pesky bankers
Watch out for US bank account charges. V different to UK.
Some banks in US charge a monthly maintenance fee. In addition you may have to pay to order cheque books! However, some US banks are getting a bit more like UK with online banking, free current account (they call it checking account) and online bill payments.
Other options for transfer of funds:
1. Take a Banker's Draft from your UK bank and pay it into your new US bank account. You pay approx 30 pounds for the draft but get a better exchange rate than for cash or travellers cheques. Worth doing if transferring loads of cash.
2. Do an international bank transfer from your UK bank to your US bank account. You need to talk to your UK bank about setting up the procedure and you also need to get the routing details from US bank account.
I had a visa and associated documentation when I went to USA. I set up a bank account in less than half an hour with a bankers draft and made subsequent transfers using electronic transfer.
I had a v useful chat about the whole thing with my HSBC bank account manager.
M