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Help with Dollar banking in UK

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Hi All

I have a problem.......

I recieve a cheque from the USA on a regular basis (every week). The cheque is in US Dollars. I now need to cash these cheques in so I can pay someone else the same amount in Sterling (or US $, See below) but i dont want to get stung on the £10 per cheque charge that UK banks want to charge. Do any of you know of a cheap method of getting this done.

OR

How do I open a US bank account (if I can) which would then enable me to write a cheque out in US Dollars.

Hope this makes sence.

Cheers
Gary

Comments

  • terrymats
    terrymats Posts: 189 Forumite
    Hi Gary,

    Banks are really harsh on their charges. One way I've seen people save is by changing their bank every year coz you get 1 year free business banking. Another way is to open an account in another country, save your money for a couple of months and then transfer it to UK for a fee of around £20. Try some Swiss banks. They are not charging too much.

    Cheers
    Terry
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    citibank (UK) US Dollar Current Account ?

    Apply through Rpoints and get £30:

    [URL=http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=34011]£30 from Citibank, extra £16 from A&L....[/URL]

    Important Information
    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.


    I don't have accounts with them, but as far as I understand you will not pay service charge if you have £2K on Direct Current Account with them that pays decent 4.59% interest. If you have savings with other banks moving £2K to Citibank will cost you not more than £2000*(5.35%-4.59%)=£15 per year before tax (I used best instant access savings rate 5.35% A&L)
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