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Opening a bank account help

Opening a bank account help

Old Jun 19th 2015, 2:37 pm
  #31  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Fatboyslick, you can walk into a branch the day you arrive and leave 30 minutes later with a working bank account complete with temporary debit card and temporary cheques. Just have some cash available to open it with and be prepared to transfer money over by having already opened an account with one of the exchange services (we use worldfirst and it took a good couple of weeks to get it all set up - do this in advance before you leave the UK)

For an address - plenty of people arrive here and have temporary accommodation, so long as you can show the bank proof of id and other stuff like a work contract and your visa/passport (that's to assuage their fears) then I'd be pretty certain that a hotel address won't be a problem FOR THEM.

I've put that in capitals because I would not be happy to have bank stuff going to a temporary address like that where it is far too easily intercepted.

Do you have any contacts here that you can trust? We used our relocation agent's address but we had a visit 1 month prior to moving to set up this kind of stuff.

Transferring money from the UK to USA using a service like worldfirst takes hours (usually the same working day).
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Old Jun 19th 2015, 3:11 pm
  #32  
 
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Originally Posted by petitefrancaise
Fatboyslick, you can walk into a branch the day you arrive and leave 30 minutes later with a working bank account complete with temporary debit card and temporary cheques. Just have some cash available to open it with and be prepared to transfer money over by having already opened an account with one of the exchange services (we use worldfirst and it took a good couple of weeks to get it all set up - do this in advance before you leave the UK)

For an address - plenty of people arrive here and have temporary accommodation, so long as you can show the bank proof of id and other stuff like a work contract and your visa/passport (that's to assuage their fears) then I'd be pretty certain that a hotel address won't be a problem FOR THEM.

I've put that in capitals because I would not be happy to have bank stuff going to a temporary address like that where it is far too easily intercepted. ....
Go to the nearest UPS Store and rent a mailbox there - then use the STREET address of the UPS Store and describe the mailbox as "Apt #1234" or "Unit #1234" in the address. ..... And when I say "nearest UPS Store", I recommend you don't go the USPS Store that is across the street from the bank as they are likely to notice that you aren't actually living at that address.

Contrary to PF, I am very doubtful that most banks would knowingly accept a hotel as your address when opening an account. We do hear fairly often of people who give their office/ employer's address when they open an account.
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Old Jun 19th 2015, 3:27 pm
  #33  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Hi Mr P
maybe it's because there are so many people moving to Austin but there are loads of hotel/apartment places where people really do stay for months and they are getting bank accounts.
Certainly the wells fargos around where I live have been very accommodating when it comes to opening bank accounts -they really do WANT to take your salary, sell you services, give you credit cards and mortgages, car loans etc. All of which a new arrival needs pretty quickly and maybe doesn't know how to find the better deals...

BTW Big daughter is off travelling with some mates so I took her to the bank to get a "secured credit card". When the guy opened up her account it flashed up that she was eligible to get a "college"card. Not secured, 0% interest for a year and no intro charges. I didn't even ask about the credit limit. She hasn't been here for 2 years, never earned a penny and doesn't have a job.......pretty scary I thought
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Old Jun 19th 2015, 5:55 pm
  #34  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Whaaaaat.....exchange services? I presumed I could simply transfer my money in current UK bank to my new account as if I was sending money to another account.

Can you please explain or send me a link to somewhere on here if available
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Old Jun 19th 2015, 6:01 pm
  #35  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

well, you can use the search facility for currency exchange on this site...it's been covered a lot.

By setting up an account with a service like worldfirst you can transfer your money between banks in different countries very quickly and cheaply. You usually get a better exchange rate and it happens faster. Also, no bank charges!! Worldfirst charges about £10 per transfer which is cheaper than the banks. If you think you will be transferring large amounts of money this is definitely the best way to go. BUT you do have to do it in advance since they verify you and your bank account. Also make sure that whichever service you use is allowed to conduct business in the state to which you are moving.
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Old Jun 19th 2015, 6:51 pm
  #36  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Originally Posted by Fatboyslick
Whaaaaat.....exchange services? I presumed I could simply transfer my money in current UK bank to my new account as if I was sending money to another account.

Can you please explain or send me a link to somewhere on here if available
You can't just deposit pounds into a dollar checking account, not least because they use completely incompatible computer systems. Foreign exchange services convert your GBP into USD for you. What basically happens is you make a payment in pounds (BACS or fasterpayment) from your UK account to the UK bank of the exchange service. They then magically make a payment from their US bank into your US account in dollars (usually by EFT), at their exchange rate minus fees etc (BACS and EFT usually being free). In the background they are doing currency trading on the markets.

You could go to your uk bank and do a swift transfer but you will get screwed on the exchange rate and wire charges at both ends.
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Old Jun 19th 2015, 7:57 pm
  #37  
 
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Originally Posted by Fatboyslick
Whaaaaat.....exchange services? I presumed I could simply transfer my money in current UK bank to my new account as if I was sending money to another account. ....
Do you have much luck spending pounds in the US, or in continental Europe for that matter? No, I thought not. ..... Banks are like shops, they cater to the local market, so in the US banks don't have any computers to handle non-US currency, and in fact until a couple of years ago it was illegal for a US bank to pay interest on an account in a foreign currency, consequently no US banks offer foreign currency accounts in the US, and it was on this peculiar fact that the offshore banking industry in the Cayman Islands (and to a lesser degree in the Bahamas) was built. In any case, most international wires are sent in USD anyway.

Sir Eccles has already explained the details.
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Old Jun 19th 2015, 9:35 pm
  #38  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

I opened my BofA account with $100 cash and used my cousin's address in Florida-so that was handy.
I transfer money from Lloyds UK online
to B of A and it takes ages to get there and costs me both ends.


Originally Posted by Pulaski
Do you have much luck spending pounds in the US, or in continental Europe for that matter? No, I thought not. ..... Banks are like shops, they cater to the local market, so in the US banks don't have any computers to handle non-US currency, and in fact until a couple of years ago it was illegal for a US bank to pay interest on an account in a foreign currency, consequently no US banks offer foreign currency accounts in the US, and it was on this peculiar fact that the offshore banking industry in the Cayman Islands (and to a lesser degree in the Bahamas) was built. In any case, most international wires are sent in USD anyway.

Sir Eccles has already explained the details.
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Old Jun 19th 2015, 9:38 pm
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Originally Posted by Anrev
I opened my BofA account with $100 cash and used my cousin's address in Florida-so that was handy.
I transfer money from Lloyds UK online
to B of A and it takes ages to get there and costs me both ends.
When was that? .... Banks got a lot more particular about addresses and identification after the USA PATRIOT Act section covering banks was implemented in 2003.
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Old Jun 19th 2015, 9:44 pm
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

September 2014
Originally Posted by Pulaski
When was that? .... Banks got a lot more particular about addresses and identification after the USA PATRIOT Act section covering banks was implemented in 2003.
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Old Jun 20th 2015, 12:44 pm
  #41  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Originally Posted by Fatboyslick
Whaaaaat.....exchange services? I presumed I could simply transfer my money in current UK bank to my new account as if I was sending money to another account.

Can you please explain or send me a link to somewhere on here if available
Well, yes you can do that (assuming you can set up your new US account as an international payee on your online banking. I had to go into a Natwest branch to set up my fiancee as an international payee because the online thing just would not have it even with all the details! It doesn't even always work when I try to do a transfer to her online now to get money to her to help pay for wedding-related stuff!) but, as others have said I get the feeling the rates and charges leave you out of pocket of a nice tidy sum of money.

I hear xe.com and Transferwise are both reliable and quick. I think that any transfer worth $10,000 or more will be brought to the attention of the powers that be, but the transfer site (or your bank if you do go down that route) should sort out the paperwork for that from what I've been told.

I'm going to try Transferwise to send some more money to my fiancee in a few weeks so I'll let you know how I get on with that in terms of speed and whether it gets there lol
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Old Jun 22nd 2015, 8:30 am
  #42  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Thanks all.

So it's simply a case of using someone like World First so that a) you get a better exchange rate and b) you don't get charged fees like you would from a bank
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Old Jun 22nd 2015, 10:05 am
  #43  
 
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Originally Posted by Fatboyslick
Thanks all.

So it's simply a case of using someone like World First so that a) you get a better exchange rate and b) you don't get charged fees like you would from a bank
Yup, and look out for any "options" on how the funds will be credited to your US account: with xe,com you can choose "credit by ACH" ..... if you choose (or the default is) credit by wire, it is likely that your US bank will deduct a wire fee (probably $25 +/- $10). I believe worldfirst only credits by wires, and this is likely true for remitters not authorized to send money from the US.
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Old Jun 23rd 2015, 1:38 am
  #44  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

we've never been charged anything by the banks in UK, France or USA with Worldfirst. Not even the french banks!!!
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Old Jun 24th 2015, 6:56 pm
  #45  
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Default Re: Opening a bank account help

Fatboyslick....

Regarding Wells Fargo....see what I just posted here:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/usa-5...?#post11683872
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