Visitors opening a US$ bank account ?

[edlea]

Is it possible to open a US bank account as a tourist from England ?
We are reular summer visitors to FL and would like to deposit money in an account so we can pay deposits / rentals to owners without occuring charges to transfer £s into $s. Each visit we could dump an amount in dollars and the following Spring when we booked our next villa could simply transfer funds via the internet.
This year it cost me £35 (and a lot of hassle)to get my bank to issue 2 cheques in dollars which I then had to post (and insure).
How does everyone else do it ??
Any advice appreciated and if this topic has been covered in depth before / somewhere else, I apologise.

[Jo]

If you want a dollar account I can recommend a UK Citibank account, which you can open and maintain here. Its very easy and you can earn interest too. Currency conversions can be done online.

Some owners will accept travellers cheques for villa payments. It's worth asking, as this might be more convenient.

[SDJ]

We opened a US bank account many years ago before we ever owned a property. They required $1000 to open the account and been with Bank of America ever since, although it was Nations Bank in those days. I don't know if times have changed since 911 as everything seems to have different rules now.

I would suggest either calling in some of the banks, or telephoning them from UK before your next visit.

Good luck.

Sandra

[steph_goodrum]

Edlea
Many of us villa owners take deposits and balances in either sterling or dollars so find it isn't usually a problem. Some owners prefer to take all their funds in Dollars in which case the easiest way to do it to avoid paying charges for credit cards etc is to ask the owners if they will take USD travellers checks. MOst will as we can pay them into our bank the same way as a personal check without worry that they may bounce.

Because of money laundering worries the Us banks are having the same problems as UK and it may depend on individual banks what they will allow. The best bet would be to ask when you are next over, or go to some of the banks online and email to ask their particular requirements and whether you can open one online. Some of the dual currency ones require that you keep a certain balance or that you have a regular amount paid in.

[Cruella DeVilla]

Again we had an account with BOA before we had the villa, opened it with no problems whatsoever.

[Robert5988]

I would second the recommendation for a UK Citibank account with a linked US$ account.(you can also have a Euro account). You get a debit card for $$$$ from an ATM and a US$ chequebook.

You get a much better rate of exchange than TCs, cash or credit/debit cards(except Nationwide)

I have run my property for years with this account and Nationwide plastic.

[steph_goodrum]

For the sort of use anticipated here then the charges could easily outweigh any benefits

"Charges

A monthly service charge of $20 on each US$ Current Account will be levied where the credit balance, across your UK Citibank relationship, falls below the currency equivalent of £2000. This will be calculated, at the end of the monthly period, by applying the currency exchange rate on that day to the average balances in your UK Citibank accounts. This charge does not apply to Citigold Current Account holders.


Unless you have a minimum balance of (at present exchange rate) around $4000, then there will be a charge of $20 a month, which is a lot of money to tie up.

[ccarcher]

Kind of related, I'm looking to buy something from Walmart for collect at store upon arrival, so no shipping involved but obviously requires US account/credit card details

could i do this by opening a US account

did look at the Walmart giftcard option, but that again requires someone with US account / credit card to purchase

[Nina A]

We have a US bank account but can't get a US credit card. Even our debit card has a daily limit on it. If we want to spend more in a day, then we have to contact the bank first.
When we were furnishing our homes we even had trouble using our UK credit card, especially when ordering from the UK. JC Penny were the worst to deal with.
Having said that, our US bank customer service is fantastic. We have been with our bank here for years and still don't know any of the staff. The staff at our US bank got to know us very quickly. When I phone up I only say, 'it's Nina from the UK' and straight away they ask how Pete (my husband)is and they know our account number[clap]. It was very easy to open our account too.
As suggested just try asking different banks what their policies are, they do seem to vary.
Regarding paying by travellers cheque. I asked our bank about this and I was told they wouldn't be accepted by mail as the purchaser had to be present to sign them in front of the bank teller.
It seems every way of sending money to the US unfortunately has some kind of associated cost[msnsad]

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:For the sort of use anticipated here then the charges could easily outweigh any benefits

"Charges

A monthly service charge of $20 on each US$ Current Account will be levied where the credit balance, across your UK Citibank relationship, falls below the currency equivalent of £2000. This will be calculated, at the end of the monthly period, by applying the currency exchange rate on that day to the average balances in your UK Citibank accounts. This charge does not apply to Citigold Current Account holders.


Unless you have a minimum balance of (at present exchange rate) around $4000, then there will be a charge of $20 a month, which is a lot of money to tie up.
[/quote]

I can't think anyone will pay the $20 a month.

I just put £2,000 in their Savings account (interest rates vary between 5.5% to 6%) or you can put $4000 in their US saving account earning 4.5% interest