USD Bank Account in the UK

[SpeedBash]

Looking for recommendations for a USD bank account in the UK.

Need to be able to hold funds in USD's (not automatically convert into GBP) and support USD cheque deposits.

I currently have a Citibank account which is being closed so need to move funds ASAP.

Appreciate any recommendations - ideally from personal experience.

[Saleen836]

Would opening a US bank account work?

I have one myself which comes with a visa debit card which i can use here to pay for things or withdraw from a cashpoint, yes there is a charge but not sure how they compare with converting USD-GBP in a UK bank account

[RizzoTheRat]

Could be worth looking at some of the "challenger" banks, not sure how they are for cheques though.

I have Revolut account with separate GBP and Euro wallets (can have multiple other currencies too), which gives easy transactions in those currencies, and easy to transfer between the two wallets.

I believe Starling and Monzo do similar too. Not sure if it's changed though but when I first open my Revolut they weren't technically a bank so not covered by FSCS guarantee.

Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 13th July 09:54

[boxst]

Unused Citibank and Revolut. Revolut was friendlier and have much better exchange rates when converting between currencies.

[The Leaper]

Had this set up with Barclays alongside our regular UK banking facility, no problems at all. Cheque book and deposit slips etc all included. No fee for having the account.

R.

[Kirkmoly]

We use Barclays and cannot speak highly enough of the service so far. We opened a GBP current account just to get a USD account about 18 months ago. We have since transferred funds from Citibank account, bought GBP with USD at good rates using the on-line app and deposited USD cheques (or should that be checks?) with no fees. After banking with NatWest for 40+years, the difference in service quality has been striking.

I am curious about your comment on Citibank though. We still have our Citibank USD account and would like to keep it. No communication so far about the account being at risk of closure. Is your account UK or US based?

[essayer]

HSBC

[goingonholiday]

Don't think revolut supports cheques which you've said you need. If you do look at revolut note that they are not a bank. I think they are useful for holidays and I'm happy to risk £2k or so but no more!

[Jbliss]

Wise is by far the best

[mikef]

Jbliss said:

Wise is by far the best

I use Wise - but they don’t accept cheques, only transfers

[Truckosaurus]

Wise also don't accept cash, as I had brief hopes of being able to pay back in any leftover holiday money rather than keeping it in a drawer or converting back to GBP.

[mikef]

Also - depositing US dollar cheques into UK accounts isn’t always straightforward, or it wasn’t when I last sold US investments and could only be paid by a six-figure USD cheque drawn on a US bank

Others here will know more about the process, but it involved my UK bank sending the physical cheque to their correspondent bank in the US. Unfortunate lyBarclays decided to change to using Deutsche Bank in the US in the middle of the process, so the paper cheque crossed the Atlantic at least four times and took three months to clear into my account

[essayer]

We used to do 1-2 a month USD cheques with HSBC

the first couple were sent 'for collection' which meant basically monies weren't available for a few weeks, while they wait for it to clear

once you've established a pattern they were happy to do the remainder 'negotiated' which meant funds were available after a few days

[mikef]

That sounds familiar. With Barclays I think that everything over £5K went the long “collection” route

[The Leaper]

essayer said:

We used to do 1-2 a month USD cheques with HSBC

the first couple were sent 'for collection' which meant basically monies weren't available for a few weeks, while they wait for it to clear

once you've established a pattern they were happy to do the remainder 'negotiated' which meant funds were available after a few days

Yep, quickest way by far is "negotiation" not "collection".

R.