British Expats

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)

- USA (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/)

- - Banks! (https://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-57/banks-847055/)

Thanks guys,

The in conclusion then having a US bank account is a must? The Lloyds international account won't cut it?

Cheers

Karl

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 11520061)

The requirements to open a bank account with a US bank are:

(i) proof of your name
(ii) proof of your date of birth
(iii) proof of your (an) address, and
(iv) a government-issued ID number, which is most commonly a SSN, but a passport number, DL number, or any other bona fide unique ID number issued by any government meets the requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Whether any given bank will accept "non standard" ID numbers issued by foreign governments is a matter for that bank, but most are likely to accept a British passport to evidence name and DoB, and provide a government issued ID#. Evidencing an address may be the biggest challenge.

Yes, but if you want a interest account, you need a SSN, which is what I'd said...and you'd not be missing out by not having one.

The problem with using a non-US ID for banks is often down to crap software UI, not being set up to allow the person on the till to do it, so it's got to be manually done on the backend from a supervisor type bod, which is why the default answer from the bank is "no", but the reality is they could if their bank policy is to allow it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 11520428)

Yes, but if you want a interest account, you need a SSN, which is what I'd said...and you'd not be missing out by not having one. ......

Well that's not quite true either, because a TIN would also work, as would an EIN for businesses.

Quote:

The problem with using a non-US ID for banks is often down to crap software UI, not being set up to allow the person on the till to do it, so it's got to be manually done on the backend from a supervisor type bod, which is why the default answer from the bank is "no", but the reality is they could if their bank policy is to allow it.

That (crap software) may be true, and part of the problem, but there is a distinction in the USA PATRIOT Act between using an SSN which permits an automated verification of a new customer's identity and "documentary verification" which requires checking actual paper documents. As you said, banks don't like doing that, and many customer-facing staff are probably unfamiliar with doing that.

The requirement to check paper documents does however make it impossible for someone without an SSN to open an account entirely on-line, which often is possible for someone with a SSN.