amancalledsun

Hey up!

I currently have a couple of bank accounts with Natwest, from what I have gathered it's a good idea to keep these accounts open when I move to the US in the coming months? As it stands I plan to continue working for some of my clients in the UK. What is generally the best way to transfer money over to the US? Would I be better having my clients pay me direct into a US account (when I get one) or my UK one and transfer myself? Would it be easier moving over to bank with HSBC who also have a presence in the US?

ian-mstm

That depends on how much you're willing to pay in transfer fees. You can get great service if you don't mind the fees... but if your intent is to pay as little as possible, then xe.com or forex.com seem to be the most popular.

Ian

ginstwin

You will get a rate at least 3% better with a FX trader such as the ones Ian suggests. I would imagine that could become quite substantial.

Money is transferred to USA within 2 days.

amancalledsun

Great thanks, I can handle 2! Can I be looking at opening a bank account in the US while i'm still here in the UK? I hear it takes some time to open one.

ginstwin

I would imagine you could use chase in london or HSBC to help open one from Uk. But if you want a local branch i think you need to present yourself and ID

GeoffM

About 90 minutes in my case, but that was mostly because the lady was chattering too much. Seriously though, I opened it the day after I arrived, had temporary cheques immediately, and a debit card and proper cheques about a week later. I think I only had my passport with visa inside with me as I wouldn't have had any bills or letters with my address on at the time.

One I tried to open from the UK, albeit a business account and (I suspect) a less-than-efficient banker in LA, didn't get opened until over a month after I arrived, even though the process had started a couple months earlier in the UK. This was HSBC and I'm regretting this now as I seem to have to go to the branch 90 miles away to do any necessary paperwork. As I say though, this was a business account, so a personal HSBC account might be better. No HSBC ATMS nearby though, so that could hurt in either gas or non-HSBC ATM fees.

axc

GeoffM, which bank did you have such success with?
We move next month and trying to open an account from here is rather tiresome. Citibank said they could do it but changed their minds and want me to have a fee-ridden linked account.
Andrea

GeoffM

Wells Fargo though I don't think they were any different from other banks in this respect. Mine's not free but does come with a few options - a premium account I guess.