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Contents 1 Opening a Bank Account 2 BANK FEES 3 Transferring money from the UK to the USA 4 Building Credit

[edit] Opening a Bank Account

Under the Patriot Act, banks are required to 'know their customers' as part of anti-money laundering provisions. Most banks have adopted policies that require at least an SSN's before you can open a bank account IF YOU ARE A US CITIZEN, along with some other forms of identification and proof of residence. Citizens of other countries have different procedures, such as passport numbers or drivers licenses or other things to prove they are who they are.

However, your common bank teller, usually with a high school education and used to dealing with 99.999% US Citizens sometimes (often times) forgets that there is a slight difference between the treatement of a USC and a foreign national. If they insist on an SSN, you can ask to speak to their superiors and inform them that an SSN is NOT required for foreign nationals under the various anti-money laundering laws (and probably under their own bank's policies). It's just sometimes people forget the slight nuances.

If they insist on an SNN, then use another bank. Banks just need to confirm who you are, so a state ID, drivers license or a passport will do. If you're using something with your US address on it (like your passport), you'll also need to show them a utility bill or something similar as proof of address.

It's worth noting that the bank's policies are set by the bank, but they are required to have a policy by the Patriot Act (which is why you'll often hear the tellers say 'because of the Patriot Act we need this and that'). Bank executives and their attorney's sat down and came up with various plans and requirements that differ from bank to bank.

Now you might think it is silly to have these requirements, but there was a very famous bank collapse (basically) in the months following the 9-11 attacks that resulted in a very well-regarded Washington DC bank (Riggs) being fined $25 million, sold and closed, and criminal investigations launched against the executives. Riggs had a niche market in Washington DC dealing with Embassy personnel from other countries and other foreign nationals (DC has many), and the subsequent scandal and prosecutions put a shudder into most banks in the US about dealing with foreign nationals (more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riggs_Bank).

[edit] BANK FEES

• Watch out for finance charges for using an ATM, especially from a bank that isn't yours. Your bank can charge you for using a 'non-bank' ATM and the ATM can charge you a surchage for not being a member of their bank (double fees!). Also look out for fee's related to writing cheques, getting new cheques, online banking. Checks made out in £s that are deposited into your US $ account may also have a myriad of fees.

[edit] Transferring money from the UK to the USA

If you need to transfer money from your account in the UK to your account in the USA, you should consider using a currency broker. There are many to choose from, each offering different fees and exchange rates.

CurrenciesDirect is based in the UK, and require at least £2000 is transferred, though transfers under £5000 cost £15. They accept payment via direct debit or debit card, and offer a regular transfer scheme, if you want to transfer money every month without having to worry about completing the paperwork, etc.

However, as a word of warning, I've found their exchange rates to be poor unless you're transferring £5k or more, when they give you the commercial rate. They also deposit the money into your US account via wire transfer rather than direct deposit, which means your bank can charge you for this (eg. Bank of America charge $20 for wire transfer deposits).

Also, to make transfers, they require you to print, sign and scan+email or fax back the document before the currency trade can take place, which is a lot of hassle, especially considering that you're being charged an extra ~ £25 on top of what you're transferring (approx £10 by the bank, and £15 by CurrenciesDirect).

My preferred broker is XETrade XETrade. Everything is done online, they offer excellent rates with no minimum transfer amount and no fees. They also use direct deposit to deposit the funds in your US account, so there's no fees involved there either. They may offer you a low trading limit to start with (eg. limiting the amount you can transfer to £1k or so per transaction), so you may need to request a raise or make multiple trades to transfer all your funds across.

People often ask "What about Taxes when I transfer > $10,000?" The confusion here stems from a *reporting* requirement (not a tax requirement) designed to combat large CASH transactions and other money laundering. In fact, there are two requirements--one for individuals who deal in >$10,000 cash and another for banks for any 'large transaction' that looks suspicious (they report it and you don't even know about it).

The personal reporting requirement applies to cash and other monetary instruments, such as a cashiers or bank check. It does not apply to electronic transfers (such as a wire).

The bank reporting requirement applies to basically anything.

It is important to point out that this requirement is NOT a formal tax reporting--it's simply a currency reporting requirement. If there are no tax issues with the money you are transferring (i.e. you already paid US or UK taxes on them), then there are no tax issues simply because you are transferring money from a UK account to a US account. If you are giving the money as a gift to someone, or it is coming from some offshore illegal account, then you have to deal with those tax issues when you file your income tax returns, not simply because you are conducting a transfer.

[edit] Building Credit

With a new social security number, it's unlikely you'll qualify for most credit cards until you have some credit history. Applying for many credit cards will affect your credit score, so you should try and avoid this. However, I've had luck with a couple of providers:

• Amazon.com
• HSBC

You'll get a low credit limit to start with, but as long as you use the card and make sure you pay your bills on time, this should get increased. Though there is no benefit to hold a balance on the card to your credit score, so pay it off in full each month.

You should also apply for store cards, as these are easier to get, but will also give you a low credit limit. Try and stick with applying for stores you actually shop at, as having a store card which is not used won't do much for your credit anyway, but having to many lines of credit will also detract from your score, and there is no advantage to actually using the card regarding your credit score.