Bank account/money transfer
 

Hi
I am presently in UK and will shortly be moving to USA. I guess I will need to buy a car when I arrive in the US. I will not have a US bank account to begin with. My credit card limit in the UK is not very high. How can I carry/transfer money?

I will be moving permanently to the USA. Do I need to close my bank account here? Can I change the bank address to my relatives on the UK so that I don't have to close the account?

Re: Bank account/money transfer
 

You can get cash from your UK account from a cashpoint in USA (ATM =Automatic Teller Machine).

You are not required to close your UK Bank account/s. I recommend keeping at least one open. You can just give them a US address. (Maybe not all banks - I still get Lloyds TSB statements in US after 10 years , but Barclays credit card dumped me about 5 years ago).

Car buying - I can't help.

Opening an account with a US Bank is not that hard once you are here and documented.

Re: Bank account/money transfer
 

ACK! Don't close the UK account. At least for awhile. It's a devil of a time to reopen one if you are here and there might be some expense or some other reason for it. If you are really trying to cut ties and don't want it, keep it at least for a few months just in case.

Buying a car is easy, insuring it is a nightmare. Expect to pay "new driver" rates due to your lack of a US credit history, which will cost a tremendous amount.

Have you considered a one-week or one-month rental of a car, just until you get sorted? Might be easier than arriving and car shopping from the get go.

Re: Bank account/money transfer
 

Another vote for keeping your UK bank account and credit card. I've lived here for 17 years and still have my UK bank account and credit card. I changed my address to my US address...all correspondence is sent here.

Re: Bank account/money transfer
 

Definitely keep the UK bank account. Depending on the bank, shouldn't be a problem using a US address.

Open an account in the US, use something like xe.com to transfer the money.

As for the car, getting a car loan would be a great way to build credit history. Plenty in the wiki on this.

Re: Bank account/money transfer
 

I kept my UK debit account open with GBP left in the UK as the exchange rate was iffy when I moved.

I bank with Chase and they charge me $15 per transfer which is pretty good value. They just swipe my UK card when I want to transfer money from UK to US and the exchange rate seems pretty fair.

Re: Bank account/money transfer
 

Chase must love you! The $15 is avoidable, and I'll guarantee you're paying 2% more than you need to on the exchange, and most likely 4-5%.

Try taking a look at xe.com or xoom.com as those seem to be the FX services recommended most often, but be sure not to select "credit by wire" or the receiving bank will still stick you with the wire fee.

Re: Bank account/money transfer
 

Another vote for xe.com.

http://www.xe.com/xetrade/

Re: Bank account/money transfer
 

I've recently made a couple of transactions via xe.com too and had no problems, everything very smooth.

Re: Bank account/money transfer
 

I forgot to say I use xe.com myself. :)