ireland132

I am here working on a H1B visa and have a SSN. My wife has an H4 visa and is not going to be issued an SSN.

What banks in Los Angeles/California would you recommend, as the one I went to today would not even put my wife on my joint account without a SSN.

Can't get paid without one...

scotch03

Bank of America gave me a Checking account with a Visa ATM card this year with no SSN and my tourist visa.

So I would suggest them since you are in LA also. I used the branch at Western/Olympic - ask for Cindy (she is very helpful).

Scotch

ireland132

I take it you pay a monthly fee (gotta love those US bank charges). I'll certainly give them a try though.

On a seperate note,are you watching the Lithuania game on Sat?

nathan barley

If there's a Washington Mutual, Wachovia or GreenPoint in Cali, they do free checking. (No monthly fee).

superpat

I can vouch for Washington Mutual.

As I've previously posted, I opened an account with WaMu in San Jose when we were over househunting in May on visa waivers. I had a job offer letter, but my wife had nothing, and they were more than happy to open a joint account.

Pat

nathan barley

Hah, I was going to open a checking account at Commerce or WaMu, but my wife just nixed that plan.
She works for a small savings & loan bank, and "I Have to support the little people!" May only have to wait until next decade for online banking with them

ireland132

I actually wanted to join the credit union as I was recommended them as a much better alternatives to the banks. However, they were the ones who wouldn't sign up my non-SSNed wife. Pity, as they offerred all the modern options e.g. internet banking.

Pulaski

Sorry Nathan, Wachovia doesn't have branches in California, their retail banking business is confined entirely to the east coast.

If you're in California try Bank of America, they're are also offering "free" banking, though it isn't quite as generous as the Wachovia deal - I think that they have a minimum monthly deposit requirement.

If you are having a hard time opening an account without an SSN, try asking to speak to the branch manager as there is no absolute (legal) prohibition on having an account if you don't have a SSN. You need to speak to somebody who is able to hear what you say and, if needs be, make enquiries internally on your behalf. A passport as photo ID should be suffficient to be allowed an account, as several people have reported on Britishexpats.com.

ireland132

Well, I got a very helpful lady in the Hollywood Bank of America today, so our bank account is all being sorted (and no, I didn't go for the cheques with kittens, Scooby Doo, or pastoral scenes!)

They couldn't really help on the credit card front. The best she could offer was a secured card (you deposit a cheque that equals your credit limit).

Anyone been in the same boat re: credit cards?

Pulaski

Almost everyone, if posts on britishexpats.com are anything to go by!

The only apparent alternative is if you had a Bank One, MBNA, Amex, or HSBC card in the UK, then it is possible (usually) to lean on their US business to get a card issued on the back of your UK card usage history.

NB HSBC's US business is almost entirely confined to New York state.

nathan barley

HSBC actually has a service called HSBC Premier, in which they will transfer your accounts and credit rating over to the US equivalent, or which ever other country you are moving to, if HSBC operate there.

Pulaski

Yes, but that's a high level, premium product, with fees to match.

Unless you have a tidy sum to invest - $75,000 if I remember correctly, or a pretty substantial monthly deposit, you'd have to be prepared to pay the service fees. I visited HSBC's main NYC office and was amazed to find an almost empty, marble-floored, three-storey-high, banking hall, until I realized that all us common-folks were expected to take the escalators down to the beige-carpeted, low-ceilinged, "regular account" banking hall.

nathan barley

HSBC's US banking services are pale in comparison to their UK counterparts, imho. I have one of their graduate accounts with a 1250 pound int. free overdraft, the quality of service and features they provide are excellent. Free online banking and billpay, free ATM banking, plus you don't get charged for anything, whereas with the US version, you pay monthly dues or keep a $2500 min balance. I was also offered a 4:1 mortgage, reduced rate travel & home insurance, etc.

Banking in the US seems to be lagging 10 to 5 years behind Europe in some aspects.

Slaphead

I can definitely recommend Citibank so far, the service has been excellent.

I have a £ and US$ account here in the UK, and so long as you keep a minimum of £2000 across your accounts, banking is FOC. They also offer e-saver accounts.

They provide debit cards and cheque books for both accounts, and the US$ cheques are cleared through Citibank in New York, so no problem using them in the US.

Citibank are all over the US, including L.A. by the looks of it - checkout:

http://go.vicinity.com/citi/GeoFind....ZIP=&FC=PUBLIC

Citibank UK: http://www.citibank.co.uk/uk/index.jsp

They also offer a US$ credit card and you can arrange to make payments by direct debit from your UK based US$ account.

Transferring money between accounts is free and easy - via telephone or internet banking, it's immediate and you get the business rate at the time of transfer - I got 1.6465 when transferring some £ to $ two weeks ago, when the tourist rate was about 1.59. Doesn't sound much of a difference, but worth it on large transfers.

When I arrive in Florida in 2 weeks I will open a US Citibank account, and then transfers from my UK US$ account to the US account are FOC. Transferring money back incurs a small charge, but if you don't mind waiting for a cheque to clear, pay a US$ cheque in to the UK $ account and there's no charge.

Citibank appear to have a good network of banking centres and ATMs.

The service has been good so far - I needed to wire some money to Miami last week for a deposit on a house, and they were great - the money left my UK US$ account and arrived at the recipients bank on the same day! Even Citibank were surprised - they said wire transfers normally take 2 to 5 working days.

My only gripe is the wait for a human being if you need to speak to someone via the telephone banking - but how often do you need one when the internet banking allows you to do so much?

Applied for my H1B 22nd September, approved 9th October, received the I-797B Monday, and had my interview at the US Embassy in London today. Visa granted, and now all set to move to Fort Lauderdale on 31st!!

Can't wait - sick of the UK!
Hopes this helps
Sean