Banking for UN employees

[TomP]

Hello Sebastian – and hello to all who participate and follow this blog. I have a few questions related to personal banking.

– What are the best banking options for UN employees?
– Is the UNFCU a good option? Why/Why not?
– Would banking with a commercial bank be better? I’ll be in Vienna, does anyone have specific advice for banking at that duty station?

Any help / advice would be much appreciated!

Tom

• This topic was modified 5 years, 12 months ago by TomP.

[Rottmair Sebastian]

Hi TomP – I think that’s a great question! Thanks for asking! Everyone else, please chime in – I would like to learn, myself.

Ok, here is the deal as I see it: if you plan on staying your entire life in the UN and you would like to be internationally mobile or when you live in DC/NY then the UNFCU is a great choice. They are a credit union with all associated benefits and the challenges of a (smallish) bank.

If you plan to be in Vienna for a while then the UNFCU may not be ideal for you and a local commercial bank (there should be also local credit unions or Genossenschaftsbanken) may be the solution.

If you live in a country with generally no / or a weak banking system, then the UNFCU is great.

I also am aware of a number of UN colleagues that have split salary payments: one portion into the UNFCU account and one into a (e.g. Euro based) local bank.

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