US Bank Account

[Tonish]

Hopefully some of the villa owners may be able to help me find a US bank with a user friendly on-line facility open to UK customers. Something which would facilitate buying and selling US stocks and transferring cash between US and UK. I assume villa owners have a fair bit of experience with this and will have seen both good and bad. Having used Etrade for years, they have become increasingly difficult to deal with and removed a lot of the functionality for overseas on-line users. Previously you could transfer money by email instruction or by a click on the website, but now they want written instructions and ID by fax for almost everything and it's quite frustrating to work with.

Any suggestions?

[Snapper]

Hi Tonish,

You have mentioned two distinct requirements; to transfer funds between the UK and US and to deal in US stocks.

Perhaps a different answer to the one you might be expecting, but take a look at TD Waterhouse: www.tddirectinvesting.co.uk

They are primarily an on-line stockbroker but their platform covers many worldwide markets including the US. You can buy/sell stocks across all the markets they support and hold currency in a handful of different currencies. Payments to a US bank can be done online. IMHO their charges are quite reasonable. Call centres in Leeds and Manchester staffed by very highly trained people.

I'd say they are worth looking at for what it sounds like you are trying to achieve.

Full disclosure - TDWH are an occasional client of mine. I use their platform myself in a personal capacity. I don't make any money out of recommending them.