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I received an update from GoldMoney about the implementation of an automated system for verification in accordance with their Customer Acceptance Policy. This process is operational for UK and US customers only. As GoldMoney is a registered and regulated money service business under Jersey law they stringently follow and often exceed the minimum required standards for Know Your Client and Anti-Money Laundering regulations.
The new automated process uses the Equifax system which is what many banks use when opening a new bank account. This will reduce the need for sending paper documents which are required to be notarized. This will make setting up a free GoldMoney holding much more convenient with the entire process taking approximately 15-20 minutes. This is greatly improved from the old process of finding a notary and mailing the documents which could take several weeks.
GoldMoney recently reintroduced a funds collection account with a domestic US bank. This is much more convenient and cheaper than sending an international wire transfer to the Jersey bank. After an account is CAP-verified with the new automated system then you can wire money to the domestic account. Funds are usually available to purchase metal within 24 hours. While holding national currencies you will earn interest; not that the rates are very high which is probably driving additional gold buying. Why hold national currencies with such low yields when you can just as easily hold a metal that is much harder to produce?
If you wire large amounts, as one of my readers did a couple weeks ago and purchased the bullion around $780, you will most likely be contacted by GoldMoney as they determine the source of funds in accordance with required regulations and law. Removing funds from the holding is equally fast and easy with funds usually arriving in your domestic bank account within 24 hours.
If there are any GoldMoney customers I would greatly appreciate your comments either on this article or, preferably, on the GoldMoney page. While I have only heard of good experiences with them should anyone have a bad experience please let me know and I will see what I can do. With holdings free to set up and get CAP verified what are you waiting for? Click on the banner and you will also receive 6 months of storage fees waived.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1dG9bhcSes
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This is great news.
Gold Money is great way to invest in gold and silver. They are very easy to work with and the 6 months of free storage fees are great too. Thanks Trace
I have a Goldmoney account. I have had one for a while but it is not funded. It used to be with about $1000 in gold back about 2 years ago. Bach then they had a setup where you didn’t have to wire funds but could EFT through your checking account directly which took 24 hours and no fees, not like wiring. When I opened my account I deposited my funds with EFT after going through the notarization process you mentioned. The setup took about 7 days. However about a month after I had made the deposit, the EFT option was eliminated. This irked me, so I withdrew my money and found another way that works for me without using gold money.
I used to have an e-gold account and an e-bullion account. I LIKE the idea of having my excess cash in gold, sort of like having a checking account that is in gold where the money just sits there until I need it, then when I need it, I EFT to my checking account. I was sorely disappointed when the EFT option was eliminated because it was basically my last chance to use what I would have termed an easily “gold” checking account.
e-gold was not very helpful, but was the grand daddy. I liked them and their idea. I followed them from when they first came out and thought, this is a great idea. Then they got raided for money laundering, which by the way I think was a set up to take them down.
e-bullion was great for a while, and you could use them as your checking account. EFT the cash, leave it in gold, silver or platinum, and if you needed to write a check to someone, you could enter the info on the website and they would cut the check in 24 hours. That was the best of both worlds, a real gold checking account. Then they got closed down by the feds.
All the other gold services have not met my needs of a gold checking account which I think would be a great business if there are any takers out there, but I suspect the regulations are too thick to actually do this.
Currently, I put my excess money into gold and silver physically, AND with a few mining company stock options for the longer term using LEAPS. They are beginning to perform quite nicely.
But I’d still like to see a gold checking account somewhere, and the only thing I can see is the wiring of money to goldmoney and/or bullionvault, and then retrieving it when necessary, but there are huge fees and bid/ask associated with all this that make them not a viable alternative to cash……at least not for what I want to use them for. Instead I just take physical gold into my possession and hold it long term and keep a minimum of cash, enough for my day to day needs.
Any comments?
Max
Doesn’t Equifax use SSN number? Not sure I’d want my Gold account in the Isles linked to a SSN, might be good for some, might be bad for others… but not sure how GM does this verification, I think I’d rather mail it in.
Still GoldMoney rocks! They are the tops in digital gold. Great post.
Mark
I have recommended GoldMoney to many, many people. One person recently asked me: “How do you know GoldMoney is not a ponzi scheme?” I said that GoldMoney is independently audited. “But so was Enron,” the person responded.
I know that GoldMoney audits their holdings and publishes those audits quarterly. I checked online and found the most recent audits were done by ViaMat. They are apparently a big company that stores and takes inventory of gold bullion.
Of course, Arthur Anderson was a big firm that did auditing for Enron. Am I worrying too much? Is it enough due diligence to look at the quarterly inventory by the ViaMat company, and trust that they are not in on some big scam? I didn’t know how to prove that the auditor was actually auditing. What should I tell this person?
Max, GoldMoney is ensconced within the law and has been since inception. The other digital gold currencies like e-gold/e-bullion have not had similar governance procedures in place and have drawn the ire of various regulators. The EFT issue was not GoldMoney’s doing but their service provider’s but I agree that it is annoying not to have the option as I used it also. I find GoldMoney to be a good holding account for cash and keep national currencies there also.
Mark, Yes, Equifax uses the SSN but GoldMoney does not store the information as it is not needed after verification and paper documentation can be submitted so the options are available. Remember, there is of a record of outgoing wires and FBAR requirements may apply. I always recommend following the applicable law anyway.
Henry, GoldMoney is nothing like Enron as all bullion is held in bailment and not on GoldMoney’s balance sheet. There is no counter-party risk. However, when using a third-party there will always be performance risk.
The patented GoldMoney process is an elaborate set of internal control and governance procedures using the strictest accounting procedures. As a result, it is extremely transparent. If you have a holding with GoldMoney then you can request Deloitte & Touche’s audit by sending a message to GM customer service after logging into your holding. For more due diligence see: http://www.runtogold.com/goldmoney/
Euro-Dutch Trust handles the records of who owns what gold. ViaMat is a very reputable Swiss vaulting company and LBMA member (Brinks is the only other). ViaMat stores the actual physical bullion and provides a bar count. Deloitte & Touche audits GoldMoney’s admin system, Euro-Dutch Trust, ViaMat’s records and the physical bullion.
It would take collusion between multiple entities to commit a fraud and the fraud would probably be quickly discovered.
Especially in this environment I do not think you are worrying too much. Mr. Turk, who designed the GoldMoney process, is Chicken Big and he designed it to satisfy his desires. I have researched many services and GoldMoney is the only one I am comfortable with. I am not even comfortable with my brokerage accounts after some of the changes that have been happening.