US $ Bank Account

missd21

HELP!!!!
Can anyone please help me?
Im desperately trying to open up an american bank account, and going round and round in circles.
Im a UK citizen living and working in the UK, I do some part time work for a US company who
pay me in dollar cheques, (aaargh ) they take @ 4-6 weeks to clear as they have to be sent back to the issuing bank to be verified, my bank then charges me for sending them off, the issuing bank charges me for confirmation....blah de blah :mad:
Ive tried to arrange to have them cleared by negotiation, but my bank wont play ball.
So.... theUs Company has informed me they can pay me buy direct deposit, IF...

"To obtain direct deposit to your bank account, you must have a US Routing
number (which is exactly 9 digits) and a corresponding account number"

So far the only advice ive had, is
1)"Come to the US and we will open one in the branch",
2)"Its possible if you deposit $25K"
3)"No problem, you can quote our( ie the banks [n this case Bank of Scotland International} routing number(ABA number) our account number and ask them to quote your account number as a reference.
Which is great, except its a fully automated payment process, and they WONT quote references.....AARGH, or did I say that already??!!

Ive checked out the internet, obviously, and lots of people are willing to sell me this info, and that just makes me very very nervous.

Can anyone help?

JenIttels

I'm afraid I can't be of much help (and I'm sure more helpful people will be along) but a starting place might be somewhere like citibank which has branches in the US and UK and sometimes let you somehow link your accounts (fraid this is just what i've heard though). Also there are some other british banks which have sister banks in the US. I definately recall seeing HSBC branches in New York.

Good luck with your search (the american banking system is really quite different to ours and very hard to use, i found, unless you have loads to deposit and a social security number!)

kberry_78

Hi,

I was looking at the same thing recently for different reasons and my best find was Citibank. I think they are the only US based bank operating to the public here. Please find attached the link that I got my info from http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/banking/bankingproducts/currentaccounts/usdollar/index.htm?source=3469
I do hope this helps.

rosysparkle

Auctionchex.com will exchange USD cheques and money orders into GBP for an admin fee of 95p. http://auctionchex.com/exchangedp-s.html

I have no affiliation with that site, but I have used their service and it's always been quick and efficient. It might be that this would be better for you than opening a USD account here.

Cook_County

1. The US does not have a national check clearing system, so if you receive a check here & deposit it at any bank (including Citibank) they will take 6 weeks or so clear the check.
2. Don't forget that the income is taxable here and may also require Federal and State tax returns too.

missd21

kberry_78 wrote:

Hi,

I was looking at the same thing recently for different reasons and my best find was Citibank. I think they are the only US based bank operating to the public here. Please find attached the link that I got my info from http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/banking/bankingproducts/currentaccounts/usdollar/index.htm?source=3469
I do hope this helps.

Thanks, but, it was Citibank that suggested I call the States direct, which I did, then after being on hold for 40 mins, and speaking to 6 diff people, routed to Malaysia, then India, then US said ..they would open account IF I deposited $25K, OR opened it in person.... might try that money changing route whilst im endeavouring!!

lemontart

Bascially there is no way around it, only thing you could do is open an offshore account with british bank such as abbey which means any money you pay from usds will incurr less charges ................it is an absolute pain for many that have affiliate schemes that pay out in usds to the point I ended up just binning them as would have cost me more in charges..on small amounts.

Beth
xxx

richt71

missd21 wrote:

HELP!!!!
Can anyone please help me?
Im desperately trying to open up an american bank account, and going round and round in circles.
Im a UK citizen living and working in the UK, I do some part time work for a US company who
pay me in dollar cheques, (aaargh ) they take @ 4-6 weeks to clear as they have to be sent back to the issuing bank to be verified, my bank then charges me for sending them off, the issuing bank charges me for confirmation....blah de blah :mad:
Ive tried to arrange to have them cleared by negotiation, but my bank wont play ball.
So.... theUs Company has informed me they can pay me buy direct deposit, IF...

"To obtain direct deposit to your bank account, you must have a US Routing
number (which is exactly 9 digits) and a corresponding account number"

So far the only advice ive had, is
1)"Come to the US and we will open one in the branch",
2)"Its possible if you deposit $25K"
3)"No problem, you can quote our( ie the banks [n this case Bank of Scotland International} routing number(ABA number) our account number and ask them to quote your account number as a reference.
Which is great, except its a fully automated payment process, and they WONT quote references.....AARGH, or did I say that already??!!

Ive checked out the internet, obviously, and lots of people are willing to sell me this info, and that just makes me very very nervous.

Can anyone help?

You can get an international routing code which is probably what they want. It's like a swift code (used to transfer between banks). I had one 5 or 6 years ago from Lloyds bank to get US money paid in exactly as you're trying to do. You'll more than likely need to speak to the business banking side of your bank and normal personal cashiers/bankers won't know what you mean. Every bank has an international routing code!

wearside_2

missd21 wrote:

HELP!!!!
Can anyone please help me?
Im desperately trying to open up an american bank account, and going round and round in circles.
Im a UK citizen living and working in the UK, I do some part time work for a US company who
pay me in dollar cheques, (aaargh ) they take @ 4-6 weeks to clear as they have to be sent back to the issuing bank to be verified, my bank then charges me for sending them off, the issuing bank charges me for confirmation....blah de blah :mad:
Ive tried to arrange to have them cleared by negotiation, but my bank wont play ball.
So.... theUs Company has informed me they can pay me buy direct deposit, IF...

"To obtain direct deposit to your bank account, you must have a US Routing
number (which is exactly 9 digits) and a corresponding account number"

So far the only advice ive had, is
1)"Come to the US and we will open one in the branch",
2)"Its possible if you deposit $25K"
3)"No problem, you can quote our( ie the banks [n this case Bank of Scotland International} routing number(ABA number) our account number and ask them to quote your account number as a reference.
Which is great, except its a fully automated payment process, and they WONT quote references.....AARGH, or did I say that already??!!

Ive checked out the internet, obviously, and lots of people are willing to sell me this info, and that just makes me very very nervous.

Can anyone help?

I have two homes, one in the UK and one in Florida where I am at the moment and it is blooming cold!! Obviously I need a bank account here to run my home and all the bills etc. I had major difficulty opening one but eventually after producing satisfactory Id, my passport, driving licence and utility bills I managed to open an account at Suntrust. This was the only US bank that operated over the internet that would let me be their customer!

In the UK I opened current accounts at Citibank in sterling and $US. My wages are obviously paid into the sterling account and I can transfer those into $US. I can also pay $US into that account although it sometimes takes 3-4 weeks to clear the cheques. I cannot transfer out of the Citibank $US account to Suntrust, I have to write a cheque and either pay it in when I am here or post it to the bank.

The only thing I can suggest is that you open Citibank accounts and pay the cheques in there and wait 3-4 weeks for them to clear. The only thing is you have to maintain £2000 across all accounts with them to enjoy free banking!

prudryden

There are several Investment firms in the UK where you can have a $US account. All you need is their IBAN number and Swift/BIC code to wire US dollars to. The wire fee is generally in the range of $25-$40. My company is one of them. However, here is a link to one of my competitors. I'm not sure if they have a minimum size account or not. As far as I know, they are still doing business in the UK.
http://www.schwab-worldwide.com/europe/

Cook_County

wearside should not have a problem because s/he will need to get a US Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to filke US tax returns each year, which is what any bank will require. misd will also need an ITIN to open a US account and can get this when filing the 2006 US tax return.