US Dollar Bank Account in the UK

Lidilou

I work abroad, and every month I get my US$ salary paid directly to my UK Bank account. I need the money in the UK as this is where my bills get paid/savings accounts etc, but with such a fluctuating exchange rate, I have seen my salary GO DOWN over the last few years.

A friend of mine in Oz has his salary paid to a US$ bank account, and then can access the money whenever needed, or if the exchange is low, hold on to it til it rises.

So my question: which banks in the UK have $ accounts? and which are the best? And is there anything I should be careful of?

Thanks.....

cifpower

http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/banking/international/eurocurrent.htm?merchant=citi

Voyager2002

I am in a similar situation, and I use two solutions:

1. US dollar accounts in the UK are offered by Citibank and NatWest, among others. In both cases you open twin dollar and sterling accounts, and transfer money between them as and when you choose. I chose Citibank because their 'margin' on the exchange was lower than that charged by NatWest, ie for a given exchange rate you paid fewer dollars for your pound with Citi.

However, if you have a US dollar account elsewhere then you can use a currency exchange broker such as xe, who provide a better exchange rate than Citi although the transfers take a few days.