ashntosh

Hi All,

We are looking at moving to the states from the UK next May - North Carolina via L1 visa's.

Seeing as we have a bit of time to get organised I have been looking at helping build a credit history in the US by opening up accounts in the UK which can be transferred. A couple I have read about from other forums/blogs are:

• AMEX - for Credit card
• Citi - Bank account

Apparently both are transferable from a UK address to US address. I've also seen HSBC do international accounts. I thought before I compared these three options I would ask whether anyone is aware of any more?

We will bring around $400-450,000 with us so a good transfer rate is desirable.

We have perfect credit scores in the UK but it seems like that will mean nothing in the US and we would like to purchase a home soon to allow our children to settle quickly. I appreciate buying a home on a visa rather than GC is risky but we will start the process here soon.

Any advise or experience in this space gratefully received!

Thanks in advance,

Owen778

Welcome to BE!

All advice I have seen recently is that this is a waste of time, and it simply doesn't work very well.
- The time required to set up the accounts while in the UK is far in excess of just doing it with a local branch of a US bank once you arrive.
- You cannot generate a good US credit history by transferring a UK bank account. All that gets transferred is a note in the individual bank's internal systems, or similar. It isn't worth the effort, especially considering that it sounds like you don't even have an account with any of those institutions yet.

Even if you have an account with them, it doesn't guarantee you a good exchange rate, though bringing $400k should allow you to negotiate a very good rate. Generally we recommend using the specialist exchange brokers - XE, UKForex/USForex, Transferwise etc.

It is possible to get a mortgage on an L1. Hopefully others will be along soon to offer advice.

MidAtlantic

My attempt to transfer with a Citibank account (many years ago now) was a complete waste of time.

Even if you do a transfer, your credit history only comes to that specific financial institution. It does not directly help your US credit history.

You would do well just to directly open an account here. Wells Fargo gets good reports of helping expats, and they are well represented in NC.

As for the transfer of funds, check carefully the exchange rate and fees. In my experience the transfer specialists have always been significantly better, even for a large sum when I transferred my UK house sale proceeds. I use TorFx.

lansbury

Getting a UK AMex card should enable you to transfer that to a US account and thereby get an unsecured credit card in the US. There is a minimum time you need to have the UK account before it can be transferred, not sure what that is at the current time. When I transferred by UK Amex account over somehow they left the UK account open and I ended up with both. Useful as the UK one is chip and pin, and I use that when in the UK.

Asg123

As others have said, it's better to use a broker than a bank to transfer money. To give you an idea of the difference, for example a bank might charge you about $7,000 for the amount you want to transfer, whereas a broker might charge you about $2,000, so you might save about $5,000 by using a broker. Also, whereas with a bank you would have to send it all in one go otherwise you would get an even worse exchange rate, with a broker you could send it all in one go or send it in bits, you wouldn't have to pay any more. (My example for a broker is one that I have used, Transferwise). As to what bank account to open in the US, anyone will do- Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, etc..

stretched2

Does the same advice about building credit apply if you are moving from the US back to the UK? In other words,just start building credit with a UK bank as soon as you get here ? It does seem archaic and weird in this digital global banking age that it isn't a bit simpler.

Have recently joined and so appreciate all the information found here.

MidAtlantic

I'm not sure what these figures represent, but they are meaningless unless you consider fees and exchange rates together.

petitefrancaise

I think the minimum amount of time for an AMEX to be transferred is 1 year.

Definitely use a foreign exchange service rather than a bank - or at the very least compare the exchange rates and fees very, very carefully. Check that whichever company you choose is able to do business in your state (?NC).

I recommend Wells Fargo for bank accounts - they are also one of the largest mortgage providers in the USA, if not the largest so having an account there may help.

Whatever you do though DO NOT USE WELLS FARGO TO TRANSFER money. They will give you the rate that they decide upon - which may well be below the market rate. When we transferred a large sum, we used Worldfirst, exchange rate was great and the fee was ?$10. Not sure why the other poster got such huge fees.

In terms of getting a mortgage, it is possible to apply for one - Wells Fargo has an international team that will assess your non-US income instead of using credit history. Although, unless you know the area you are moving to very well, it's probably advisable to wait. In any case you may well have to sign a 12 month lease for your rental house.

lansbury

because the companies use different models in the "fee" structure. Transferwise charge 0.5% fee but use the spot rate as the exchange rate. World First and others charge either a small fee or no fee, depending on the amount exchanged, but use an exchange rate below the spot rate. The fee Transferwise charges equates on GBP to USD exchanges to about 1 cent below spot so usually with them while you pay a higher fee you end up with more dollars in your pocket. World First, as an example, charge around .75c to 2.5c below spot depending on the amount exchanged.

On large amounts it is worth taking the time to work out the various combinations of fee and exchange rates to see where you get the most dollars. For everyday amounts Transferwise will most likely give you the best result, but the differences are not that big.

nick.simpson19

I had good success with setting up an account with Wells Fargo even before I was issued a Social Security Number (SSN)

I also had great success with the local credit union in this case it was Alabama Credit Union they knew I was moving with a reputable company and gave us great rates on Auto Loans.

Its very hard to build a credit rating until you have SSN... it doesn't take long and there offering you the world!

Hope that helps

Nick

Asg123

Yes that's right.
But I have a couple of comments:

The fee Transferwise charges equates on GBP to USD exchanges to about 1 cent below spot so usually with them while you pay a higher fee you end up with more dollars in your pocket.
No. As you said before it's 0.5% (and no other fee).

On large amounts it is worth taking the time to work out the various combinations of fee and exchange rates to see where you get the most dollars
True for small amounts, but for large amounts it saves time if you consider only the exchange rate, as the "fee" will be small by comparison.