austin_d_powers

Will be moving back to the UK after 23 years in the USA.
How do you get your money from a US bank account into the UK, when you don't have a UK account and can not open one from the USA?
I am thinking of using a site like XE to transfer the money, but am worried about a catch22 situation (being in USA cant open uk account, being in UK dont have US address for my US bank account, etc).

Pulaski

Open an account when you get there, then transfer money into it. It shouldn't be that big a deal and I think you are worrying about nothing. I hear that generally banks will open accounts quite easily for "returning customers" even if you closed your account 20 or thirty years ago, so if you had an account previously with a British Bank, that would be a good place to start.

I don't believe US banks generally have the same hang-up about customers with a UK address as some British banks seem to have about customers with an address in the US.

geoff52

Can you not take an international bank draft from the US and deposit it into your UK bank account once it has been set up.

To open UK bank account easily, have a UK address, two forms of ID (passport, drivers licence).

Alternatively you can transfer money from your US bank account to UK account, electronically.

Go to your US bank tell them that you will be transferring funds from your account to a UK bank. Then get swift code for your US bank and any other information your US bank gives you for international electronic money transfer.

To the UK bank provide all the information that your US bank gave you for the money transfer.

If you have a HSBC account in the US (which is not possible across the US, since their network is limited in the states) then life is 100% easier.

Perth

We opened an HSBC Premier account in the US online with no problems. We were given a dedicated banker with whom we could discuss or needs. As soon as we arrived in the UK we were able to open a UK account with HSBC and transfer funds without fees. All our accounts are now linked. Easiest thing we've had to do so far, to be honest.

durham_lad

This is what I've advised our son to do. He now has a Premier HSBC account and I've told him to get their credit card which is a cash rewards card and has no foreign transactions fees, and is also contactless and chip and PIN. We got one a couple of months back and it works great.

Hopefully when he gets here in September he will be able to open a UK HSBC account easily enough.

Novocastrian

This is what we did too. (HSBC Canada first then accounts in France and the UK opened from Canada). Highly recommended.

Novocastrian

He can do it before he arrives, using his US address, if he wants to. Tell him to instruct his Premier relationship manager to expedite it.

durham_lad

He has tried that but has to go in to sign some documents and be interviewed, which is what we had to do here in England to open our HSBC US account. Problem is they've told him that would have to be in LA, since they can't do it close to where he lives. He lives close to Houston and told me that initially that he was going to have to go downtown to do this. He is visiting his sister in Santa Monica in August which is why they said LA but then they told him it would take two trips downtown.

I told him not to worry about and that he can do it from here. He can use his HSBC credit card to spend money and he can use Transferwise to send money to our account which we can either give him as cash or buy stuff for him. He should only take a few weeks at most to get his account set up after he arrives.

geoff52

HSBC expat account can be opened in Jersey from most countries, which is equivalent to a HSBC UK account, if this helps anybody.

austin_d_powers

Thanks everyone. It's nice to have people answer the actual question asked with useful information.
Both "international bank draft" and "HSBC Premier account" are viable options.
I was looking at opening a sterling account with Llyods bank (Jersey/Isle of Man), but that is not allowed for US residents at this time.
A follow up question for those that have used HSBC Premier account: Are the HSBC USD to GBP exchange rates good/bad/ok?
I assume people would compare rates before exchanging large amounts.

geoff52

HSBC jersey has multicurrency accounts (premier). Open USD and Pounds accounts.

You can transfer between USD to Pounds accounts online when the exchange rate is good.

Dont exchange large number of dollars to pounds in one go. Only the amount you need for a year.

Keep most of your money in USD because its stable global currency.

The pound value is going to fluctuate in exchange rate as brexite progresses.

As far as HSBC exchange rate is concerned they are competitive.

When you get to UK mainland open HSBC account and you can transfer pounds online from HSBC Expat Jersey to HSBC UK mainland.

HSBC in UK do no have USD accounts or they are very difficult to open.

austin_d_powers

Great reply. I did not even consider keeping USD. And the brexit thing makes sense. The exchange rate when I left the UK was around 1.5 now it is fluctuating in the 1.2 - 1.3. I am in the middle of selling my house in the USA, so my mind is occupied with that. This thread has been very useful to me. Thanks.

Pulaski

Sorry, I think that might be good generic advice but IMO it is very bad specific advice under the current circumstances. ..... Generally, in the long term, holding dollar funds makes sense, but the likelihood is that the value of the pound will strengthen as the uncertainty of Brevity is eliminated, ..... so the number of pounds you get for your dollars will decline, perhaps quite sharply over the next 2-4 years. In other words, if your goal is to have most of your assets in pounds sterling within 5-10 years IMO there is unlikely to be a better time to make the conversion than within the next 18 months.
Not reallly! Get your head on straight! As a holder of dollar assets who is planning an exchange to sterling assets, when the pound fell from $1.50 to $1.20 you were handed a 20% windfall - grab a load of that windfall ASAP before the pound recovers!

Novocastrian

Fair enough. HSBC branches are numerous where I used to live in the Toronto area.

durham_lad

Even as an HSBC Premier customer the exchange rate is better with Transferwise except when transferring large sums such as more than $100k, which I've done while buying a house this year. You can get a quote using both Transferwise and HSBC the click "submit" on the better rate and "cancel" on the other.

An advantage of doing HSBC is that the money is exchanged and in your account the same day.