dunroving

Does anyone who returned from the US still access a bank account in the US? If so, how do you go about it? I mean other than using your US checkbook or bank cards - things like setting up transfers to the UK, for example. Do you do this by phone/letter/online? Any problems with bank staff, in terms of you not being resident in the US?

I need to transfer money from my US account, which I have only done before from in the US (i.e., in person), and it always seemed like a trial at the time (small credit union, not exactly a major bank), so I'm wondering what is the best strategy to try to do this from over here ...

J.J

Hi, I can't speak directly to what to do once you are back in UK, but our experience has been no problems in holding US accounts Before we left we talked to both our BBT bank and CFCU and they could see no problem in us having a foreign address or handling our acounts from UK and that has proven to be the case.
To get $$ from there to here we set up internet banking accounts and can make transfer on line. We set up account with XE.com and moved $$ from US bank through XE to UK bank.

lisag8070

I agree with using XE.com, it may take a few days to a week to set up your account but once its done, its pretty straight forward from there on in.

Unfortunately each bank has their own rules when doing a transfer overseas, some need you there in person, some allow you to do it via the internet (as long as you have internet banking).

We are in a credit union and have online banking but for a transfer overseas, we would have to be their in person so we use XE.com..(its cheaper to).

Call your US bank, (I know this is a pain with the cost and time difference) but its worth finding out how your bank deals with it...oh or maybe they have this information on their website?.

good luck

Tahiti_Bound

Hi there

We have a checking account with Wells Fargo, and have found that if we write a check for a dollar amount (payable to ourselves) and send it to our UK bank (RBS as it happens), it shows up in our UK account (converted to UKP) after two-three weeks. You get a decent exchange rate, and RBS charges UKP7 for the service.

This arrangement suits us for occasional transfers.

Hope this helps

Tahiti

dunroving

Thanks, that's interesting - I used to send US checks to pay my Barclaycard account, but that was usually for amounts of $200 or less - not sure whether several $1,000's would raise an eyebrow. I have a Barclays USD account, so maybe I can just send a check there, and then do the whole XE.com thing using my Barclays USD account. I thought I'd take advantage of the current exchange rate, as it was at $2 = £1 when I came back in 2006, and so I have had my USD just sitting over there ever since. Figured it's about time I put it to use over here.

Isabel_7

As long as you have the US banks routing number, plus checking account number, you should be able to transfer without any problem.

Does your credit union banking facility have a website?

If so I would suggest sending them an email inquiring whether they go through a big bank for such international transfers or if they can handle it themselves.
Hope this helps.

salgb

I tried transferring money from my Bank of America checking to my Barclays account using online access - I failed! Because I hadn't signed up before I left the U.S for the service, BofA placed a small limit on transfers, and wanted to charge a crazy fee for each transaction. The customer service rep at BofA suggested I give someone in the US my account number and password if I wanted to work around this problem - umm, seriously, don't think that's a great idea?!
I used HiFX.com to transfer a few thousand dollars so I could purchase a car. They gave much better rates than the interbank exchange rates, and it worked out for me. I tried all kinds of work arounds with BofA- but the UK is so obsessed with money laundering, and the US is so afraid of fraud - it was a complete nightmare.
Whatever you decide - I suggest informing your primary bank you're moving overseas, (even if you claim it's temporary move), that way you should be able to access your money from overseas. If you wait till you get there - you could experience problems as I did.
Good luck!

Wawa

Hi Dunroving, do you have an ATM card linked to your US bank account? If so surely you could just draw the money out in Scotland? I am living in Canada, and had quite a bit of money in a South African bank, they have really strict Reserve Bank regulations on transferring money, but I was able to draw it all out using my ATM card.

J.J

probably a good move, our USA CU account is earning 0.3% interest whereas with a reasonable exchange rate right now and interest of 3% or so available here it is as good a time as any to move some across.

dunroving

Yes, I think I will probably just have to email them and ask. I was just a bit concerned that asking the question might just cause problems. It's actually a state employees' credit union and clearly, I can't be a state employee if I lover in the UK ... although they do have my UK address.

They do their international transfers via Wachovia ... it was always a slightly awkward/odd process whenever I went in to make an international transfer, almost as if there was only one person in the whole building who knew how to do it.

Tahiti_Bound

Hi there again

I write cheques for values up to about $5000 to transfer USD into UKP in my UK account. I keep below the $10,000 limit that requires the US bank to report and record the transfer (Bank Secrecy Act of 1970) - but I don't have that many dollars lying around the place - so it's not too hard.

Tahiti

dunroving

I just called my Barckays USD account to ask if I could simply mail/pay in a USD check drawn on a US-based account. The answer was a cheery "Yes of course you can, that won't be a problem" - it was only after several follow-up questions that I learned there is an associated charge of £40!

The buggers don't even give interest on the account (doesn't matter whether you have $100 or $10,000).

I think I will then just use XE.com to change it all/most of it into GBP. If I do end up going back to the US later this year, or next year (by no means a certainty, the way things are going), hopefully the pound will be stronger against the dollar by then and I'll make that £40 charge back.

Bijilo123

If you want to gamble on currency then open a USD account with Barclays and transfer the lot in USD, Roughly speaking I did the same with Euros and found that the £40 fees that you experienced vanished, Alsoo chalenge the bank as to why they are charging so much.

Scout

I've done it using XE Dunroving. I've also used my ATM card for smaller amounts. The last time I used XE though I was in the States on a holiday and set it up in person at my bank. I was going to warn you of the fees banks will charge for depositing US checks, but I see you already figured out that one.

dunroving

To set up a transfer using XE.com, what does this involve in terms of getting "permission" from your bank?

I just tried transferring most of my money from my credit union "shares" account (1.25% interest) to my checking account (via online banking) and it would not let me due to "restrictions" on the shares account (have sent an email to try to find out what that means). I did this because I don't have a checkbook for my shares account. I'm wondering whether a similar thing would happen if I tried to set up a debit to XE.com from the shares account...? I put all the monet into the shares account because the other accounts yield something like 0.02% interest.