BullionVault lets you buy pure physical gold and silver at the lowest possible price

There are 3 ways to make a money transfer from a US bank into your BullionVault account, ready to buy gold or silver. Starting with the quickest, they are : -

1. USA domestic wire transfers - e.g. FedWire or ACH payments NOT online banking/checks

Available from all US banks. Expect to pay around $30 in fees. Should take 1-2 working days to clear. Bank of America acts as US intermediary for Lloyds Banking Group.

Payee: LTSBReGalmarleyBullionVClt
Bank: Bank of America N.A.
City / state: 222 Broadway, New York, NY 10038-2510
Account number: 6550-5-61034
Routing codes:
ABA: 026009593
BIC: BOFAUS3N
CHIPS: 959

You MUST quote your BullionVault username as the reference on ALL transfers.

Please note: This account is restricted to US domestic electronic receipts – for example FedWire or ACH payments – which your bank teller can make on your behalf. We cannot accept checks or online banking transfers to this account. Please use the check/online transfer details below instead.

Special note for Bank of America customers: Transfers to this account require access to the Branch Funds Transfer system. If your teller cannot make this transfer, please ask a Personal Banker. They will have access to the correct system.

2. Direct transfers to London

Funds should take 1 working day to clear. Expect to pay around $30 in fees. May not be available from all US banks and branches.

Bank: Lloyds TSB Bank plc
Branch: Threadneedle Street (300009), London, EC2R 8PT, UK.
SWIFT BIC: LOYDGB2L

A/C name: BullionVaultClientA/CUSDollar($)
IBAN: GB26 LOYD 3000 0911 4781 92
A/C number: 11478192

You MUST quote your BullionVault username as the reference on ALL transfers.

Correspondent bank (if required):
Wachovia Bank in New York
ABA # 026005092

3. USA online banking transfers

Available from all US banks. Should be free or cost a nominal charge of 50¢. Expect to wait 5-10 working days for your funds to clear. Bank of America acts as US intermediary for Lloyds Banking Group.

Payee: LTSBReGalmarleyBullionVClt
Bank: Bank of America N.A.
Address: PO/Lock Box 841350, Dallas, TX 75284-1350
Account number: 6550-5-61034
Routing codes:
ABA: 026009593
BIC: BOFAUS3N
CHIPS: 959

You MUST quote your BullionVault username as the reference on ALL transfers.

Bank of America acts as the US agent for Lloyds Banking Group, the British bank which holds the BullionVault Client Cash account. BoA is simply an intermediary, taking deposits and transferring them to London.

You can bypass this step, making a direct deposit to Lloyds Banking Group, if your bank is able to make international transfers. Expect to pay $30 or so. Direct transfers should take no more than 24 hours.

Many hundreds of US savers already use BullionVault to hold physical gold and silver bullion in their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

But some "off the shelf" IRAs restrict you to buying and selling only through your custodian.

So first, check with your IRA custodian that you can transfer funds outside of their brokerage. We work with several leading IRA custodians who may be able to help you. Please email us for details.

Your BullionVault gold or silver will be owned in trust by your IRA. Your custodian is likely to need all Dealing Notifications and Monthly Statements, so use their email address – not yours – to register the account at BullionVault.

The money transfers you make into and out of the BullionVault Client Cash Account will come from the bank account your IRA custodian uses for your retirement savings. Your IRA custodian will also need to do the paperwork, validating your BullionVault account by uploading these documents while logged in:

* A recent statement for the bank account that will be transferring in your funds;
* If different from above, then a recent statement for the bank account that will receive your funds when withdrawn;
* The trust deeds of your personal IRA (those pages showing the trustees' names and relevant signatures);
* The passport page, clearly showing a visible photograph, of one signatory trustee. Only this trustee will then be able to change any specific details about your BullionVault account.

BullionVault will confirm validation to the registered email address. Your IRA custodian can then transfer funds to the Client Cash account, ready for you to buy. Whether you or your custodian actually makes the trades, you will of course need to share the Username and Password with them.

Only if your employer and the managers of their 401k plan is willing to extend coverage to include physical bullion. If you have a 401k account, and have left the employer where it's held, you may be able to convert it into an IRA, getting more choice and control over the investments held in your retirement account.

If you are at all unsure of your tax or reporting obligations, you should consult your accountant or another tax professional. We can't offer advice, but we can outline the issues relevant to using BullionVault to help inform your discussion.

VAT Sales Tax: BullionVault operates from the UK, where no taxes apply on the purchase of investment gold or silver bought for storage within the professional vaulting system.

Income Tax: Gold and silver bullion do not pay any interest. Nor does any cash you may hold in BullionVault's segregated, pooled Client Cash Account.

Capital Gains: Depending upon your tax jurisdiction, if you sell your bullion at a profit it is likely that you'd be liable to a form of capital gains tax. Many western countries have a system where individual taxpayers can make a certain profit first (a capital gains allowance) and then pay a tax on gains thereafter at a flat rate. BullionVault users often arrange to sell some of their bullion each year, but ensure that any profit they make stays within their Capital Gains allowance. While prices are rising this has the effect of providing tax-free growth.

Reporting Requirements: Whatever your tax obligations, it remains the responsibility of the user to comply with any reporting requirements they have under their domestic regime.

These general comments are only intended as information, not guidance. Again, you should seek professional advice regarding your personal tax and reporting obligations.

Your gold and silver are stored in Via Mat's formally recognized bullion storage facilities. Via Mat are one of the leading providers of precious metal vault services and secure transportation around the world.

Professional market vault operators produce what is called a Bar List. It's a bit like a bank statement, listing the account holder's stock of bars, and showing both the exact quantity of fine gold in each bar and the total amount of gold held. We publish Via Mat's bar list for BullionVault Users' gold.

BullionVault maintains the ownership records of all that gold. Each day we publish on-line our daily register of owners, although we hide your identity by listing your holding against your alias. We also publish the total, and naturally the total matches the total on the bar list.

No other bullion business provides this daily and independent client-by-client proof that the right amount of gold is in the vault.

BullionVault is based on professional market, vaulted gold and silver, held in big bar form through an internet account. You can sell on-line and be paid direct to your bank account, which is efficient and low risk and helps you own gold at very low cost.

But of course investors always need emergency access to the physical gold, even though there are some extra costs.

The standard cost is 2.5% for withdrawing whole gold bars, and there is a 5% surcharge for withdrawals below 400 oz. The fee for silver (whole bars only) is 10%.

BullionVault silver is stored in the UK in London. When buying gold, you can choose from vaults in London (UK), New York (US) and Zurich (Switzerland). Of these, Zurich is by far the most popular choice.

Many of BullionVault's users choose to store their gold overseas to minimize the risk of exchange controls.

It is very important that we do not provide you with a certificate! Why not?

A formal certificate changes the legal status of what you own from physical gold, to a security evidenced by a certificate which purports to be backed by gold. Suddenly the law has to consider what would happen if there were more paper in issue than there was gold backing them, which has often happened in the past (and not least with national currencies).

Title to BullionVault Client gold derives from the register which modern technology (the internet) allows us to put in the public domain.

You can get your own daily electronic update of your register record using RSS and your preferred newsreader software. This evidences your ownership every day, with a new electronic advice confirming your register entry. It's a bit like a certificate which lasts for one day, but it is not a true certificate. BullionVault is structured for you to own gold, not a security.

No. You can deposit any amount. Our users have invested between $100 and $8,000,000.

We welcome small deposits because users often choose to try the system with a small deposit and purchase before making a larger investment.

But please note that we recommend avoiding overall investments below $2,000. That's because the minimum monthly storage charge - that's $4 for gold and $8 for silver - may make your investment inefficient below this level.

No gold or silver bars are ever quite 100% pure. All bars at BullionVault meet the professional market's good-delivery standard of 99.5% or better for gold, and 99.9% or better for silver.

Using BullionVault, and just as in the professional market, you only buy and sell the pure 100% gold content (the 'fine' weight). Silver is traded "gross" of its tiny impurity, in line again with the professional bullion market.

Using the metric system gives you greater flexibility than trying to work in half-, quarter- or eighth-ounces. To see the Troy Ounce equivalent of a quoted price on the Order Board, hover your mouse over it. To find the Kilogram equivalent of a price you'd like to quote, use the simple Troy Ounce / Kilo Converter here.

BullionVault is very robust financially. The company publishes its audited annual report for your inspection.

Please review the following references and links on our partners' websites.

The wholesale bullion markets in which BullionVault operates are regulated through the Bank of England's NIPS code, drawn up by the Bank in consultation with the LBMA, of which both BullionVault and Via Mat are full members.

The World Gold Council recommends and endorses BullionVault for retail gold investment.

On 21st April 2009, under command of the Sovereign, the Prime Minister awarded BullionVault the UK's leading business prize The Queen's Award for Enterprise Innovation.

BullionVault is ranked number 21 in the Sunday Times FastTrack 100 league table of Britain's fastest growing companies.

Visit Via Mat's English language website .

Review the current BullionVault owners register.

Review a current sample BullionVault Bar List for Zurich gold.

BullionVault's Auditors are Albert Goodman. Review their audit report on BullionVault's bar list reconciliation. (NB : This report is hosted on the Albert Goodman website to demonstrate its independence from BullionVault)

BullionVault's Assayers are Stewart Group. Review their assay report [pdf]. (NB : This report is hosted on the Albert Goodman website to demonstrate its independence from BullionVault)

Review a sample of press comment or our record of professional and private customer references.

No. There are powerful controls.

First there are private protocols. We don't publish the details of those but they involve authorisation by several people from multiple companies.

There is also a transparent public protocol. For a removal to occur a 'Withdrawal Declaration' must be published on the BullionVault website's front page 24 hours before the bullion moves. This declaration identifies by alias the holder who is making the withdrawal. Any user can then check the published register to see that the withdrawing user has at least the quantity of gold which is being declared for withdrawal.

Via Mat are not allowed to complete a removal of bullion without confirming the validity of the public declaration for themselves.

Additionally under no circumstances can an amount exceeding the larger of 25 kg, or 5% of the total stored, be removed from Via Mat's control on any one day.

Your ownership and title would not be affected, although there would likely be a short delay before you could realize its value, while a liquidator was appointed.

A liquidator could not claim title to your bullion. That’s because you are the legal owner of all gold and silver that you buy through BullionVault. BullionVault is acting as a custodian, which is a status that's very different from your bank, and immeasurably safer for you.

With a bank account, you transfer ownership of your money to the bank when you make a deposit. Your money then appears on the bank's balance sheet, and you become its creditor. The bank would become insolvent (and fail) if there were insufficient assets to meet the liabilities owed to all its creditors, and that tends to happen to banks periodically because their business is to lend your money for profit, not simply keep it in a vault.

You have not made a deposit of gold to BullionVault. You are not BullionVault's creditor and do not appear on its balance sheet. Technically your gold and silver is the subject of a bailment - a legal status through which physical property remains yours while it is in the care of another. A liquidator cannot consider it an asset of the company, so would have no claim over it and must return it to you in full.

In the meantime it is worth mentioning the very strong finances of BullionVault. Very few companies maintain debt free cash and bullion reserves - at call - sufficient to cover the gross costs of running their operation for 6 years without any revenue. The standard equivalent requirement for the banking industry is 3 months.

All the information you need to use BullionVault is available on our Help Pages. You can also telephone our Support Team on the number below. London office hours are 4am to 12:30pm EST. All our support staff speak English, and we also offer French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, Turkish and Polish.

Alternatively, use the internet to speak with our Support Team via live webchat. Out of office hours, or for general queries, please send us an email.

Web: Help Pages
Live Chat
Telephone: 1-888-908-2858 (toll free)
Email: support@bullionvault.com