The view from Jeremy Wood's window is astonishing: huge blue skies and the peaks of the snow-capped Andes. Based in Argentina, not far from the Chilean border, it's perhaps not surprising that his top banking priority is quality online banking.
"For me, internet banking is key," he says. "Without it you find yourself trudging off to bank branches, waiting in queues and then explaining things to people who don't always speak your language. So my second highest priority would be a bank that supported my native language; the accessibility of branches the third – it takes me two days to drive to Buenos Aires."
Although opening an account in Argentina is fairly straightforward, since the financial crisis in the late 1990s, knowing where to open it is key. "As time passes you get to know who you can trust, and you also get to know people who work in banks," says Woods, who has been based in Patagonia for eight years and has a UK and an Uruguayan bank account.
He also thinks that an offshore account could make a big difference to him. "It would make a lot of sense," he says, "and if that bank could be one that works in your language and understands about banking in your local country then that would be great."
