scotia123

Does anyone know the best way to deal with my UK bank account. Right now I take money out on a US ATM but with the ERTF etc that the UK bank charges me I get less dollars for my pounds. Should I transfer a regular amount each month to my US Account via an exchange company or keep doing what I am doing. Help please.

meauxna

Bring all the money?
How long are you in the US for?

How can we possibly answer this?

Longy

You need to provide more information..

Do you have a form of income in the UK? If not why not transfer it all?

You can use XE or UKForex to transfer the money between your accounts. I don't think you can automate it though so if you need to do it monthly it would still need to be done manually each time.

AdobePinon

But don't close your UK account.

Jerseygirl

Or cancel your UK credit cards...keep at least one.

The Redhead

I was in England in June 2007, visiting family in London, Birmingham and Yorkshire, then over to Ireland for a few days.
it was a whirlwind visit!
I wanted to open a bank account so I could have my pension paid in, to use for holidays.
I went into 3 banks, all said it would take at least a week, I had to produce my latest bank statements, passport and photographs, but I was not going to be in the same place long enough.
So after I returned home to Florida, I looked into opening a Lloyds International account, based in the Isle of Man. They accept deposits in pounds, euro and dollars, the charge is $7.50 per month.
I still have not decided what to do, but it's an option.

lansbury

They might not be able to but certainly HiFX and MoneyCorp can handle regular monthly payments. I get my pension sent over that way on a contract with a fix rate of exchange for between 6 and 24 months whatever I decide at the time.

Patrick Hasler

When I lived in the Uk I had an HSBC account, I kept it going untill I got married and then went into a joint account with the missus ... When I used HSBC atm's there was no charge for any transaction on the UK account.
There was also no exchange rate charge

chartreuse

Good advice. I'm keeping one bank account open - for which I'll use my brother's address and I'm planning on keeping a couple of cards.

Oddly enough, I did the AMEX Global Transfer thing and they were perfectly happy to let me keep both the UK and the US accounts open. The lady actually said "Well, you might as well keep the UK card because you don't want to be getting exchange rate hits if you're back home visiting."

The Redhead

Yes, keep your UK account open, and use it now and then if only for small amounts.
I hadn't used my little account so it was closed, and it's a pain to open an account as an ex-pat.
In a couple of years we are planning to split our time.....November to April in Florida, May to October in England and Ireland, with a bit of flexibility.
Our home address will be Florida because of health benefits, Military perks etc.
And of course......the sunshine!

Jerseygirl

You don't need to use a UK address...my bank and building society send all mail to my US address.

chartreuse

Yes, for bank accounts, but I believe that a UK address is a condition for credit cards, hence my plan.

Jerseygirl

For opening a new account...my CC mail is sent to the US address.

chartreuse

Veddy interesting. I didn't know that was possible, thanks

cranston

This varies by institution. My experience has been

Those that are OK include Nat West, HSBC, Lloyds and Amex.

Whilst Egg, Citibank and Halifax will not allow o/s addresses.