fad_shen

Dear All,

Does anybody know about best types of bank accounts to open in the USA, I am not familiar with their names. What are the cheapest to run? also saving accounts seems to have very low rate .. are there any with high rate .. or would it be better to leave some money here in the UK?

Many thanks,

Fady

Chorlton

ALways leave some in the UK - you never know when you'll need it. Also, look for one with free checks etc. Usually you have to have a certain amount left in the account.

AdobePinon

Shop around. Don't be afraid to check out the small local guys and the credit unions. Basically a current account is a checking account here. You can pay a lot of money for your bank account here; like said above you often pay for check printing, and sometimes even to use a check. Ask for the schedule of fees when you visit the bank (you may have to pester them quite hard for this if you do not already have an account).

I'm with a local bank and get everything free, right down to traveller's checks and wire transfers. The only thing I ever pay is ATM fees at other banks, which doesn't happen very often.

But you'll be very hard pressed to find a saving account worth looking at.

fatbrit

Will you be employed when you get to the States? (makes a difference)

And where are you going? (banks are parochial)

BritGuyTN

open a checking account with bank of america - no fees with direct deposit and their cust serv is not in india

open a savings account with www.emigrantdirect.com - 4% right now

Schnorbitz

Don't check your balance at an ATM that doesn't belong to your bank. I've just looked at my statement and wifey must've done this and we got charged $1!! They should just be honest, put on a mask and admit they're bandits!!

Chorlton

I should add to my last suggestion:
make sure you can check your balance on the internet
if you want cash, get cash back at the grocery store

fatbrit

What's cash?

Chorlton

I'm the same unless I'm in a little mexican restaurant. Having said that, I was on vacation in the mountains and everyone wanted to deal in cash - a nice little step back in time without any "deliverance" hints

fatbrit

I simply tell them that every time they want cash, they're stealing my cashback rewards!

dunroving

Savings accounts here seem to have pathetic interest rates. Similarly for CDs. Banks hoot and holler about their magnificent CDs - give them your money for 60 months and you'll get 4.40%. Hardly enough to keep ahead of inflation.

Yorkieabroad

4% !!!! kinda nice compared to the miserly cr@p that most of the banks here pay ? How do they manage it? I clicked on the "how do we do that" link on their website, and it came nowhere near answering. All looks OK on the website, but I'm a bit reluctant to commit cash online to something that looks too good to be true (on the basis that it rarely is!)....are they on the level?

fatbrit

Check they're FDIC insured and they're kosher to $100k. And why anybody would want more than $100k in a savings account is beyond me.

Bankrate list here for money market. Do your own search for CDs.

My favourite's IngDirect. Always in the top 10, ethical, and super easy to shuffle xs funds in and out -- including CDs.

Pulaski

It is a federal banking regulator's requirement that any ATM card inserted into a bank's ATM other than the bank it came from, leads to a warning on the ATM screen that additonal charges will be levied. The word "will" is specified even though sometimes there are no extra charges. If Mrs Schnorbitz ignored the warning it isn't the bank's fault.

No, not really - the interest rates are set by the Federal Reserve Bank, like British rates being set by the Bank of England, and the rates in the US are lower than those in the UK.

The flip side to low savings rates is that mortgage rates are also much lower - I bought my house a couple of years ago on a fixed rate of 4.75%, and even now you can get a 30 year fixed rate for only 6.25%. You can't expect to borrow and 6% and then get the same rate on your savings.

Schnorbitz

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there was a warning, etc and rest assured that Mrs Schnorbtiz has been taken to task and the $1 deducted from housekeeping.