference between personal off shore banking and business off shore banking. However, several subtle intricacies are worth mentioning. One of these intricacies has to do with reasoning. There are many reasons why an individual would deposit personal funds into an account off shore; perhaps for tax reasons, perhaps for domestic, or marital reasons, or perhaps for interest bearing reasons.

As long as the individual has a certain dollar amount, there are few off shore banks that will refuse the business. However, when a business attempts to conduct off shore banking, there are many legal restrictions that must take place to ensure that the banking is for lawful reasons.

We should all save for a rainy day and for the larger items that we like to spend our money on like, holidays, cars, televisions.

Common types of savings accounts.

Easy Access Accounts

These accounts typically are accessible just as much as a checking account or a regular account in a financial institution. As personal savings accounts, they accrue very little interest in contrast to their more strict counterparts. However, their interest rates are still larger than other personal accounts such as a current account or regular accounts.

Notice Accounts

These personal savings accounts are accounts in which access to the funds within is restricted and a period of notice is required, usually one to three months depending on the institution. It is possible to withdraw funds from a notice account early, however, this gains a penalty usually a loss of the high interest rate that the account was earning.

Fixed Rate Bonds

These are personal savings tools in which interest rates are set at the period that the account is set up and remains the same no matter what common interest rates are during the time of its effect. Savers can buy a savings issue tied to bonds that will pay a set rate of interest for a period.

Regular Savers accounts

You have to commit to saving a set amount each month to achieve a higher rate of interest. You normally set up a direct debit or standing order to achieve this. There are normally restrictions on with drawing your money and the typical account allows you to with draw once a year.

Off shore accounts

These are accounts in which an account is set up by mail or over the phone and are normally in a tax haven, or an area of low to no taxation. These accounts are costly to set up, but because taxes are avoided, larger sums can be put into one account with no fear of legal fees.

When setting up a savings account it is very important to look for minimum deposits required, as you may not be able to get the high rate of interest as you don’t have enough to invest, hence your account won’t even be opened.

It is also important to look for withdraw restrictions because early withdraws, always carry penalties on the interest you were being paid, so if your account requires three months notice ensure that non emergency money is used.