Any Warka MC Debit card holders?

[Maynard57]

I have a Warka account and a Mastercard debit card. I made some notes based on email correspondence with Warka, which I promptly lost, and can't remember answers regarding some of the questions I was looking into.

Hence, I still have questions, and if anyone could chime in, I'd be much obliged. What is the cash withdrawal limit with the debit card? Given the $10,000 daily cash transaction limit ala Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, does that limit apply to any purchases in excess of $10k made with the debit card? What is the daily cash withdrawal limit using the card? I'm also wondering, given Warka's affiliation with Citibank in New York, is it possible to liquidate the Warka account by transferring funds to an account at Citibank?

If anyone has any answers on this, I'd like to hear them.

TIA and of course - cheers,

Maynard

Edited February 20, 2011 by Maynard57

[R2d2dc]

Great questions

[Frank61]

I have a Warka account and a Mastercard debit card. I made some notes based on email correspondence with Warka, which I promptly lost, and can't remember answers regarding some of the questions I was looking into.

Hence, I still have questions, and if anyone could chime in, I'd be much obliged. What is the cash withdrawal limit with the debit card? Given the $10,000 daily cash transaction limit ala Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, does that limit apply to any purchases in excess of $10k made with the debit card? What is the daily cash withdrawal limit using the card? I'm also wondering, given Warka's affiliation with Citibank in New York, is it possible to liquidate the Warka account by transferring funds to an account at Citibank?

If anyone has any answers on this, I'd like to hear them.

TIA and of course - cheers,

Maynard

As far as I know the daily limit to withdraw is $10,000 USD. There are no provisions with citibank per say as they are not partners beyond MC. However you can open a citibank account and do an external transfer wire from warka.

[chuckray]

never much good news here regarding Warka :

it is not the kind of bank that i would ever deal with

[82Corp.]

I have a Warka account and a Mastercard debit card. I made some notes based on email correspondence with Warka, which I promptly lost, and can't remember answers regarding some of the questions I was looking into.

Hence, I still have questions, and if anyone could chime in, I'd be much obliged. What is the cash withdrawal limit with the debit card? Given the $10,000 daily cash transaction limit ala Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act, does that limit apply to any purchases in excess of $10k made with the debit card? What is the daily cash withdrawal limit using the card? I'm also wondering, given Warka's affiliation with Citibank in New York, is it possible to liquidate the Warka account by transferring funds to an account at Citibank?

If anyone has any answers on this, I'd like to hear them.

TIA and of course - cheers,

Maynard

Hello Maynard,

The daily cash ATM withdrawal is $800.00 USD per day. You can liquidate your Warka account anytime with anyone bank by wire transfer. As for Title III, US - Patriot Act (good question) I'll contact my accountant (of 30 years plus) send you a personnel email. I have had nothing but good luck with Warka, last years interest earned on saving $2,800+ at years end. Over $3,000 interest on CD's. I will add Warka is very prepared for this RV they have set in place safety measures to prevent a run on their bank. Reason I say this; I have personnel friends within Warka. Best of luck my friend, "GOD, not my will, Your Will Be"!

[Maynard57]

Thanks, 82corp. I'm looking forward to what you find out about the wire transfer. If things get rocky in Iraq, I wanna be able to move my money.

Thanks for the other replies as well.

Maynard

[jack]

"What's your strategy?"

To get all of your money out of Warka, LAST YEAR!

Good luck!

[Frank61]

Hello Maynard,

The daily cash ATM withdrawal is $800.00 USD per day. You can liquidate your Warka account anytime with anyone bank by wire transfer. As for Title III, US - Patriot Act (good question) I'll contact my accountant (of 30 years plus) send you a personnel email. I have had nothing but good luck with Warka, last years interest earned on saving $2,800+ at years end. Over $3,000 interest on CD's. I will add Warka is very prepared for this RV they have set in place safety measures to prevent a run on their bank. Reason I say this; I have personnel friends within Warka. Best of luck my friend, "GOD, not my will, Your Will Be"!

I agree. I have enjoyed 2 very good years with warka. They are not always the fastest but they do what you need in a decent time frame for the ME.

[82Corp.]

"What's your strategy?"

To get all of your money out of Warka, LAST YEAR!

Good luck!

Hello Jack,

My strategy is simple, I'll cash in 24.2M IQD in my Safety Deposit box and set for 3 to 5 years on $50K + in Warka funds, CD's and watch ISX grow.

Best of luck too!

[82Corp.]

Hello Maynard,

Here is my accountants reply, question was $10K purchase using the Master Card.

It could be reported or it may not. The rules the Banks have to adhere to under the act are a lot more subjective than objective. Much is left up to the Bank other than the onus is on them to investigate all possibilities and suspicions of money laundering. They can report you for a $1,000 transaction if they just think you acted suspicious. The penalties for Banks not reporting are huge. There was recently a bank that got fined 50 million because they had money launderings taking place that the feds felt they should have known about. Having said that, if you do get reported for an incident odds are you will never hear anything from the feds about it. At worst you might get a phone call or a visit from them just wanting you to explain your transaction.

[Maynard57]

Thanks 82Corp. Very helpful tips. I think I'm gonna be doing some serious reporting overkill to my bank and make a clear paper trail as to where the money is coming from.

Maynard

[summershah]

How do i open an account at Warka Bank and which account should i open ?

[Soup]

As far as I know the daily limit to withdraw is $10,000 USD. There are no provisions with citibank per say as they are not partners beyond MC. However you can open a citibank account and do an external transfer wire from warka.

Thank you Maynard , Frank61, 82Corp., and those others that responded with tips.

I hope that more information on this is given.

I have a Warka account, I also have a Citi Bank account. I have online banking to both, and I do see how to log onto the Citi bank account and wire money out (this would include sending to my Warka account).

What I do not know is how to wire my Warka account money back to Citi bank (or anywhere else).

As things are now, it takes a week to hear back from Warka when I have a question. It took a month to receive my user name and password. After the RV, they will be much busier than they are today, so I am looking to have a plan now, and know what to do.

I hope to find some guidance and some ideas on this.

Thanks

[Traveler12]

never much good news here regarding Warka :

it is not the kind of bank that i would ever deal with

Here is some good news!

Several years ago I had a very good trip to Vegas. On a lark, I opened an account at Warka Bank with the winnings. NID's were 1USD = 1475 NID at that time. Over the years I have put the funds in CD's and as each one matures, I draw a little back. I recently did my last "recovery" withdrawal. I have all my investment back and several million dinars in my account. I don't have a Citibank account. I just send them an e-mail withdrawal request with wiring instructions and in a week or two I get the money. No problems. I have a MasterCard debt card as well but I don't like to use it because of MasterCards huge fees. I can't get 10% interest in the US. 1470 down to 1170 helped too.

Granted, Warka Bank is sometimes slow in answering e-mails. Remember they didn't do much internet under Saddam.

US citizens who have little knowledge concerning international banking often judge foreign banks by US banks operating standards. Almost every country has differences in their banking regulations. Ever deal with Dominican Republic or Argentina? They have some real peculiar ideas on banking.

As an example, there is a rumor that AsiaCell is suing Warka because they will not return some $29 million in Dinars. It is not Warka's call. AsiaCell owes ZunneCell huge piggybacking fees and their Warka account has been frozen. This happens in the US every day.

Warka enjoys the full faith and backing of the CBI just as Chase or BOA does with the Fed. Don't you think maybe recent issues with US banks scared the bejesus out of foreign depositors? Do you really think the ISX would continue with Warka if they were bankrupt? Non-sense! Warka is the largest private bank in Iraq. Iraqi banking regulation do not allow banks there to make public statements about every little issue. Much of the information we see about banks in the US is considered confidential in most foreign banks.

Recent changes in IT in Iraq (as mentioned in the Rumor sections of several forum as a pre-r/v issue) have caused some operational problems for all Iraqi banks. Pumpers see Warka as competition and the idea that Warka Bank is a much smarter choice than having physical dinars shoved under your mattress gives them considerable heartburn. There is not much you can do with physical notes but sit (or lay) on them. There is no debit card or conversion to USD right into your US account with paper notes.

Just my opinion.

[TNSPYDER]

WOW! A very impressive post,Traveler. What you said makes so much sense

. I especially agree with your point on avoiding the "Spread" Dinar dealers charge. As soon as I figure it out how to do it, I would like to add you to my "Friends"list.

All the best,

Charles

[AJ 37]

Hi Traveller 12

I agree with your statement. It is very logical. Warka got the most number of branches in Iraq and it is considered as one of the most sophisticated banks. I think competetors don't like them as they have the lion share of all overseas accounts. This is my opinion. Cheers

[AK47]

Hello Maynard,

The daily cash ATM withdrawal is $800.00 USD per day. You can liquidate your Warka account anytime with anyone bank by wire transfer. As for Title III, US - Patriot Act (good question) I'll contact my accountant (of 30 years plus) send you a personnel email. I have had nothing but good luck with Warka, last years interest earned on saving $2,800+ at years end. Over $3,000 interest on CD's. I will add Warka is very prepared for this RV they have set in place safety measures to prevent a run on their bank. Reason I say this; I have personnel friends within Warka. Best of luck my friend, "GOD, not my will, Your Will Be"!

Hi 82Corp! I have an account with Warka and want to get a debit card. How do I go about this? Any tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

[rapidrex]

never much good news here regarding Warka :

it is not the kind of bank that i would ever deal with

Why do you say that?

I have been doing business with Warka for going on seven years and I have never had a problem,

other than a slow email response. They just kept getting better over the years.

[dsl]

I too, like AK47 have a Warka account ( which by the way I have had excellent service) & I also have e-banking set up but would like to get a Debit Card - How do we go about getting one? If someone could chime in with instructions it would be appreciated or directions where to find the instructions.

Thanks Nanad

[rapidrex]

I agree. I have enjoyed 2 very good years with warka. They are not always the fastest but they do what you need in a decent time frame for the ME.

ditto slow but very good to deal with. Much faster now.

The Card is not going to be used until they have an international currency, anyway.

[rapidrex]

Hi 82Corp! I have an account with Warka and want to get a debit card. How do I go about this? Any tips you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

I emailed them to find out the procedure, and they sent me the necessary forms, via email. It took a couple more emails as the information I needed to provide, I was unsure of. I have mine in place, now. Was told it won't be available for use for a while, then will be accepted all over the world...or at least 120 plus places, or something like that.

Below is a reply I got from them...and the questions I asked of them.

I have a couple of questions regarding the Authorization Letter.

1. How much are the courier fees? (sixty dollars)

2. What is the " DHL address with mobile # " ? (the address that we will send the cards to and you can receive it and the DHL office can contact you if they cant reach your address.)

3. Do you have a specific form for the Authorization Letter? If so, please attach. (An ordinary authorization letter which should include your name and the account # then you should authorized the bank to deduct the courier fees and send the cards to a set address.)