US Dollar Current Account
Discussion
I am UK based but travel to the US 2/3 times a year, usually for pleasure (Florida) but sometimes for work (New York).
At some stage I will want to buy property in the US but that is some years off.
I would like to set up a US$ current account so that I can hold dollars in the banking system, and use a US$ debit card when I'm in America.
What is the easiest and cheapest way to arrange this - is it through a UK based bank or approaching a bank in the US?
I don't need any "bells & whistles" just a current account in my name and a card.
I don't have any income from the US (although might look to buy some US equity in time) but would make an annual deposit of circa US$10k to cover expenditure.
Any ideas?
At some stage I will want to buy property in the US but that is some years off.
I would like to set up a US$ current account so that I can hold dollars in the banking system, and use a US$ debit card when I'm in America.
What is the easiest and cheapest way to arrange this - is it through a UK based bank or approaching a bank in the US?
I don't need any "bells & whistles" just a current account in my name and a card.
I don't have any income from the US (although might look to buy some US equity in time) but would make an annual deposit of circa US$10k to cover expenditure.
Any ideas?
I set up a UK based US$ denominated current account with Barclays in the mid 1990s. I have all the regular facilities, including a chequebook. I deposit US$ cheques and make payments by cheque using the book. I also use it to get foreign currency. I do all of this in the UK. Barclays makes no general charge for this but there is a per transaction charge.
I set this up because the employer's stock option plan pays dividends out of the US in US$ and I also used to holiday in the USA and the Caribbean and had associated US$ costs, so I could avoid regular conversion costs. I never had a property or anything in the USA.
R.
I set this up because the employer's stock option plan pays dividends out of the US in US$ and I also used to holiday in the USA and the Caribbean and had associated US$ costs, so I could avoid regular conversion costs. I never had a property or anything in the USA.
R.
next time your out there walk into a bank and ask for an account. you will need your passport and driving licence etc and fill in a non resident tax declaration and if they don't f
k it up too much, your debit card will drop through your letter box at home a couple of week later.
We set up accounts with wachovia in FL this way, they have now been moved to wells fargo since the merger, they were a bit of a pain to get set up as someone lost the w15ben form and closed the account on us, then new accounts were created with new debit cards and it was a total mess until we were able to go into the branch in FL. To be fair though once we did it was all sorted there and then and our cards worked that day. Get some money in the accounts as soon as possible to make it harder for them to just close the account due to a paperwork fail.
Not sure if wells fargo will still do a non resident account as i say we were wachovia. the other contender when we set ours up was bank of America, but some of the local ones can also be more flexible, but for us the nation wide network also appealed. The requirements to keep it free have got higher since the change over though, when we got the wachovia it was essentially a free checking account, now we have to keep $1500 or pay in $500/month to keep them from taking a fee.
Send money to the US via xe.com. Quickest I have had is to initiate a transaction in the UK one day and the money was in my us account COB US the following day. No fees and not a bad exchange rate
k it up too much, your debit card will drop through your letter box at home a couple of week later.We set up accounts with wachovia in FL this way, they have now been moved to wells fargo since the merger, they were a bit of a pain to get set up as someone lost the w15ben form and closed the account on us, then new accounts were created with new debit cards and it was a total mess until we were able to go into the branch in FL. To be fair though once we did it was all sorted there and then and our cards worked that day. Get some money in the accounts as soon as possible to make it harder for them to just close the account due to a paperwork fail.
Not sure if wells fargo will still do a non resident account as i say we were wachovia. the other contender when we set ours up was bank of America, but some of the local ones can also be more flexible, but for us the nation wide network also appealed. The requirements to keep it free have got higher since the change over though, when we got the wachovia it was essentially a free checking account, now we have to keep $1500 or pay in $500/month to keep them from taking a fee.
Send money to the US via xe.com. Quickest I have had is to initiate a transaction in the UK one day and the money was in my us account COB US the following day. No fees and not a bad exchange rate
Edited by ViperDave on Sunday 24th March 20:20
The Leaper said:
I set up a UK based US$ denominated current account with Barclays in the mid 1990s. I have all the regular facilities, including a chequebook. I deposit US$ cheques and make payments by cheque using the book. I also use it to get foreign currency. I do all of this in the UK. Barclays makes no general charge for this but there is a per transaction charge.
I set this up because the employer's stock option plan pays dividends out of the US in US$ and I also used to holiday in the USA and the Caribbean and had associated US$ costs, so I could avoid regular conversion costs. I never had a property or anything in the USA.
R.
We don't do them anymore!I set this up because the employer's stock option plan pays dividends out of the US in US$ and I also used to holiday in the USA and the Caribbean and had associated US$ costs, so I could avoid regular conversion costs. I never had a property or anything in the USA.
R.
gumshoe said:
try citibank (uk). They do a usd current account with cheque book cleared through new york.
what he said - I tried NatWest first, that was a load of pain. viti does not have many branches but good phone banking and they understand the reasons why someone might was to have a usd accountplus you can transfer usd to to gbp at treasury rates for larger amounts
A Charles Schwab international account might be a possibility - I've had one for many years for US share trading although I haven't done any trading in a long time. I do still hold a few $K of shares though - I'm not sure if that is vital or if there would be any problem just having cash.
A debit card (and cheques) are available on request and I have both. There's no charge for the account - in fact that even pay a tiny amount of interest on cash balances. Very easy to deal with - nothing seems too much trouble.
These days I think there is a minimum initial deposit of $10K.
A debit card (and cheques) are available on request and I have both. There's no charge for the account - in fact that even pay a tiny amount of interest on cash balances. Very easy to deal with - nothing seems too much trouble.
These days I think there is a minimum initial deposit of $10K.
Walk into a bank of america branch, show passport, fill in non-resident tax form, walk out with account number, routing numbers, a temporary debit card, and a couple of checks.
Full card will arrive in the mail shortly after that.
You do not need a US social security number/ taxpayer number or a US address to open a US bank account.
If you elect for the online based account, it is fee-free - the only restrictions are that you must be paperless for statements, and in-branch you must use the ATM to pay in any cash as opposed to going to the counter, otherwise you get charged. Not so much of a problem if you are only in the US occasionally.
Everything else works as per a normal full fee account.
I use americanexpress.co.uk/fxip whenever I need to bounce funds from UK to the US or vice versa (can also fund from your credit card if neccessary).
You are going to get charged fees for transferring internationally whoever you use, so do your homework
Full card will arrive in the mail shortly after that.
You do not need a US social security number/ taxpayer number or a US address to open a US bank account.
If you elect for the online based account, it is fee-free - the only restrictions are that you must be paperless for statements, and in-branch you must use the ATM to pay in any cash as opposed to going to the counter, otherwise you get charged. Not so much of a problem if you are only in the US occasionally.
Everything else works as per a normal full fee account.
I use americanexpress.co.uk/fxip whenever I need to bounce funds from UK to the US or vice versa (can also fund from your credit card if neccessary).
You are going to get charged fees for transferring internationally whoever you use, so do your homework
HSBC Expat. I used to have a USD account and a Euro and GBP, debit cards for all accounts and the ability to switch money online etc. Also some savings interest (very low rate though!) Worked really well. The only downside now is an underfunding fee if you don't keep a few $ in the account.
http://www.expat.hsbc.com/1/2//hsbc-expat/products...
http://www.expat.hsbc.com/1/2//hsbc-expat/products...
saleen836 said:
Also remember with a debit card from a US bank most wont be able to be used here for 'chip and pin'.
Makes no difference to the acceptance- it can still be used in the uk, just swiped instead of inserted into the card reader. Some US cards now come with chip & signature- insert into the card reader, then it prompts & prints for a signature instead of a pin. Again,rarely any problems using in the uk, other than the occasional clueless server who has never encountered a non chip&pin card before and looks at you like you are trying to pay with monopoly money.
GCH said:
saleen836 said:
Also remember with a debit card from a US bank most wont be able to be used here for 'chip and pin'.
Makes no difference to the acceptance- it can still be used in the uk, just swiped instead of inserted into the card reader. Some US cards now come with chip & signature- insert into the card reader, then it prompts & prints for a signature instead of a pin. Again,rarely any problems using in the uk, other than the occasional clueless server who has never encountered a non chip&pin card before and looks at you like you are trying to pay with monopoly money.
gumshoe said:
try citibank (uk). They do a usd current account with cheque book cleared through new york.
They do, and I had one for a year or so.... wasn't much use to me as you can't pay in US$ cash and the only counter service is in London.I ended up closing it and opening a bog-standard current account with Citibank in the USA.
I have a US$ chequebook and a debit card that works both online and all over the world.
It was opened in the space of 15 minutes and the cards etc were waiting for me at the branch in Chicago a week later.
Best thing I ever did.
I have the contact details of the manager there who sorted it all out for me if you need them.
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