Open a ๐Ÿ’ฑ CurrencyFair account to fund your U.S. broker

If you want to be able to buy US domiciled ๐Ÿ“ˆ ETFs, such as ARKK, VTI, or VXUS from Europe/U.K., you’ll want to be using a US broker. Previously we have gone through the process of opening such an account with Tastytrade, which can be found here. In this step we will look at opening a CurrencyFair account to fund Tastytrade from Europe.

Already have an account? Read the next blog post for funding instructions.

In order to fund the account, you’ll have to deposit the funds via bank wire. Unfortunately, both transferring and converting the money from a European account can be quite costly. ๐Ÿ’ธ To minimize costs and to keep things simple, it’s best to use CurrencyFair to wire your deposit to your brokerage account.

Note that alternatives such as Wise (formerly TransferWise), Revolut etc. are not accepted and only CurrencyFair is explicitly supported by ๐Ÿ’ Tastytrade (see below). Only CurrencyFair will correctly use the SWIFT network as required, whereas other services will only use ACH, leading to a failed transaction. Using any other services could also lead to a $30 reversal fee being charged.

Opening a CurrencyFair account to fund Tastytrade from Europe

To start the registration, click here. Using the link will also earn you a free โ‚ฌ50 bonus and support this blog! ๐ŸŽ Be sure to disable ad and cookie blocking if you want to be sure the bonus is applied.

CurrencyFair is among the providers offering the lowest conversion and transfer fees. When I did a quick comparison writing this blog, I even found it to be the cheapest at the time. ๐Ÿค‘

A transfer still isn’t completely free, as it would be within ๐ŸŒ Europe, but consider that the lack of fees for buying and selling stocks and ETFs with Tastytrade will make up for that.

To minimize costs, it is best to transfer as much as possible at once, instead of via multiple smaller transfers. To be eligible for the โ‚ฌ50 bonus, a transfer of at least โ‚ฌ2,000 (or the equivalent in the depositing currency) is required. ๐Ÿ’ถ

If you are looking to only invest a few hundred ๐Ÿ’ต dollars, it might be best to consider an alternative option. Click here to learn how to get exposure to U.S. ETFs via CFDs, requiring only a $200 minimum deposit (and just $50 thereafter). Be aware though, that with this method, access is limited to the most common ETFs.

After opening the link, click ‘Sign Up’ in the upper right-hand corner.

Choose whether you’d like a personal or business account, put in your email address, desired ๐Ÿ”‘ password, and click ‘Next’.

When choosing the purpose of the funds, choose ‘Investments/ Divestments/ Dividends’. Click to agree to the terms and ‘Create [personal/business] account’. For this guide we’ll be creating a personal account.

Click the arrow button next to ‘Send money abroad quickly’ to continue.

Provide your personal information and click ‘Next’. Now provide your income, desired transaction size, choose ๐Ÿฆ… USA as destination country, and USD as currency to use (along with your own currency).

On the next screen you will find the option to immediately initiate a transaction. However, to prevent delays or issues later on, we want to verify our ๐Ÿ›‚ identity first.

Verification

When opening a CurrencyFair account to fund Tastytrade from Europe, it is advisable to immediately start the account verification process to prevent any issues later on. Instead of clicking ‘Next’, click the CurrencyFair logo in the upper left-hand corner to proceed.

Next, navigate to the left-hand menu and choose ๐Ÿ“ƒ ‘My Documents’. You should now see a screen allowing you to upload your identification. You can choose to upload a passport, driver’s license, or government id. The document should display:

  • Your name (same as provided during registration)
  • Your date of birth (same as provided during registration)
  • That it is within the expiry date shown
  • Your signature

Note that all four corners should be visible and that only color scans or photos are accepted. When taking a ๐Ÿ“ธ photograph, beware of any reflections.

Step 2 will require a recent (within the last 3 months) proof of address. If you do not receive bank statements via ๐Ÿ“ฎ mail, many banks offer to to provide one for verification purposes when asked. Alternatively, one could request a ‘balance letter’. The proof of address should contain:

  • Your name (same as provided during registration)
  • Your full address (same as provided during registration)
  • A letterhead (e.g. a company logo)
  • A date within the last 3 months

After submitting, your application should be processed in one business day. ๐Ÿ•

Transferring to your broker

Once both your Tastytrade and CurrencyFair account have been created, you can now proceed by ๐Ÿ’ฐ funding your account. Click here for detailed instructions.

Did you already receive your bonus? How long did the verification take? Leave a comment below and share your experience.

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16 comments

  1. hi,
    I have just opened the LiNK and registered today.BUT It says the offer “Give โ‚ฌ50, get โ‚ฌ50” ends 31.01.2021. I think it is too late to get the 50 via transfering 2000 to Tastyworks, because my tastyworks is still in verification. Do you know if I can get 50 by top up my currencyfair with 2000?
    AND just FYI, the verification of currecyfair might have changed and looks differently from your screenshot. under My documents there are only buttions to upload different documents. But it is not specifized as documents for verification.

      1. Hi Peipei, this promo usually gets extended. Sometimes it gets lowered to โ‚ฌ30 for a while, but generally it seems to be โ‚ฌ50. Good to hear it’ll at least be extended till the end of January (at least for now). Good luck!

  2. HI,I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT MAKES currencyfair DIFFERENT FROM TRANSFERWISE? WHY DOES US BROKER ACCEPT CURRENCYFAIR BUT NOT TRANSFERWISE? AND IT IS POSSIBLE TO USE CURRENCYFAIR TO FUND FIRSTRADE TOO ? many thanks in ADVANCE. <3

    1. Hi, according to Tastyworks the difference is that CurrencyFair correctly utilizes the SWIFT wire network for the transfer, whereas TransferWise does not and thus the transfer gets stuck. Firstrade accepts neither CurrencyFair nor TransferWise, I’ve tried… Hope this helps, good luck!

  3. Will this method allow me to purchase SPY ?
    I’m in the UK and have an Interactive Brokers account, but not allowed to purchase SPY.

    1. Hi Anthony, sure you can. Alternatively you could opt to buy VUSA/VUAA via Interactive Brokers, but if you want to buy options on it I see why you’d prefer SPY.

  4. Just tried to use your link for the registration, for some reason it was not captured. Reported this to support, and I got the answer to provide either the CurrencyFair ID or the Email address of the friend’s account in order that they can follow up and grant the free bonus.

  5. Hello,

    First of all I wanted to thank you for your blog: the articles are very well done and really useful.

    With your help, I was able to take all the necessary steps to open a TastyWorks account and fund it with CurrencyFair from France.

    I will finally be able to invest in the famous TQQQ.

    In fact, I wish we could both benefit from the $ 50 bonus.

    I therefore used your referral link to make my transfer of 2000 โ‚ฌ but I think it was not taken into account.

    CurrencyFair asks me for your account number or email address so they can do what is necessary.

    I thank you in advance.

    Regards,

    1. Hi, no problem, I have mailed you the details. It seems lately the referral link hasn’t been working properly anymore. I have changed the way the link works a bit. Hope this resolves the issue…

  6. Thanks for the information! Worked out for me. Can you make a small tutorial for withdrawing the money from tastyworks using CurrencyFair as well? Greetings

    1. Sorry for the bump, Steffen, but have you or Europoor found a way to withdraw money from Tastytrade via CurrecyFair?
      I am very interested in just that, too.

      Thanks to you for starting this question, and thanks to Europoor’s admin to make this highly informative website!

      Greetings, Fredrik

      1. Hi Fredrik, for a withdrawal you have to use Wire. I rarely do withdraw, but if you need to, it’ll be very quick and easy. Only downside is that it’s relatively expensive. But again, I rarely do so anyway so I consider it acceptable.

  7. I have used this method and it still works with tradestation & currencyfair, but you get hit with currencyfairs intermediary bank wire fee of $20 per transfer. Is that also the case with TASTYWORKS?

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