EXPATTOOLS EST. 2017
APPROVED SUPPLIERS · FORM S-1

The field kit

The banking, insurance and connectivity stack we actually set up for relocation clients — kept short on purpose. Two entries are affiliate partnerships; everything else is listed because we use it, not because anyone paid.

Disclosure Links marked Affiliate earn us a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. They are the only two such relationships on this page, and they fund the site's upkeep. We would name both even if they didn't pay — they are what we install first, for ourselves included. Full policy in our privacy notice.

Money & transfers

DESK S-1

First problem every relocating client has: their salary is in one currency and their rent is in another. Bank rails lose 2–4% on every conversion; specialist services lose a fraction of that. We set this up before anything else.

Affiliate

Wise — multi-currency account and international transfers at the real mid-market rate with low, transparent fees. Trusted by 16M+ people; the #1 tool we recommend to every expat client, and the account we invoice our own cross-border work through.

Open a Wise account

Also sound, no relationship: Revolut (similar multi-currency wallet, stronger app budgeting) and a local bank once you have your residence permit — see the country files for each country's expat-friendly banks.

Health & travel insurance

DESK S-2

Between leaving a national system and joining a new one there is a gap — sometimes months, sometimes years if you're visa-hopping. Bridging it properly is the difference between an annoyance and a five-figure hospital bill.

Affiliate

SafetyWing — nomad health insurance built for remote workers: covers you in 180+ countries from about $45/month, month to month, cancel anytime. A sensible bridge until you enter a national system.

Check SafetyWing

For longer, settled stays, compare quotes from local private insurers — most EU countries offer resident plans well under €100/month once you're registered. Each city dossier notes what locals actually use.

Connectivity

DESK S-3

Landing without data means scrambling for airport Wi-Fi to order a taxi. An eSIM bought before wheels-up solves it for a few dollars.

No affiliate yet — plain recommendation: Airalo or Holafly for eSIMs covering 190+ destinations, activated before departure. When we negotiate a partner rate here, it will be disclosed exactly like the two above.

Paperwork accelerators

DESK S-4

How we pick

POLICY

A service enters this kit only if we have used it for a client or for ourselves, it survives an actual problem (a frozen transfer, a claim, a dead SIM), and its pricing is transparent at the moment of sign-up. We drop partners who degrade — and we say so when we do. If you've had a bad experience with anything listed here, tell us; corrections get published.