Noorah101

I answered it. There is no way to open a US interest-bearing bank account without a SSN. That is the answer. Even if you travel back to chilly England, you still couldn't put the money in a US interest-bearing bank account.

My questions were valid. You didn't exactly specify that you want a US bank, first of all, although we assume that, since you speak of a SSN. You can open a UK bank account and put the money there...but in that case you might as well put the money in a non-interest-bearing US bank account, if you're in the US and want easy access to the money.

It would also help to know why you can't get a SSN. As I said, if you're in the USA as a visitor, you can't get a SSN. And if that's the case, then you don't need the money in a US bank account to live off the interest, because you won't be in the USA long enough to need to do that. Visitors can't stay in the USA indefinitely.

I'm sorry you don't find this information helpful.

Rene

mwdake

You can open a bank account without a SSN, you can apply for and use a TIN from the IRS.
Some banks will accept the TIN, but the OP probably won't want to do that either.

Michael

I'm a little surprised that you are getting that interest rate since 2 year Australia government bonds are at 2.48%, 5 year at 2.77%, and 10 year at 3.33%.

Australian Government Bonds - Bloomberg

Generally the shorter the time that you are required to hold money in an account, the less the interest rate and since you can withdraw money anytime you want, that is usually the lowest rate.

Since both bank deposits and government bonds are insured by the government, neither will likely have a principle loss if held to maturity.

The only time I've seen that occur is the bank is offering a teaser rate but then after 6 months or so, the rate drops or sometimes a bank is in financial trouble and it is the only way to attract capital to try to turn the bank around before it has to declare insolvency.

Luckily you only use the bank account for when you need money in Australia since the Australian dollar has dropped from US$1.06 in January 2013 to US$0.85 now or over a 20% drop.

AUDUSD=X Interactive Stock Chart | Yahoo! Inc. Stock - Yahoo! Finance

Pulaski

That's one reason why she's getting 3½%-4% interest, because the currency is (was) overvalued.

It is an oft-overlooked early warning sign that things are badly wrong with a bank, that they're offering above expected interest rates. Back in the spring and early summer of 2007 Wachovia bank started offering deposit rates about 1% higher than it had been, and other banks were at that time, and not much was said about it that I recall. A year later Wachovia, and several other banks, were obviously in serious trouble, and Wachovia was eventually sold at a bargain basement price to Wells Fargo, but it wasn't a surprise to me, the writing had been on the wall long before. The only surprise was that no one else seemed to have noticed. ...... IMO Ally bank is a similar case, and has been offering excess interest rates for as long as it has been using the name "Ally", and I am surprised that it is still operating and hasn't been taken over or collapsed. I can only assume that it is such a basket case that nobody would want it!

sir_eccles

In the country illegally, working without authorization, being paid under the table, not paying taxes? I'm guessing you're right, the OP probably isn't keen on that idea either.

Pulaski

Many illegals use a TIN to pay their taxes. It is source of frustration that the Treasury/ IRS has a wealth of data that shows who is working illegally in the US, where they work, and where they live, and that data is not shared with the USCIS.

sir_eccles

True, I had forgotten about that.

scrubbedexpat099

More likely to get credits. Quite a scam.

Michael

Ally used to be GMC Financial but was spun off when GM was reorganized and has never been healthy. Ally is currently rated as BB+ by Fitch and Moody's rates them as Ba3 which are both junk status ratings.

Fitch Upgrades Ally Financial's IDR to 'BB+'; Outlook Stable | Reuters

https://www.moodys.com/research/Mood...ive--PR_303897

scrubbedexpat099

Nice advert.

Pulaski

I think it was spun off before GM was reorganized, but in any case the business is junk, not just their bonds.

Ally was the only bank to go to the TARP trough three times, and still owned billions when the other banks had paid everything back. The last I heard was they were selling anything they could to pay back the government money - they were the very epitome of a zombie bank, and by all accounts they still are. I am shocked that they have managed to stay out of the grasp of the FDIC for so long as they represent a significant risk to FDIC resources.

Michael

I suspect Ally may possibly be on the FDIC "Problem Bank List" (currently 354 banks) but the FDIC doesn't publish the list. I believe Ally will probably have to go through the Federal Reserve "Stress Test" this year since it's very large and the number of banks on the stress list is going from 18 to 30 banks for 2015. Some of the banks on the stress test are European since they have a large presence in the US (Deutsche Bank was added for 2015)

List of Holding Companies with Assets Greater Than $10 Billion

Michael

I was wrong, there were 30 banks on the stress test list in 2014 and the only change for 2015 will be that Deutsche Bank will be included and one of the other banks will be dropped. Ally was on the stress test list in 2014. After looking at that, I don't think Ally is on the FDIC watch list. I'm curious why UBS and Credit Suisse which are both giant banks are not on the list since one owns First Boston and the other owns Paine Webber and each does about 1/3rd of their total business in the US.

During the financial crisis, foreign banks borrowed over 70% of the total loaned at the Federal Reserve discount window.

Stress Test Results: Big Banks Look Healthier As 29 of 30 Pass, Zions Fails - Forbes

Foreign Banks Tapped Fed’s Secret Lifeline Most at Crisis Peak - Bloomberg

Why Did U.S. Branches of Foreign Banks Borrow at the Discount Window during the Crisis?

augigi

The 24/7 regular access bank account offers 2.75%pa interest. The 3.55-4% is in term deposits, usually for 6 months at a time. And yes, interest rates are shit right now. Another reason to keep the money there!

p0kernp0nies

I have a ITIN from the Bellagio.They used to give them out during poker tournaments in the days when the Europeans liked to travel.Nowadays they stay in Europe to avoid all the hassles.