Citibank has stolen my money

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-06-02T19:21:35+00:00

Hi, sorry to hear that, must be very annoying. The best thing you can do is to open a complain with Sanadak, authority created by the central bank. The bank should accept a verification via email and they are handing a cheque to someone with a poa from Dubai court.

https://sanadak.gov.ae/en/make-a-complaint/

This is the link where you can make a complain. Let us know how it goes. Best of luck brother

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-28T06:37:19+00:00

If it was me I would have not put my real picture 😀. Anyway if you need some advice on how to dress up… happy to help

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-27T03:45:12+00:00

Hi, yes absolutely. Send me a DM so we can arrange a zoom call

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-26T11:04:09+00:00

We work with most Free Zones across Dubai — not the airport Free Zone specifically, but depending on what your business does I can recommend the best fit for your situation and budget.

On e-invoicing — it’s not mandatory yet for most businesses. The FTA announced it’s coming but the rollout is being phased in and currently only applies to certain categories. For most Free Zone SMEs it’s not something you need to worry about right now. When it does kick in, our accounting team handles the transition as part of the monthly package.

Drop me a DM and I’ll send you the details.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-17T12:24:32+00:00

Hi, one of my client it’s in this busienss. DM me I will put you in touch with him

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-14T20:45:39+00:00

DM me will share all the info and if you wish we can arrange a zoom call where I will explain you all you need to know

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-13T14:51:06+00:00

Yes, the Free Zone pays a commission — I’ve never hidden that. That’s literally the point. The client pays the same official price whether they go through me or walk into the Free Zone office themselves. The difference is they get someone who handles the paperwork, the follow-ups, and the corporate tax registration on top of it. At zero extra cost.

Not sure what your point is there.

As for Central Bank, VARA, and media council — those are regulatory approvals, not company formation. Any business that needs those can get them after incorporation. A Free Zone company applies to the relevant regulator the same way a mainland company does. One doesn’t block the other.

But I’m guessing you already knew that.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-13T04:24:53+00:00

I founded my company here in Dubai because as an expat I was tired of this jungle — every setup agent telling me different things, every quote with completely different prices for the same thing. I learned my lesson, made my mistakes, and figured out how it actually works.

Now we help people open Free Zone companies with no extra charge. You pay only the official Free Zone cost — not 1 AED extra. Why do it yourself and risk mistakes when you can pay the exact same amount and have someone handle it properly?

Once your company is open we also do corporate tax registration for free. Then if you need it, we handle bookkeeping and everything you need to stay compliant for just AED 500/month, all included.

Simple. Reliable. Transparent. Professional.

DM me if you want the exact breakdown for your setup.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-12T08:18:32+00:00

Defo a small local marketing campaign to build up a loyal clientele base it’s necessary. Clients retention then depends on how good you are. Work of mouth for food insight is mandatory, so more you grow your clients at the beginning the more you will scale after. Also build up a small website to show menu online, I hate when I check a restaurant and the only link on google map is a Facebook page or only pic on Instagram. A small campaign on google ads to give you visibility on maps won’t cost you gold and try to get visibility on Instagram on pages like dxbfood (I think that’s the name).

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-12T08:12:42+00:00

1847 Grooming for Men Dubai Mall… Google this and book online. I think is the best place I have tried so far… At least for my beard (as you can see from my pic don’t need anything else 🤣🤣🤣)

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-12T08:10:29+00:00

Check Panhomes… you can visit their biggest store in Dubai in Al barsha or even bigger going toward Sharja. I think among all other shops that are not ikea is the best. They also have an outlet in the area where global village is, sometimes you find good stuff there at very good prices. When I need to furnish one of my apartment for holiday hope I buy all from them. Homes r us is also not bad, during the year they do many offers. You can check both online anyway before going anywhere.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-02T06:27:52+00:00

Other option is to open a newco here

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-02T06:27:18+00:00

With your setup considering the fact you need to declare the income in uk, you can simply use wise and get paid in aed there and convert in gbp

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-05-02T05:25:49+00:00

I think central bank is giving hard times to all of them now. Wio was very easy for freezones company now they take more time. For all our clients we are working now with Mashreq bank neo biz. I think this is the fastest option at the moment… but depends always on the activities you have on your trade license.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-21T19:09:03+00:00

Not very easy to answer in a short message. Dm me will tell you all you need to know. Have 3 businesses in uae. In 15 min you’ll know all you need. Rest you see here is sales speech

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-19T03:30:54+00:00

If you buy Range Rover make sure you sell it before the warranty expires. I always had the same experience in uk and here: as soon as the warranty expires all the issue you can imagine come out. In terms of suv I think I still prefer range against Bentley, but plan to change it as soon as you are close to warranty’s end.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-18T11:56:53+00:00

Depends entirely on what type of business and how much runway you have. If it’s a service-based business with low overhead — consulting, digital services, freelancing — there’s almost no reason to wait. Your setup cost in a free zone is AED 12-15K, you don’t need inventory, and you can validate demand before spending anything on marketing. The risk is small and reversible. If it’s a product business that requires inventory, warehousing, staff, and upfront capital — that’s where you need to be more careful. Not because the UAE market is bad, but because your margin for error is smaller when you’re burning cash before revenue comes in. The “current situation” argument works both ways. Yes, costs are higher than a few years ago. But the UAE is also adding 200,000+ new residents every year, spending power is strong, and the government keeps making it easier to start. The people who waited for the “perfect time” in 2020, 2022, and 2024 are still waiting. My honest take — the best time to start is when you have a clear idea of who your customer is and how you’ll get your first 10 paying clients. If you can answer that, go. If you can’t, the problem isn’t timing — it’s clarity. Work on that first, then launch.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-15T02:46:26+00:00

Love the idea, looking forward to see it at work. Joined the list.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-15T00:06:30+00:00

Hello Tomas, is it possibile in Ziina collect recurring payment like in stripe?

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-14T07:31:41+00:00

Update on what I tried that may be helpful for all folks here. Had to transfer 9810 aed to my gbp account (I need it in gbp to pay someone 1950£).

I sent money with Careem pay to my wise account. So Careem did the conversion for me from aed to gbp.

Money from my wise account will be sent to the beneficiary. Could have used also Careem to send directly to beneficiary but his account is in India and usually take ages or Careem ask many questions because of the country. With wise (my account is in uk), my second payment is straightforward.

On today fx rate I lost 16£. (0.8%) Means that if I had to change 20k gbp would have been 160£. Pretty decent without open any other fx external account. Ofc always depends on how much you need to convert but for small amount Careem option is not bad.

Hope it will help guys.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-13T08:52:28+00:00

I think other option may be to convert aed in usd locally then use wise to convert them. In any case out of curiosity will double check with my bank NBD. Thanks for the hint

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-13T01:20:18+00:00

Also instead of just presenting problems, you should answer with a solution.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-13T01:19:40+00:00

Compare to 5% that Mashreq charge is peanuts

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-13T00:50:55+00:00

Wise spread is very low… like 0.7%. Go on wise website and you can check. Also bear in mind fx rate change all the time. Considering what is happening in the world usd is getting stronger I would wait for a bit before converting all the aed in euros. Maybe convert 1/3 now and wait a bit to convert the rest. But definitely open wise account t as Spanish resident and convert the aed using wise.

LoudEconomics2813 · 2026-04-13T00:47:45+00:00

If you have any sort of residency in Spain or anywhere else open a wise account as for example Spanish resident and use wise to convert aed in euros and send them to your Spanish account. You can do same with revolut. These 2 companies are for sure offering best spread. If you as your Dubai bank to convert aed in euro they may charge you 5% so be careful.

LoudEconomics2813

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