banking in the US/transfer of funds from UK

[weis]

Just wondering how any of you guys who've trained in the US (especially Florida) have set up bank accounts there if any, or perhaps conducted money transfers from the UK. I've contacted several local banks in the UK and they do offer offshore banking services but most of them require minimum balances of atleast $5000 or have monthly charges. How do i then take funds from the UK for the purposes of fees, living expenses etc? Unless i'm mistaken using a credit card would not be advisable not only due to interest rates but also due to the conversion rates/commission. Apparently, a J1 visa would be sufficient evidence for the banks there of my temporary residence status? Any advice would be appreciated.

[apoball]

I trained in Canada; while I was there I withdrew money from a UK Nationwide Flex account. There are no cash charges with this particular account and there was no hassle with setting up foreign banking. I paid everything on Visa....

Hope this helps.

APO

[gcolyer]

When i trained in Florida I worked out how much the course is in Dollars and how much I think I would need to live on. I then ordered the Dollars from my bank, which was about $6000.00 and took the cash with me. when I ran I drew cash out from an ATM with my UK switch card.

If you take more than $10k then you will need to declare it to US customs.

[Hufty]

I had an account with Wells Fargo in the USA (California though and I don't thik they have a big presence anywhere else) and transferred money from my account at the Bank of Scotland. It took 5 days to transfer and there was a small charge for doing it - not very much though.

There are different ways of transferring funds - I can't remember what the name of the service was but it was a slower version of a wire transfer I think.

[Re-Heat]

PAY ON A CREDIT CARD!
Far safer if a company folds, otherwise you have NO protection for your money.

Use a UK Nationwide current account, and withdraw from any cashpoint in the world for no fee from Nationwide.

[helicopter-redeye]

Visa/ MC for payments.

ATM for cash. Mke sure your ATM card has a Cirrus symbol on the back to facilitate overseas withdrawal of money.

You can make payments to a foreign back from your UK bank (other countries have advanced banking systems as well...). Good at present with ££ strong and $$ weak.

h-r;)

[Graham Borland]

Nationwide credit card for purchasing things.

Nationwide current account debit card for cash withdrawals.

[hixton]

Get HSBC to open you a US account such as Wells Fargo.
Open an account with Moneycorp or Travelex in the UK and use these to transfer the money to your US account, they offer a far better rate than your bank.
Then you can use your US cash card in any of the ATMs across the US.

[mcgoo]

Wells Fargo don't have a bank in Florida.

[EchoMike]

This happens to be exactly what I do in the real world . . .

Bank accounts in the USA now need to be opened in person with positive ID - just show your passport and give them $100 - you've got a brand new USD bank account with checks and a debit card. If they give you a toaster, ask for something else since the toaster will be 110 volts and won't work when you take it home.

You can bring absolutely as much cash as you want into the USA, but if it is over $10,000, you do have to declare it, expect to answer where you got it, what's it for, etc.

Best solution is to open the USA account when you get here and then wire the funds from home (have someone do it for you) - one of my businesses happens to be currency conversion, contact me privately OFF LIST if you need details.

You'll get hammered if you use your credit card denominated in Sterling or Euros - the exhange rate on plastic is poor.

HSBC has some branches in South Florida, they are not real savvy because they are essentially local banks owned by HSBC in London. The brains are in London, the tellers in S. Fla have few clues and this is NOT really an international bank, just one that is owned overseas.

No Wells Fargo in Florida, Chase will be happy to help you if you are talking $500K or more - they don't like us poverty-stricken aviators very much.

I've been doing this (international banking) for almost 15 years, most of my business is back and forth with the UK - if the moderators have no objections I will answer questions here (it IS of benefit and aviation related), if they do object, please contact me privately.

Best Regards,

Echo Mike

[weis]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, EchoMike, i think i'll go along with your suggestion and open an account when i get there. Any suggestions with regards to local banks in Florida so i can check them out online?

Regards

[EchoMike]

Depends on where you'll be in FL.

Avoid the megabanks in any event - for instance at Bank of America you'll just be a number to them and if you have a problem you'll be told call 1-800-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx extension xxxxxxxx, press 1, then 6, 4, 5, 8, and wait on hold for two weeks . . . and give up in disgust.

You want a middle sized bank not part of a national chain - big enough to help you, small enough so you are a person instead of a number.

While you are important to a brand new itty-bitty bank, they may not be well connected to the international wires system (SWIFT) and have to go through a correspondent bank, which delays your funds and increases your costs.

All banks in the USA, micro to mega, are insured by Uncle Sam (by law) and your money is absolutely safe. If the bank fails (very, very rare), Uncle repays you 100 cents on the dolllar, but you may have to wait. This is not even something to worry about since banks here don't fail suddenly (there is LOTS of oversight) and when a bank gets shaky, it finds itself merged, willingly or not, with a stronger institution - only the name changes, your money is safe.

Tell me where you're going in FL, I may be able to suggest some names and suggest some banks to avoid. The big banks didn't get that way by being any good, they got that way by buying out every smaller bank they could gobble up. Service at large bank chains here invariably sucks - they understand Christmas clubs but nothing else.

NOW - with the weak dollar, *this* is the time and the place to buy all your aviation-related stuff. Prices here are about HALF of what you'll pay at home. Make sure all the receipts, instuctions, warranties go home separately, if you bring "new" stuff back with you, you'll get to pay VAT on it. "All this stuff is used, sir, I brought it with me from home, and I take good care of my things, so that's why it all looks so fresh!"


Best Regards,

Echo Mike

[mcgoo]

I'm out in Ormond early next year, isn't easier to use travellers cheques rather than open a US account, I would have no more than £2000?

[EchoMike]

Traveler's checks shouldn't be much of a problem, GBP 2000 is about $4,000 these days. My opinion is that I would still open a USD account while you are here - if you ever need to order anything from the US, it is much easier to say "Yeah, I live in the UK, but I have a dollars account in Florida so I can send you a check in USD." Remember that it is almost impossible to open a USD account now unless you are here (whereupon it is as easy as ordering a Big Mac, and much more advantageous).

Many USD bank accounts have NO service charges at all, so the bank won't be getting your "parked" funds a bit every month and eventually putting you into overdraft. You want an account that does not pay interest - if you get an interest-bearing account, you'll need to declare the interest to the IRS even though you don't owe them any money - and that is far more trouble than it is worth. You probably won't have a huge amount of money in the account anyway, and the few pennies of foregone interest is a bargain when you compare it to the convenience of having a USD account when you need it.

Best Regards,

Echo Mike

[weis]

EchoMike, you're in the wrong place! You should be on Bloomberg or something! I'll be going to either Vero beach, Fort Pierce or West Palm beach not sure just yet. The only institute i remember which had quite a few branches in all three areas was Wachovia. Any ideas?

Regards

[Lucifer]

Traveler's checks shouldn't be much of a problem, GBP 2000 is about $4,000 these days. My opinion is that I would still open a USD account while you are here - if you ever need to order anything from the US, it is much easier to say "Yeah, I live in the UK, but I have a dollars account in Florida so I can send you a check in USD." Remember that it is almost impossible to open a USD account now unless you are here (whereupon it is as easy as ordering a Big Mac, and much more advantageous).
I'm not quite sure why you are advocating opening an account, when (so long as you are eligible for a credit card in terms of age nand credit limit is not too low) a UK account (for example Nationwide) appears to be far easier in terms of hassle factor and access to funds - are we missing something? If I were being cynical, it would be as you have a business in currency conversion?!

I have spent days in the US with access only to UK debit card funds, and credit card purchases - no problem at all. The cashpoints all give access to funds immediately, and travellers cheques can be used as a backup source of funds.

Admittedly, I have not used it for a few thousand of flying school fees. Do please enlighten us!


OMG - I now have 666 posts...! There's a full moon outside as well!

[portsharbourflyer]

No need for a US account if you are just training in the US; when I trained in the US, I payed via credit card, and used internet banking to pay off the balances on the credit card from my UK account.

[captain_rossco]

you may find that some schols charge 4-5%+ for credit and debit cards, £500 on a £10k PPL hours build etc. I looked into EchoMikes idea and for any longer stays (month+) its worth it, negates above charge and some credit debit companies will charge 1 0r 2 pounds for foregin transactions. Not to say these cant be overome by getting large sums out at once etc but its down to choice, you certainly have the flexibility if your account's an american one.

2p worth!

rossco

[Lucifer]

you may find that some schols charge 4-5%+ for credit and debit cards
Gee - that is ridiculous. Thank goodness for EU regulations over such charges over here.

EM - I take back the cynical suggestion!

[scroggs]

Extra charges for using credit or debit cards are not uncommon in UK, and are levied because the card companies charge the vendors that amount for enabling the transaction. Ever wondered why Amex is relatively rare in UK? Their vendor charges are the highest...

Scroggs

[EchoMike]

Opening an account is a good idea simply for the convenience. Even though I am in the currency conversion business, I am not cost effective on amounts under about GBP 6,000 or so, and I will refer you elsewhere rather than taking you to the cleaners and making an enemy for the lordly sum of $100. (smile)

Most of my business is with real estate purchases, thus the amounts are considerably larger, and the banks really hammer people on these transactions. I've also done conversions for people on a few airplanes, some boats, and even a genuine Stradivarius violin!

If you are here for a short time, this is not really necessary, but if you will be here for a month or more, since it doesn't cost anything to do it, you'll find it worth your while. Remember that the rural areas of the USA (and that includes some places in Florida) are not very "internationalist" and I have actually been asked if they speak English in England!!!! (It's us that don't speak English, y'all.)

If you're in Vero Beach or Ft. Pierce, I'd recommend Riverside Bank. When you go in, just tell them you're a UK citizen and you'll be here for X months, you'd like to open a bank account. The only "form" you'll sign is an IRS-W7 form, which tells the IRS that the owner of this bank account is not a US citizen so leave him alone (and they do).

If you have any problems at Riverside, tell them to call Laurie Brin who is the manager at the Holly Hill office, and tell her that I sent you - she'll call me and ask what to do, and you'll then be all set.

Riverside doesn't go as far south as WPB, but there are similar mid-sized banks there who can help you (HSBC is there, but rermember it is just a franchise). Wachovia is a national chain like Bank of America and is to be avoided at all costs. Wachovia bought First Union a few years ago, which was one of the nastiest banks I've ever seen - they wanted a FINGERPRINT to cash a check! Wachovia kept the same anti-consumer attitude.

You CAN do this by credit card/debit card/traveler's checks, but you'll be adding to your net cost without any good reason. Remember, retail is for OTHER people, aviation is expensive enough without letting the banks take even more of your money and not giving you ANY flight time in exchange.

Best Regards,

Echo Mike

[mcgoo]

find it worth your while. Remember that the rural areas of the USA (and that includes some places in Florida) are not very "internationalist" and I have actually been asked if they speak English in England!!!! (It's us that don't speak English, y'all.)


Echo Mike

Yep, I had this in Wal-Mart, I got asked for ID for my beer which pleased me being 30 years old at the time and the assistant said "where are you from", I replied "I'm from the UK" to which she replied "wow, you speak very good English"

[Lucifer]

Extra charges for using credit or debit cards are not uncommon in UK, and are levied because the card companies charge the vendors that amount for enabling the transaction. Ever wondered why Amex is relatively rare in UK? Their vendor charges are the highest...
Scroggs
True, but it is illegal for them to be recharged to us as the consumer separately in the EU.

[fescalised portion]

I am a brit that emigrated to the USA only 4 days ago and am currently living in SW Florida.

My advice would be to do all of your banking with Citibank.

I opened a sterling current account with them 5 months ago, which I had my wages paid into. About 1 month ago, I also opened a US Dollar current account with them. The beauty of this is that you can transfer money using internet banking directly between accounts. It is instant and you don't get charged commission for it and also it is at the banks exchange rate, not the tourist currency rate (currently 1.945 USD = 1GBP).

You are issued one debit card that is used for all of your accounts. What you have to do is call citiphone banking and nominate which account you want the debit card to work for.

Once in the USA, if you buy anything or withdraw cash from selected ATM's (check www.citibank.com) you are not charged any commission and it draws directly from your USD bank account. All you have to do is keep the account topped up from your sterling account. Apparently the money clears through New York, so it a lot quicker than normal.

There are certain restrictions, one of them being that you have to have at least £2000 in credit at any one time in any one of your accounts, or you get charged $20 per month for the USD account.

Citi also have a great high interest savings account which you can keep your cash in and transfer from/to.

Another bonus for me was that I got a free ipod Nano for opening the account, but I am not sure if that offer is still running.

You can apply for an account online (just go www.citibank.co.uk).

They have several branches in central London.

Hope this helps. I think it is definitely the best way to go !!