Citibank and Dollar accts

dfly0

Hi,

I want to open a UK account to pay in dollar cheques, the question is - if I use Citibank - will a dollar acct be government protected same as sterling?

withnell

If your combined deposits across your Citibank UK relationship are below 50k sterling, then 100% covered - the currency of deposit doesn't affect the protection level

dfly0

Does anyone have any other suggestion for converting a cheque of over 900 dollars? If I pay into my Halifax account I have to take pot luck re the exchange rate at the time it goes through and no doubt attract large fees as well.

97trophy

for $900 just pay it in the Halifax and get on with your life.

if you are expecting a lot more $ checks then open a Citi a/c.

withnell

I found Citi really easy to open - if you open an access c/a its really quick, then just ring up (freephone number) and they'll add a USD account on (which also gives you a USD cheque book)

dfly0

withnell wrote: »

I found Citi really easy to open - if you open an access c/a its really quick, then just ring up (freephone number) and they'll add a USD account on (which also gives you a USD cheque book)

Thanks for this I looked it up, however they state 20k per annum to open this acct - highly unlikely for me the way things are!

dougz_2

dfly0 wrote: »

however they state 20k per annum to open this acct

Ditto. Anyone know the next best deal for a USD account with debit card? There seem to be quite a few offshore ones but they all seem to require big deposits or ongoing fees.

jadex

dfly0 wrote: »

Thanks for this I looked it up, however they state 20k per annum to open this acct - highly unlikely for me the way things are!

can't you just say what they want to hear ?

jadex

withnell wrote: »

I found Citi really easy to open - if you open an access c/a its really quick, then just ring up (freephone number) and they'll add a USD account on (which also gives you a USD cheque book)

I applied a week ago directly in the branch.
It was supposed to be completed within 24-48 hrs.
Needless to say, one week after that I am still waiting...
Compare it with HSBC and Barclays which do this on spot, I am really surprised (and disappointed) with the Citi's speed.

97trophy

jadex wrote: »

I applied a week ago directly in the branch.
It was supposed to be completed within 24-48 hrs.

I found them very slow to open my account too.

withnell

Yeh mine took a couple of weeks to open - but I've never had the same quality of branch service from any bank - no waiting, ever!