Opening US Bank Account
Mar 9th 2009, 10:04 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 121
Opening US Bank Account
Has anyone opened a US bank account within the last SIX months from the UK !
Before it used to be easy, walk in with passport and ID and you were sorted.
Now the banks are asking for US permanent address .
If you are in the process of moving from one country to another this can be difficult !
I rang BOA on FRIDAY and was told a US permanent address was required.
Can anyone help.
Before it used to be easy, walk in with passport and ID and you were sorted.
Now the banks are asking for US permanent address .
If you are in the process of moving from one country to another this can be difficult !
I rang BOA on FRIDAY and was told a US permanent address was required.
Can anyone help.
Mar 9th 2009, 1:57 pm
#2
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Sep 2008
Location: Bouncing between Canada and US
Posts: 2,512
Re: Opening US Bank Account
Check out Citibank and HSBC for US currency accounts. Not quite the same thing, but will serve your purposes I think.
Mar 9th 2009, 1:58 pm
#3
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,170
Re: Opening US Bank Account
Depends on bank policy...just ask around...
Mar 9th 2009, 11:29 pm
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 109
Re: Opening US Bank Account
I think a lot this had to do with the patriot act. I work at a bank and am so shocked by the number of accounts where we don't have the customers DOB even as they used to not require it.
You might try a credit union, I know the one I use used to post stuff to me in the UK like bank statements etc. Having said that, initially they had to use a relatives address to get me onto the "system" before changing my address to my old UK one.
If you have any family or friends in the US maybe you could approach them about using their address to just set up the account and then change it when you move?
You might try a credit union, I know the one I use used to post stuff to me in the UK like bank statements etc. Having said that, initially they had to use a relatives address to get me onto the "system" before changing my address to my old UK one.
If you have any family or friends in the US maybe you could approach them about using their address to just set up the account and then change it when you move?
Mar 10th 2009, 12:32 am
#5
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 35,082
Re: Opening US Bank Account
Has anyone opened a US bank account within the last SIX months from the UK !
Before it used to be easy, walk in with passport and ID and you were sorted.
Now the banks are asking for US permanent address .
If you are in the process of moving from one country to another this can be difficult !
I rang BOA on FRIDAY and was told a US permanent address was required.
Can anyone help.
Before it used to be easy, walk in with passport and ID and you were sorted.
Now the banks are asking for US permanent address .
If you are in the process of moving from one country to another this can be difficult !
I rang BOA on FRIDAY and was told a US permanent address was required.
Can anyone help.
Mar 10th 2009, 2:24 am
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Andover, MA
Posts: 250
Re: Opening US Bank Account
If you're moving for work, try the bank your employer banks with. We did that with no problem, and a colleague opened an account without a permanent address.
There's nothing in the Patriot Act that requires a social security number or a permanent address, but that doesn't mean that banks will jump at the chance to have you as a customer. UK banks are the same with non-residents, so don't close your UK account...
If all else fails, you could ask yourself what you want the account for, and whether there are other ways to achieve those aims - e.g. if it's to hold dollars to hedge against exchange rate changes, a UK based dollar account would achieve this. If it's to pay people in the US, you could contemplate a service like xetrade.com.
There's nothing in the Patriot Act that requires a social security number or a permanent address, but that doesn't mean that banks will jump at the chance to have you as a customer. UK banks are the same with non-residents, so don't close your UK account...
If all else fails, you could ask yourself what you want the account for, and whether there are other ways to achieve those aims - e.g. if it's to hold dollars to hedge against exchange rate changes, a UK based dollar account would achieve this. If it's to pay people in the US, you could contemplate a service like xetrade.com.
