4REENZO

I live in California and I am in the process of claiming my UK State Pension....Could anyone advise me on which is the 'best' bank to have the UK State pension paid into....regarding exchange rates, fees, charges etc....and of course pitfalls or bad experiences anyone has experienced. Thank you.

Nutmegger

Whatever bank you have your account at. It will be sent to you directly, already converted, with no fees deducted. (Note: others go for having it deposited in the UK, and doing the transfer themselves. I'm of the "just send it to me" school, but I also don't have a big UK pension and gave up any UK accounts long ago.)

4REENZO

Thanks....I have an account with the USBank....but was informed that 'their' exchange rates are very poor, and possibly a fee will be charged on every transfer each month...I was wondering if anyone had 'good' experiences....with another bank that could be recommended.

Nutmegger

They are not making an exchange, the pension is sent to you in dollars. I use B of A and although I am charged fees on some money sent from overseas, there has never been a fee for the pension.

lansbury

The UK DWP use Citi bank to handle the payments in the US. Citi bank do the transfer from £s to $s. They should send the money to your US bank in $s using the ACH system which doesn't entail any charges to you.

4REENZO

Thanks for that...I was thinking about opening an account with Citi Bank...there is a thing called the "Citi Foreign Currency Deposit Account"... I am not sure if this would help but it was something to work on, having said that...I noticed another poster had problems with Citi changing the Pension deposits to a wire transfer from the ACH method which incurred costs after two years of trouble free transfers.....

Pulaski

That was likely a result of the poster banking at a small bank or credit onion that only interacts indirectly with CitiBank receiving the credit through an intermediary bank, which had loused things up.

4REENZO

I am not sure of the details...I was under the impression he was having his pension paid into a Citi bank branch...and they screwed up.....so...would you recommend the Citi bank...??....

lansbury

It is immaterial as far as the exchange rate which US bank you have an account with. I think it was far from conclusive that Citi bank was in fact the one who changed the payment method in the case you mentioned. The person that posted that also stated that the transfer seem to go through an intermediary bank, no-one else on BE has reported a similar problem. Citi and US Bank are both members of the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system so there shouldn't be a charge.

4REENZO

So...it sounds like you are in favour of Citi Bank....are you familiar with the Citi Foreign Currency Deposit Account.......is that a way to progress....?

Pulaski

I remember the thread, no he wasn't.

And "no". CitiBank is in a mess and is cutting back and retrenching, .... it has for several years and is still in a hole. It never really recovered from the financial meltdown in 2008, so I would certainly not recommend CitiBank.

4REENZO

Thanks for that...very much appreciated.....

Nutmegger

You said you "had heard" things about your bank. Why don't you approach your branch manager directly with the info you have been given here about the direct dollar deposit and try to ascertain the facts? It may be totally unnecessary for you to open a new account.

lansbury

You have an account with US Bank. If that serves your needs as far as accessibility and services why would you not have your pension paid into that account. For the purposes of receiving an incoming payment one bank is very much like any other.

4REENZO

Thanks everyone for giving their great advice...its been very helpful....very much appreciated ......Dave.