Obtaining A Bank of Georgia Bank Card Was Super Easy!

We had been in Batumi, Georgia for four months & was asked to join an online group of international travelers that live and work in Georgia. During one of the group discussions they were talking about how easy it was for foreigners to set up bank accounts. The owner of our first rental unit worked at a Georgian bank, so we contacted him to inquire about setting up a bank account in Georgia. Based on the information he provided, we thought it might be worth our time to get a Bank of Georgia bank card. In talking to the banker, we had a choice of banks, Bank of Georgia, TBC & TeraBank, he suggested Bank of Georgia because it was the largest bank.

The main reason we wanted a local bank card was to avoid getting hit with the foreign transaction fee whenever we used our U.S. bank card. (Georgia is one of two countries we’ve traveled that has hit us with int’l fees). Although the fees were not that much we were charged every time we used our U.S. card & pennies do add up!

Bank of Georgia Application Process

The receptionists at the front desk of the Bank of Georgia we visited spoke English which helped with clarity when we stated what we were looking for. They gave each of us a two page account application to fill out (we were not allowed to have both names on one account) & return to them.

Although The Big Guy & I set next to each other when filling out the papers, we did not compare answers! REMEMBER THIS!

Once we had the docs completed along with our Passports in hand The Big Guy was sent in one direction & I in another. Along with our passports, they asked for our local address & Georgian phone number which we had both. She explained the difference in three plans they offered & we both chose the middle which allowed 3,000 GEL transfers a month with no additional fee. The package comes with two cards – the Yellow Plus card (which also earns store rewards) & Bank of Georgia Mastercard (international use) on the same account which makes it super easy to track your spending for budget purposes!

Fifteen minutes after walking in I had my Bank of Georgia Yellow Plus card in hand & was told to come back in three days to pick up the personalized MasterCard.

Meanwhile, I kept glancing over at The Big Guy who kept giving me those shrugs that said ‘I don’t know what the heck is going on’. When finished I walked over to sit with him. The lady behind the desk was furiously typing into her computer & offering no comments other than printing out documents & handing him 3 or 4 sheets for his signature (I only signed once?). After about an hour, she finally gave him a Yellow Plus card & Mastercard, with no additional instructions.

The ladies at the front counter stopped us as we neared the exit & asked if we needed help setting up the online banking app. Thank God they were on it because we would have made it home & pulling our hair out trying to set up the banking app. Once out the door we compared notes as to why why why it took him so long in the process?? What alarm was triggered that she needed more than an hour for him to do what took me less than 15 minutes? Did the color of skin make a difference in the process?? OR was it something else? Well, for all his wisdom & intelligence, under the heading “Source of Income” on the Application he had written ‘the source of his pension‘ where I had written ‘pension’? HMMMMM. All his speeches about KEEP IT SIMPLE, came to a SQUEAKING HALT. We believe his adding the source of his pension set off an alarm that caused over an hour more paperwork.

I had been given a page with wiring instructions from our bank to this card. Using Remitly to transfer money from home account to Bank of Georgia account cost us $1.99 per transfer. After having used the cards for a couple months, they have been really easy to load & use – definitely saving us some money! Both cards have a four year expiration date & the bank cost of the use of the cards is 10 GEL a month or $3.79 USD (today’s conversion rate). Plus, adding both to your Wallet insures you are always covered!

Using the cards is where things get interesting- – the Yellow Plus card is an American Express debit card & not accepted at every location, but the majority of the locations that do accept the Yellow card has given an extra discount to certain purchases. We have seen discounts as high as 20% at some places & FYI the discounts have already more than covered the 10 Gel monthly fee.

One more benefit of the Yellow Card is you can use on the city bus. It cost us .70 GEL which in today’s conversion is .27 cents from point A to B!

Conclusion

This is the only country we have visited so far that allows a visitor to obtain a bank card. All in all we have been extremely happy with using the cards. When you are a senior couple traveling on a strict monthly budget pennies do add up!