View Full Version : Obtaining credit
Hayabusa
10-01-2004, 23:17
I know that many people will know the answer to this but how difficult is it to obtain a credit card or bank account in Florida ?Is it best to get letters of reference from card companies, banks and mortgage lenders before leaving the UK, and will lenders in the U.S. take notice of them ? Is it easy to get credit on cars ??
Nick
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It used to be very easy you turn up at the bank with money and they grab your arm off. After 911 things got a bit tougher, we changed one of our accounts and despite already being customers they want to see our passport and some other minor info. Once that was over they gave us a credit card with photo ID on it. They took the photos in the bank and the cards turned up in the post 2 weeks later. Most banks will send to a UK address if you will not be around long enough.
The large number of people from the UK means that situations have been seen before so they know what to do. If you take a letter for a UK bank or credit card company it can only help.
Credit on cars may be a bit different and I will let someone else answer that. The only credit problem I had in the U.S. was about 7 years ago when I tried to get a mobile phone. They wouldn't sell me one on contract because I didn't have a credit history that they could check with one of the U.S. credit agencies.
Regards Dave
I don't think opening a bank account will be a problem at all with the correct ID. However obtaining credit when you first move to the US is difficult I think. I am sure that Esprit who moved over in the summer will be able to give you more detailed information:)
Hi,
We will be in the same situation this year as we are moving over to Florida on an E2visa. I have heard that it is easier to obtain store cards we are a good way to biuld up credit history. Can anyone confirm this? As I understand credit is a major issue.
Jimbo
sorry not that good with the old keyboard.
donnapit
11-01-2004, 02:27
I bank with Bank of America. I'd heard that they will offer a secured credit card, against your home in the US. I called in on my last trip and discussed this with an adviser. She told me that I could apply for a secured credit card, however I would need to deposit with them, interest free, my credit limit. In effect I would be using my own money, so why wouldn't I just use my debit card?
She assured me that I would obtain a credit history this way. So, if that's the case, there's possibly your answer.
The other thing I've been told, is to make sure that your mortgage, assuming you have a US one, is registered on with a credit agency, and backdated to inception, so you get a history that way too.
Hope that helps.
Donna
getting your credit file up to uk level will take 1 - 2 years ive been told...
ive been here 6 weeks and have managed to get a car loan after 2 weeks.. this after been turned down twice....they let me have the car after 2 hours drive away!!!!
reccommend sun trust bank if you need a bank account but you wont get a visa card for ages.....
Back reporting works in theory, Donna, However I have not been able to get either of our mortgage companies to actually do it ( we have asked and nothing has been done). There is nothing in it for them, I guess. We have secured BoA credit cards with $500 credit limits which are secured by a savings account into which we had to put $99 each. This in spite of the fact that we have s proper savings account with thousands of dollars in! It didnt do much for our rating yet as we were turned fown for Home Depot credit cards yesterday.
Yes you can get a car loan arranged by the dealer, but the rate is high without a credit rating. The interest rate increases as your credit rating decreases.
keith-jacqui
12-09-2004, 03:10
I have just read in another forum that you could open an account with HSBC in Florida (which I have just done recently) I had to do it through a branch in Miami and have heard also that it will be in Orlando soon. You could then transfer within the same bank which cuts down your costs. Then if you go to your UK manager, tell him you need to transfer monthly and only want to pay £10 for the privilege - he'll do it.
If you've been a good boy in the past they'll also give you a US credit card which is gold dust as it starts to build your credit history.
Well not quite gold dust.....a green card is gold dust......
Also if you had an account with HSBC in the UK for a few years and kept it in order? Then ask your UK manager to speak with Miami (they can do this by email) and ask him/her to send your credit score across. You will then be able to get a credit card.
This is relatively new and only available as HSBC is such a large bank. Some of the staff in Miami may not be aware that this is available yet.......
keith-jacqui
12-09-2004, 03:30
I have just read in another forum that you could open an account with HSBC in Florida (which I have just done recently) I had to do it through a branch in Miami and have heard also that it will be in Orlando soon. You could then transfer within the same bank which cuts down your costs. Then if you go to your UK manager, tell him you need to transfer monthly and only want to pay £10 for the privilege - he'll do it.
If you've been a good boy in the past they'll also give you a US credit card which is gold dust as it starts to build your credit history.
Well not quite gold dust.....a green card is gold dust......
Also if you had an account with HSBC in the UK for a few years and kept it in order? Then ask your UK manager to speak with Miami (they can do this by email) and ask him/her to send your credit score across. You will then be able to get a credit card.
This is relatively new and only available as HSBC is such a large bank. Some of the staff in Miami may not be aware that this is available yet.......
chrizzy100
12-09-2004, 05:42
Some people have trouble getting credit others don't.......we never did......we got a new car in days......a secondhand one with credit the next week....the week after that we got our home loan.....and then we got our first credit card without giving them any of our money to hold.....
Storecards are very hard to get until you file for taxes.......once you've done that.....it seems easier to get anything......
Bring over a years worth of paid in the black bills.......phone... credit cards......home loan.....gas etc......bring over your paid up last bills.....so they see you have not run out without paying everyone up......banks like this when you're going for a home loan.....I give the lady at our bank all this and she was in heaven.....LOL!
People who have a long standing and well used American Express card usually find it easier to get credit in the US. It has to be both of the above, we got one a few monthe before ready for the move and it was useless. You will always be able to get a car loan but the interest rate is a lot higher without credit.
hi just a update on the credit card situation...
we have been over here now for nearly 10 months still to get a store card still to get approved for bank credit card ....even though we have good credit in the uk and over here....
we have a secured credit card which we have to max every month just to show we are using it and have been advise in 6 months we should start to get offers of real ones.... getting anything other than a car or house loan is not so easy we can get contract phones but only if we put a huge deposit down....
still nobody said it was going to be easy...
chrizzy100
12-09-2004, 07:41
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by esprit
People who have a long standing and well used American Express card usually find it easier to get credit in the US. It has to be both of the above, we got one a few monthe before ready for the move and it was useless. You will always be able to get a car loan but the interest rate is a lot higher without credit.
[/quote]
We had Capital one in England for ages.........and when we got here hubby phoned to see if we could move our English account to here.....but the only thing the same about them is the name... they did do a credit check on us in England......and were the first ones to give us a card with a $2000 limit......
Beverley
14-09-2004, 00:49
We have a Premier account with HSBC in the UK.
Our UK bank opened a US account for us, and we were given US credit ($5000) & debit cards on the strength of our UK credit history.
keith_jacqui
17-09-2004, 00:49
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Beverley
We have a Premier account with HSBC in the UK.
Our UK bank opened a US account for us, and we were given US credit ($5000) & debit cards on the strength of our UK credit history.
[/quote]
Hi, we have just heard of transferring the UK credit recently, but when we tried , we were told that they dont do it?
We have banked with HSBC in the UK for some time and have opened an account with them recently in Miami.
Beverley
17-09-2004, 12:45
We had to change from our standard current account to their Premier account, which offers an international service.
They put us in touch with a premier relationship manager who arranged current and savings accounts, cheque books , bank cards and credit cards etc. It took about 10 days.
They do have some info on their website www.hsbcpremier.com
Cruella DeVilla
17-09-2004, 15:46
We had no hassle opening a bank account and did most of it over the net with the BOA. They fedexd our paperwork and then cards and checks to us. (They must have liked the look of us as they sent us platiun cards)!!!They have already offered us credit cards to which we said not for the moment thank you. They are pretty hot to, they stopped our debit cards when we first used them as we went out on a spending spree for the villa and were spending thousands of dollars each day. We had to explain to them what was going on before they would authorise the transactions again!!!! Better to be safe than sorry I suppose but not much fun in a store!!!!