Opening US bank account from UK

[TransplantUSA 167]

Hi,

 

Has anyone been able to open a US bank account while still in the UK. I've read some articles that say it's possible, but I'm still researching if it's achievable.

 

Any advice on best bank to go with? 

 

Thanks,

Emily 

[StuBear65 68]

I have managed to open a joint account with my wife with USAA. It was a challenge as they kept asking for my SSN, which I don't have yet, but we managed it in the end.

 

It is achievable but difficult, I would suggest trying to go with an international bank that understand about the world outside the US.

 

I am lucky as USAA mostly deals with military, now I have a membership number with them, I will be able to open up a personal account once I get stateside.

 

Good luck.

 

 

[Adam & Dina 29]

I was unable unfortunately  

[Tracey&Greg 35]

Have you looked into HSBC, their in  UK and US. From my experience working in a bank if a customer doesn't have a social security number they have to come inside a bank to open. Being that USBC is in the UK you could probably open there and use it in the US as well. 

[simonschus 58]

Yes, I managed to open a bank account before moving to the USA. Details below, with perhaps excruciating detail and grammar (and spelling mistakes; sorry!).

 

I managed to open a US bank account with HSBC USA whilst still in the UK. HSBC UK handled this all for me, though I had to phone up their International Bank Account Opening team then go into the branch to fill in a lot of paperwork. The telephone team were good, and guided the branch through everything - but they're (the telephone team) much more used to opening up individuals who already have their Green Card or who are moving over for employment purposes. It took quite a while to convince them to open the account on the phone, after I explained the situation (a couple of phone calls over a few days). I hit a lot of roadblocks on the way but my bank card was waiting for me in the USA when I landed! (HSBC UK did offer to have HSBC USA send the bank card to the UK so I could have them before I took off but I only finished opening the account a few days before flying out so I asked them to send the card to our house within the USA instead rather than risk them to the UK arriving after I had left). In order to use International Bank Account Opening service though, I had to open a HSBC UK bank account. I did this around 3 months prior to moving out to the USA. Depending on the account that you open, this process can be free or can be at a cost.

 

The main problem with HSBC USA though is that they don't have lots of branches everywhere - I have seen one in San Francisco and a few in the Washington DC/tri-state area. I haven't found this too problematic really as I don't deposit much physical cash into the account anyway (though they might offer an alternative service for depositing physical cash, e.g. like some UK bank accounts do with the post office - I don't know though as I've never had a reason to find out if there is such a feature). All the services I have ever needed on the account (e.g. check deposit) can be completed electronically using the mobile app. I'm sure this is quite problematic though for people who prefer face-to-face encounters. For many of the HSBC accounts, there is also a fee if you don't maintain a minimum balance or if you don't have a 'direct deposit' (basically any payment in: I've found Transferwise is considered to be a direct deposit - something like $200 works each month). There are also fewer HSBC ATM/cash machines around meaning that, depending on your account type, you might have to pay to get cash out of another bank's ATM (on some of the HSBC USA account, you can get these fees refunded each month without hassle) although getting cashback is at no cost (e.g. at a supermarket with your groceries).  All-in-all, I'd perhaps not advise others to spend their time with getting HSBC UK to set up a HSBC USA bank account because you can get an account set up after landing in the USA (my wife and I set up a joint account a few days after entering the USA on my K1 visa, for instance).

 

Saying that, the major benefit of the HSBC USA bank account - sometimes referred to as a checking account rather than a 'current account' terminology I was more familiar with - was that it allowed me to open a HSBC MasterCard credit card in the USA straight away, under my open name, and without having to pay a deposit/guarantee (admittedly, the card had a tiny limit though, $500, which makes sense given that they had limited credit history on me from my HSBC UK account as it had only been open for three months - I don't think they pull your wider UK credit history, but instead based it on your internal HSBC UK credit history). I also got AMEX UK to open up an AMEX USA credit card for me too - though they wouldn't do this until I landed in the USA and I had gotten my Social Security Number. I believe that AMEX USA used my AMEX UK credit history which took a couple of days for them to confirm - as I had an AMEX for years in the UK, my credit limit was higher than the $500 that HSBC USA gave me (not huge though, but they let you increase the limit by 2x or 3x your initial limit it after 6 months of the account being open - and then increase the limit by 2x or 3x every 6 months from therein I believe). As an aside, HSBC USA didn't require a Social Security Number from me to open a bank/credit card account but they did send me a form in the post within a few weeks asking for that number (which I had received by the time that I received it).

 

I'm sure that there are alternatives to my approach but it worked for me - and I wouldn't change much in how I approached this all.

 

I hope that helps - perhaps a little too much detail. Nonetheless, it might be useful for you! I think I've covered my entire experience so I don't know if I would have much else to add!

Edited October 17, 2017 by simonschus

[TransplantUSA 167]

11 minutes ago, simonschus said:

Yes, I managed to open a bank account before moving to the USA. Details below, with perhaps excruciating detail and grammar (and spelling mistakes; sorry!).

 

I managed to open a US bank account with HSBC USA whilst still in the UK. HSBC UK handled this all for me, though I had to phone up their International Bank Account Opening team then go into the branch to fill in a lot of paperwork. The telephone team were good, and guided the branch through everything - but they're (the telephone team) much more used to opening up individuals who already have their Green Card or who are moving over for employment purposes. It took quite a while to convince them to open the account on the phone, after I explained the situation (a couple of phone calls over a few days). I hit a lot of roadblocks on the way but my bank card was waiting for me in the USA when I landed! (HSBC UK did offer to have HSBC USA send the bank card to the UK so I could have them before I took off but I only finished opening the account a few days before flying out so I asked them to send the card to our house within the USA instead rather than risk them to the UK arriving after I had left). In order to use International Bank Account Opening service though, I had to open a HSBC UK bank account. I did this around 3 months prior to moving out to the USA. Depending on the account that you open, this process can be free or can be at a cost.

 

The main problem with HSBC USA though is that they don't have lots of branches everywhere - I have seen one in San Francisco and a few in the Washington DC/tri-state area. I haven't found this too problematic really as I don't deposit much physical cash into the account anyway (though they might offer an alternative service for depositing physical cash, e.g. like some UK bank accounts do with the post office - I don't know though as I've never had a reason to find out if there is such a feature). All the services I have ever needed on the account (e.g. check deposit) can be completed electronically using the mobile app. I'm sure this is quite problematic though for people who prefer face-to-face encounters. For many of the HSBC accounts, there is also a fee if you don't maintain a minimum balance or if you don't have a 'direct deposit' (basically any payment in: I've found Transferwise is considered to be a direct deposit - something like $200 works each month). There are also fewer HSBC ATM/cash machines around meaning that, depending on your account type, you might have to pay to get cash out of another bank's ATM (on some of the HSBC USA account, you can get these fees refunded each month without hassle) although getting cashback is at no cost (e.g. at a supermarket with your groceries).  All-in-all, I'd perhaps not advise others to spend their time with getting HSBC UK to set up a HSBC USA bank account because you can get an account set up after landing in the USA (my wife and I set up a joint account a few days after entering the USA on my K1 visa, for instance).

 

Saying that, the major benefit of the HSBC USA account was that it allowed me to open a HSBC MasterCard credit card in the USA straight away, under my open name, and without having to pay a deposit/guarantee (admittedly, the card had a tiny limit though, $500, which makes sense given that they had limited credit history on me from my HSBC UK account as it had only been open for three months - I don't think they pull your wider UK credit history, but instead based it on your internal HSBC UK credit history). I also got AMEX UK to open up an AMEX USA credit card for me too - though they wouldn't do this until I landed in the USA and I had gotten my Social Security Number. I believe that AMEX USA used my AMEX UK credit history which took a couple of days for them to confirm - as I had an AMEX for years in the UK, my credit limit was higher than the $500 that HSBC USA gave me (not huge though, but they let you increase the limit by 2x or 3x your initial limit it after 6 months of the account being open - and then increase the limit by 2x or 3x every 6 months from therein I believe). As an aside, HSBC USA didn't require a Social Security Number from me to open a bank/credit card account but they did send me a form in the post within a few weeks asking for that number (which I had received by the time that I received it).

 

I hope that helps - perhaps a little too much detail. Nonetheless, it might be useful for you! I think I've covered my entire experience so I don't know if I would have much else to add!

Thank you so much for this information. I wasn't going to bother opening one before entering the US but with the exchange rate being the best it's been for a while I was thinking to open one and transfer my savings in to get the best rate.

 

I'll have to think about this a little more, really appreciate all the advice! 

[simonschus 58]

I forgot to mention in my last post: If you do try the route with HSBC UK's International Bank Account Opening team and you don't get what you were looking for, ask to speak to a supervisor/manager - and highlight that this can be done but that it is a less common route that the managers will (hopefully) be more familiar with. I had to do this a few times, and it worked out fine. An experienced employee took over the handling of my bank account opening, and it was dealt with so much more quickly from then on (like, a couple of days - after experiencing a few days of getting nowhere - it only took a little while longer after this experienced employee took over because I had to arrange to get into a HSBC UK branch to show my ID, I think a c copy of my unused VISA in my passport, and the paperwork).

Edited October 17, 2017 by simonschus

[simonschus 58]

8 minutes ago, emylady said:

Thank you so much for this information. I wasn't going to bother opening one before entering the US but with the exchange rate being the best it's been for a while I was thinking to open one and transfer my savings in to get the best rate.

 

I'll have to think about this a little more, really appreciate all the advice! 

 

Sure, I get that

 

As an aside - if transferring is important then I think you might benefit from looking into the option of transferring money to your partner's US bank account through a service like Transferwise. They generally provide the better conversion rates anyway compared to the international transfer services of high street banks. The HSBC transfer rate - even from HSBC UK to HSBC UK - is much worse than a service like Transferwise. I transfer money between my HSBC UK and USA bank accounts using Transferwise as it is cheaper to do so (and I think takes an equivalent time as the HSBC standard international transfer service). There are more than enough posts on Visajourney about Transferwise.

 

The only block you might find with Transferwise is that you'll be transferring money to somebody who isn't yourself. I've not ever tried doing this so you'd have to look at their webpages to ensure that they permit this to be done, or not (and at the values you're sending too - sometimes there is a transaction limit). There might not be a limit at all, I'm just musing with intuition and expectation, but without any direct knowledge of using Transferwise to send money between UK and USA accounts.

 

Good luck

Edited October 17, 2017 by simonschus

[Reggie B 11]

On 17/10/2017 at 9:21 PM, simonschus said:

 

Sure, I get that

 

As an aside - if transferring is important then I think you might benefit from looking into the option of transferring money to your partner's US bank account through a service like Transferwise. They generally provide the better conversion rates anyway compared to the international transfer services of high street banks. The HSBC transfer rate - even from HSBC UK to HSBC UK - is much worse than a service like Transferwise. I transfer money between my HSBC UK and USA bank accounts using Transferwise as it is cheaper to do so (and I think takes an equivalent time as the HSBC standard international transfer service). There are more than enough posts on Visajourney about Transferwise.

 

The only block you might find with Transferwise is that you'll be transferring money to somebody who isn't yourself. I've not ever tried doing this so you'd have to look at their webpages to ensure that they permit this to be done, or not (and at the values you're sending too - sometimes there is a transaction limit). There might not be a limit at all, I'm just musing with intuition and expectation, but without any direct knowledge of using Transferwise to send money between UK and USA accounts.

 

Good luck

This is what I ended up doing. My fiancee opened an account and I have been transferring money over using Transferwise (great service). There's no issue with sending the money to someone else's account. 

 

If you are visiting the USA in the meantime, you might want to try your luck with citibank, last time I was there we went to a branch in Chicago who said with 2 utility bills and ID I would be able to open an account. Unfortunately I didn't have my utility bills with me at the time and I was due to go back the following day. 

 

 

[June2017UK 430]

On 17/10/2017 at 9:21 PM, simonschus said:

 

Sure, I get that

 

As an aside - if transferring is important then I think you might benefit from looking into the option of transferring money to your partner's US bank account through a service like Transferwise. They generally provide the better conversion rates anyway compared to the international transfer services of high street banks. The HSBC transfer rate - even from HSBC UK to HSBC UK - is much worse than a service like Transferwise. I transfer money between my HSBC UK and USA bank accounts using Transferwise as it is cheaper to do so (and I think takes an equivalent time as the HSBC standard international transfer service). There are more than enough posts on Visajourney about Transferwise.

 

The only block you might find with Transferwise is that you'll be transferring money to somebody who isn't yourself. I've not ever tried doing this so you'd have to look at their webpages to ensure that they permit this to be done, or not (and at the values you're sending too - sometimes there is a transaction limit). There might not be a limit at all, I'm just musing with intuition and expectation, but without any direct knowledge of using Transferwise to send money between UK and USA accounts.

 

Good luck

CurrencyFair also offer exchange for much cheaper.

You’re unlikely to be able to transfer to a account name other than your own name, due to KYC checks that financial institutions must do for anti money laundering purpose... no doubt you can transfer to a joint account with your spouse, once security checks have been completed 

Edited October 22, 2017 by June2017UK