I’ve just opened (and eventually received a card for) an account with MeTech, a euro denominated Maltese bank account with an MT IBAN. KYC took around a day and I was given a virtual card to use straight away.
Let’s see how long THIS one lasts…given my experience with Fineco, N26 and Nuri banks.
I’m into the third week of trying to get through the MeDirect verification 
Been through Fineco, Nuri, and Bankera. On the Fineco front, going by the emails they’ve been sending, it seems possible to open online directly with Fineco Italy.
The app is really buggy. Half the time it asks you to input a code you chose that it then doesn’t recognise, and the haptics just takes you back to the code screen. The only solution is to close the app, close down the iPhone and reboot.
I tried opening a Sterling account - it wouldn’t let me, because ‘no funding account is found’, but there’s nowhere to set one up. The app also doesn’t show you the IBAN.
Shall we say a ‘work in progress’?
More of a lack of progress in validating my ID 
Another day, another email to redo it.
Messaged them as regards opening a sterling account - they did not read the message for 5 working days. Their response made no sense, so I wrote back, and 2 minutes later they gave clearer instructions. They also told me where the (Maltese) IBANs were. So I now have a MeTech sterling account
I could have called support - but it’s a phone number in - guess where ? - Malta
If you’re just looking for free EU land withdrawals, Schwab One might be better as they refund ATM fees everywhere. It’s in dollars though.
Don’t you need $25k to invest?
No, they dropped the $25k requirement sometime in the last year or possibly two.
Cheapest way to get money into it seems to be by linking a Wise dollar account. Takes a couple of days as US banking is way behind UK banking: no Faster Payments equivalent and it’s their equivalent of a BACS transfer.
Funnily enough I had an email from Wise telling me as I hadn’t used the dollar details on the account, they were withdrawing the facility - unless I made a transaction before December. Which I promptly did from Revolut.
Looked at the KYC - may give this a go.
I’ve only used the USD details a couple of times myself.
The Schwab account seems easy enough to open, mostly old style compared to the UK. You need to print and scan the signature card to get the debit card and checks. Yes, American checks. No option to get the card without getting the checks as far as I can see.
The funding doesn’t work from Revolut. They could put the money in, but the direct debit didn’t work, so I’m up $0.10 
Thought I was in business, but another MeDirect reminder to verify my ID arrived this morning 
MeDirect have given up on me…
We regret to inform you that we are unable to process your application since the details you provided fall outside the Bank’s business parameters.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this has caused.
What a ridiculously oblique response
I think someone got the same a while ago on the Monzo forum too.
Mind you, I’d pretty much given up on getting through the ID verification stage. Two or three times a week for several weeks. Yeah, I’m stoopid
Schwab card ordered day before Thanksgiving last week just arrived. $1000 daily ATM limit I gather, ATM charges are refunded, and no conversion fees (the account is in dollars).
It will forever remain a mystery, like me having plenty dollar in my Zopa account and their eligibility calculator telling me I can’t get a Zopa credit card.
That’s not a mystery - lenders don’t count savings/investments when looking at credit eligibility. I had approaching £100K in investments with NatWest but they would only give me a measly £2,000 credit limit on my Reward card.
Not universally true.
Zopa target a sub-to-near-prime customer base with their credit card so @riceuten ‘s high balance could actually have worked against him. (To be clear, I have no idea either way, but it is certainly possible!)
Customers of straight forward, vanilla, non-partnership credit cards who spend in the UK and clear their balances in full each month are very difficult to generate a profit from.