Risk Warning: Your Capital is at Risk.
BullionVault is a gold, silver, and platinum dealer that operates in more than 175 countries worldwide.
The company is registered in the UK and has storage locations in five countries.
In this review, we cover the range of services BullionVault offers, where clients’ bullion is stored, what fees the company charge, and a general overview of service operations.
Read on to see find out how BullionVault performs as a precious metals dealer.
Contents
BullionVault Overview
BullionVault was officially launched as a service in 2005.
Under Garmarley Ltd, a London, UK-based company, BullionVault raised more than £3m in equity funding and had its first profitable year as a bullion trader in the same year.
BullionVault offers traders precious metals, namely gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. The company offers storage in five different countries through vault operators part of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).
Traders can order in the form of coins or purified bars in up to four currencies.
The London bullion market, including BullionVault as a partaking dealer, is regulated by English property law.
Pros & Cons of BullionVault
 Bullion trades available in four currencies (GPB, USD, JPY, and EUR) |  Many fees, including potential questionable penalty charges (though transparently listed) |
 Serviced by three LBMA accredited vault and storage operators |  Only four metals available (gold, silver, platinum, palladium) as coins and bars |
 Choice of five international secure storage locations |  Dated web platform |
 Mobile application available | |
 Customer support via live chat, phone, and e-mail | |
 Very transparent website with ample information on the company, fees, and its services | |
 The company is insured through March 2025 |
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Where Does BullionVault Operate?
BullionVault is a registered UK company that operates under English law.
This means that customers around the world can purchase gold, silver, and platinum bullion from BullionVault, provided that they can conduct trade with UK businesses in their residential location and own a USD, GBP, EUR, or JPY bank account.
The five storage locations are:
- Zurich, Switzerland
- London, UK
- New York, USA
- Toronto, Canada
- Singapore
BullionVault.com is available in nine different languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Japanese, and Chinese (traditional and simplified).
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What Services Does BullionVault Offer?
Precious metal traders can either buy or sell real, physical bullion with BullionVault. There is a total of four metals to choose from:
- Gold
- Silver
- Platinum
- Palladium
The metals can be purchased in the form of pressed bars in all five storage locations of the UK, Switzerland, USA, Canada, and Singapore, or coins for UK delivery only.
Read more about BullionVault’s storage operations.
When browsing bullion products on the website, traders can filter the available markets by storage location, weight unit, and minimum order size.
What Coins Does BullionVault Offer?
The range of coins offered on the BullionVault website may vary. Currently, the dealer offers six different coins. Each coin is given particular measurements for buyers and sellers to determine the price.
For example, the 2021 Gold Sovereign coin from the Royal Mint has the following market statistics that determine its current price:
| Feature | Statistic |
|---|---|
| Carats | 22 |
| Gross Weight | 7.99g |
| Fineness | 91.67% |
| Fine Weight | 7.32g |
| Diameter | 22.05mm |
| Tax & VAT | Exempt from UK Capital Gains Tax and VAT |
There are also Krugerrand coins offered from the South African Mint, Gold Maple Leaf coins from the Canadian Royal Mint, and Gold Kangaroo coins from the Perth Mint in Australia.
Note that BullionVault is a dealer, and so buyers and sellers enter trades with their custom bids relative to market conditions.
What Currencies Can I Buy Bullion In?
You can buy and sell precious metal bullion with BullionVault in four different currencies:
| Abbreviation | Symbol | Currency |
|---|---|---|
| USD | $ | US Dollars |
| EUR | € | Euros |
| GBP | £ | British Pounds |
| JPY | ¥ | Japanese Yen |
You can purchase bullion in any of the four currencies, regardless of the location of your designated storage place.
Daily Audits & Bullion Insurance
BullionVault performs and publicly provides a daily audit of all five vaults. By visiting the website, you can take a look at how much gold, silver, and platinum are in each vault and filter the results by KG.
Each account identifier is also listed and coded to keep the holders anonymous to the public.
Insurance by Marsh & McLennan
London-based insurance provider Marsh & McLennan provides Galmarley Ltd with All Risks Liability Insurance up to $2 billion ($2.5 billion for one single loss in the Zurich vault).
The present insurance policy is valid until March 31, 2025.
Bullion insurance is included in the annual custody charge of 0.12% for gold, and 0.48% for silver, or platinum.
The insurance policy’s full details and conditions are publicly available on the website under the Security FAQs.
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BullionVault Fees
As a physical bullion dealer and storage provider, BullionVault traders are subject to a large range of fees.
We separated these fees into two distinct tables, with the first one covering general account fees you may potentially incur:
| Min. Purchase Weight | 1 gram of the chosen metal |
| Min. Cash Withdrawal | $100 (or currency equivalent) |
| Buy/Sell Fees* | 0.05% to 0.50% (based on amount) |
| Daily Price Order Fee | 0.50% flat rate (+ 0.30% currency switch fee on GBP, JPY, and EUR orders) |
| Non-UK Wire Transfers | Up to $30 |
| Change Bank Account | Up to $50 |
| Domestic SEPA Payments | €4 per transfer |
| Currency Holding Fee** | 0.75% per year (charged monthly on EUR balances only) |
| Burglar Alarm | $0.20/notification (SMS) |
| Transfer To Other Vault | Custom shipping quote + 0.5% (Subject to a minimum of $500) |
| Time & Materials Fee | Up to $100 in case of unique arrangements (e.g. in the event of a divorce, trust dissolution, or liquidation) |
| Deceased Administration Fee | Up to $500 or 1% of total account value |
*Gold transactions are charged this as a commission, while silver and platinum transactions are charged as a mark-up.
**See BullionVault for further details on currency holding fees
Bullion Management & Withdrawal Fees
The larger fee for managing your bullion assets may be charged for storage, transport, reservations, and withdrawals.
| Gold Storage Costs | 0.12% per year, billed monthly and subject to monthly minimum of $4. |
| Silver Storage Costs | 0.48% per year, billed monthly and subject to monthly minimum of $8. |
| Platinum Storage Costs | 0.48% per year, billed monthly and subject to monthly minimum of $8. |
| Gold Transport Costs |
|
| Silver Transport Costs | $500 per shipment + $60 per bar release fee |
| Platinum Transport Costs | $500 per shipment + per bar release fee |
| Gold Reservation Fee |
|
| Silver Reservation Fee | 0.1% (~1000oz) |
| Platinum Reservation Fee | 0.10% |
| Gold Withdrawal Fee | 1% to 7.5% (based on bar OZ and total amount) |
| Silver Withdrawal Fee | 1% to 10% (based on bar OZ and total amount) |
| Platinum Withdrawal Fee | 1% to 10% (based on bar OZ and total amount) |
*No release fee, plus unreserved storage surcharges may apply
**Taxes, transportation, and insurance fees are also charged upon withdrawal
Penalty Charges
The following fees may be charged if certain conditions are violated by BullionVault traders.
| Potential Cost | |
|---|---|
| Delayed Account Validation | $30/month (after 8 weeks of no validation since the first deposit) |
| Password Reset With Assistance | $20 |
| Repeated Small Deposit Surcharge | Varies (applies to four or fewer deposits under $100 in a year) |
| Unvalidated Bank Account Withdrawals | $30 |
| Unaccepted Bank Card Deposits | $30 |
| Bank Contact By BullionVault | $30 |
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Where Is My Bullion Stored?
BullionVault customers’ precious metals are vaulted and looked after by three vault providers:
- Loomis International: Swiss company with operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, primarily entrusted by banks.
- Malca-Amit: Originally Tel-Aviv, now Hong Kong-based freight and storage company.
- Brinks: A security service provider for government and financial institutions, based in Richmond, Virginia.
All three companies are part of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) as transport and storage authorities.
BullionVault’s management team holds the authority to deposit and remove bullion from their five international locations in London (UK), Zurich (Switzerland), New York (US), Toronto (Canada), and Singapore.
Loomis International, Malca-Amit, and Brinks are separate companies that act as security service providers to BullionVault.
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How to Sign Up & Trade Bullion
Follow these steps to open an account with BullionVault:
- Navigate to BullionVault.com, then:
- Either click the Open Account button in the top-right menu;
- Or download the mobile app to do the same
- Fill in the following details requested by BullionVault:
- Name
- E-mail address
- Username
- Password
- Declare how you heard about BullionVault
- Agree to the company’s terms and conditions
- Select Open Account
Once you’ve opened and confirmed your account via the confirmation e-mail, you can deposit and trade gold, silver, or platinum immediately — even before account verification.
Accounts need to be verified up to 8 weeks after making the first deposit. Otherwise, an ongoing monthly penalty of $30 is applied until the verification is complete.
How to Verify Your Account
To verify your account, head over to BullionVault.com > Account > Validation.
Users can also validate their accounts via the mobile app by heading over to the hamburger menu (☰) and selecting Upload Documents.
Follow the instructions provided and prepare the required documents, which are:
- Proof of identity: Passport, national ID card, driver’s license, or any government-issued document that proves your identity with a photograph, date of birth, and signature.
- Proof of bank account: A bank statement corresponding to the account used to fund your BullionVault account.
- Proof of address: Unless shown on the bank statement, a utility bill may suffice.
Businesses and trusts must also provide a proof-of-legal entity.
Once your account is validated, you’ll receive a confirmation e-mail, and you can also track your account status under Account > Validation.
Deposits & Withdrawals
There are two ways to fund and withdraw money from your BullionVault account:
- UK debit/credit cardholders can fund their accounts up to £5,000 via a standard card payment (fees may be charged by the card processor)
- All other customers may make wire transfers in one of the four currencies: GBP, USD, EUR, or JPY.
If you don’t bank with either of the four accepted currencies, BullionVault suggests using a service like CurrencyFair or Moneycorp to convert your funds into the desired currency.
Deposits via debit/credit card may show up immediately, while SWIFT transfers may take up to 36 hours. Other international transfers can take between 3 to 5 working days.
Note that BullionVault is based in London, so Bank Holidays should be considered when estimating the arrival of funds.
How Do Withdrawals Work?
Since BullionVault banks in the United Kingdom, working hours and transaction processing times correspond with GMT.
- US customers with US bank accounts are paid via ACH for a fee of $10 per transaction. If ACH is unavailable for whatever reason, a SWIFT payment is made for a fee of $30.
- UK customers with UK bank accounts are paid via CHAPS for withdrawals of £20,000 or greater for a fee of £20. Withdrawals below £20,000 are processed via BACS free of charge.
- European and Swiss customers are paid via SEPA for a fee of €10, with a potential additional charge from your local bank.
- All other customers falling outside the above three categories are paid via SWIFT for a fee that may reach up to $30.
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Desktop Platform Review
Despite the dated desktop platform, BullionVault traders can find out how to use the platform due to its few features, along with hundreds of ‘how-to’ FAQs.
Account Summary
As you log in to your BullionVault account, you’re taken to the Account tab. From this tab, you have an overview of your total value held in the account between bullion and currency.
You can place buy or sell orders from a sidebar that’s available on all account and trade-related screens, including the account summary page.
Buy & Sell Dashboard
The Buy/Sell Bullion tab in the main menu takes you to a page where you see live market prices to bid for throughout BullionVault’s five locations and four currencies.
You can filter which markets are shown based on currency, country, weight units, and minimum order size.
There’s also a choice to change the overview of the market board either as an order board, market depth indicator, or market spread indicator.
History Tab
The history tab shows you an overview of account activity based on:
- Order date
- Order status
- Order type (buy or sell)
- Metal type
- Currency
- Price/kg
- Quantity
- Value
Order Wizard
BullionVault has an order wizard that creates a trade suggestion based on the following data points you enter:
- Whether you want to buy or sell
- Bullion type and location
- Currency (GBP, USD, EUR, or JPY)
- Choose one fix point in your order (value, weight, or price/kg)
This feature is located in the sidebar which you’ll see once logged in.
BullionVault Learning Resources
There are two main types of learning material on BullionVault.com: bullion trading guides and market sentiment.
Trading Guides
Under the Investment Guide tab, you’ll find categorized guides to trade gold, silver, and platinum. For each metal type, there is a purchase guide. However, for gold, you’ll also find:
- Investment plans
- Guide to gold asset insurance
- Asset market performance comparison
Market Sentiment
The types of market sentiment offered are:
- Gold price news
- Expert opinion and analysis
- Guide to market fundamentals
- Investors’ index
- Market infographics
There are also price charts, live price alerts, and daily audit reports available for gold, silver, and platinum.
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Mobile Platform Review
The BullionVault mobile app is also far from modern, yet it offers most features you can find on the desktop platform.
The main menu options include:
- Price charts
- Markets
- Trading
- Order management
- Balance
- Deposits & withdrawals
- Account validation
- Company information
Mobile App Customization Settings
By tapping the Settings icon on the top right corner, you can adjust:
- App language
- Weight units shown
- Biometric authentication (fingerprint log-in for applicable devices)
- Market settings, like:
- Metal types shown
- Countries shown
- Currencies shown
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Can I Trust BullionVault?
Whether you deem BullionVault trustworthy as a service and company is your choice. Here is a summary of some factors to consider about the company.
The website has hundreds of useful information points about the company and its operations, so transparency is not a problem.
BullionVault was officially launched in 2005, though it is incorporated under Garmarley Ltd (registered in England & Wales, company no. 4943684).
Garmarley Ltd kicked off with a seed capital of $275,000 in 2003 and secured more than £3m in equity funding two years later. As of a 2019 audit, the company has over 90,000 active customers from 175+ countries, and an estimated total of $3 billion in bullion heald.
To learn more about how BullionVault started behind the scenes, head over to BullionVault.com and see the Q&A with CEO Paul Tustain.
It’s also worth noting that vault and transport providers who work with BullionVault are all members of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).
Is BullionVault Safe to Use?
Any service provider you hand your money over to creates a risk of losing your cash simply because you’re trusting someone else.
BullionVault has a set of security measures in place to ensure the security of clients’ funds, including:
- Burglar Alarm: Notification to clients when certain pre-set account limits are exceeded or unusual activity is detected.
- Pooled Accounts: Client funds are held in separate client accounts, under England and Wales registered company (08672704) BullionVault Clients Ltd.
- Insurance: Includes All Risks Liability Insurance up to $2 billion ($2.5 billion for one single loss in the Zurich vault), inclusive of the annual custody charge of 0.12% for gold, and 0.48% for silver/platinum.
Customer Support
The BullionVault customer support team is available via:
- Live Chat: Undefined time frames.
- Telephone: +44 (0)208-6000-130 (UK & International), or 1-888-908-2858 (US and Canada — toll-free)
- E-mail: [email protected]
Office hours are Monday to Friday between 9:00am to 8:30pm GMT, or 4:00am to 3:30pm EST.
You can also find a range of articles and guides on BullionVault.com that explain the steps of registration, making your first deposit, and verifying your account.
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Alternative Bullion Dealers Compared
For perspective on what a bullion dealer typically offers, here’s a comparison of BullionVault alongside other bullion dealers that may serve traders in :
| Dealer Type | Bullion Dealer | Bullion Dealer & Trading Platform | Bullion Dealer & Trading Platform |
| Selection | Gold, silver, platinum, copper, palladium, rhodium | Gold, silver, platinum, palladium | Gold, silver, platinum |
| Forms | Coins, bars, rounds, kits | Coins (gold only) and bars | Coins (gold only) and bars |
| Pricing Over Spot | Gold: $79, Silver: $4.39, Discount on larger orders | 0.5% transaction fee, +0.3% currency-exchange fee for Pounds, Euros, or Yen | Gold: 0.34%, Silver: 1.14%, Platinum: 0.6% |
| Storage | Maximum of $96 for up to $15,999 worth of bullion, 0.39 - 0.59% for larger orders | Per year: gold = 0.12%, silver = 0.48%, platinum = 0.48% | Per year: Gold = 0.39% (Singapore), 0.59% (NZ); Silver & Platinum = 0.59% (Singapore), 0.88% (NZ) |
| Shipping | In some cases, shipping is free. Insured. | 100g gold bars ship for $140 - $230 depending on destination. Insured. | Shipping is calculated on checkout. Courier delivery available in Singapore. Insured. |
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FAQs
Who owns BullionVault?
According to Companies House UK, BullionVault Ltd (07400400) has three active directors as CEO Paul Gerard Tustain, Robert Paul Glynne, and Justina Prytula. Garmarley Ltd has five active directors, including the aforementioned, plus Timothy Charles Levene, and Gregory Kilborn Lockwood. Garmarley Ltd resigned as the formal director of BullionVault Ltd on November 1, 2015.
Is BullionVault legit?
BullionVault is an England and Wales Registered company with the company number 07400400. The company operates under English property law and works with London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) approved vault and storage providers. Until March 31, 2025, the company is also insured for over $2 billion. Traders and potential customers are to decide on the company’s legitimacy for themselves.
How do you use BullionVault?
To trade precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum with BullionVault, you need to register an account on BullionVault.com, or their mobile app. Then, you may deposit via a UK debit/credit card, or domestic and international wire transfers in GBP, USD, EUR, or JPY. Once your deposit has gone through, you can buy and sell bars and coins.
Is gold bullion pure gold?
The purity of gold bullion varies from dealer to dealer, based on the associations they’re part of. BullionVault’s gold is stamped and approved as London Good Delivery Bar with a purity of 99.76%. The purity of gold bullion is also often presented as “fineness” on product listings by bullion dealers.
