Receiving USD in the UK from abroad

chrislewis7

A few years ago I lent some USD to a friend in Vietnam, I transferred the money to her using UKForex and got a good rate. She nows wants to return the money ($6,500). (That sounds a lot dodgier than it actually is, I know the family, little or no chance of money not being paid back.)

I travel (backpack) a lot and I would like to have this $6500 in USD notes. Converting them to GBP in transfer and then me getting USD from my GBP bank account later in the year would be a big waste in FX fees / rate difference etc.

I am guessing this is not possible directly.

If I openned a USD account to have the money transferred into how can I get that money out in USD? Do I have to physically be in a USD country to do that? Can I do it in a country where USD is the de facto currency (e.g. Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma)? Can I do it in the UK?

Sorry lots of questions for a first post. Long time reader of the forums but in the past I have always found an existing question to glean my answers from.

RetiredInThailand

Which countries are you going to later in the year? This dictates what your best options will be.

chrislewis7

Almost certainly those mentioned. Very high chance of me being in Burma or Cambodia next Winter. I generally work for around 6 months a year and travel / volunteer between work contracts. If as I expect my contract finishes in the Autumn then I will head to SE Asia. But there is a chance my contract will lrun longer. If that is the case I would be going somewhere else as I see no point being over there in the rainy season.

Voyager2002

The best solution is to pick up the money in cash next time you visit your friend. Failing that, you need to find a bank that allows you to withdraw US dollar cash from a US dollar deposit... this is likely to be possible from Citibank and its local affiliates in the Philippines, but not anywhere in Europe.

SnooksNJ

chrislewis7 wrote: »

A few years ago I lent some USD to a friend in Vietnam, I transferred the money to her using UKForex and got a good rate. She nows wants to return the money ($6,500). (That sounds a lot dodgier than it actually is, I know the family, little or no chance of money not being paid back.)

I travel (backpack) a lot and I would like to have this $6500 in USD notes. Converting them to GBP in transfer and then me getting USD from my GBP bank account later in the year would be a big waste in FX fees / rate difference etc.

I am guessing this is not possible directly.

If I openned a USD account to have the money transferred into how can I get that money out in USD? Do I have to physically be in a USD country to do that? Can I do it in a country where USD is the de facto currency (e.g. Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma)? Can I do it in the UK?

Sorry lots of questions for a first post. Long time reader of the forums but in the past I have always found an existing question to glean my answers from.

Do you have a US social security or ITIN number? Without it I don't think you can open a bank account in the US.

Nath4n

I wanted to do a vaguely similar thing for roughly the same amount of money last year. The whole process took a while but worked out exactly how I wanted.

I opened a CitiUK dollar deposit account. http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/b...l/deposits.htm

Once this was fully opened I then provided the relevant party with the details of my US deposit account including US intermediary bank etc. After a few days the full amount minus $25 or so (fees incurred on senders side) appeared in my CitiUK account (viewable through online banking).

Now if you transfer this out you will incur FOREX fees, but you can however withdraw all the money in US Dollar Bills at one of their branches in London (however for such a large sum I would recommend ringing them in advance). Whether you can withdraw these dollars freely at any of their branches worldwide I am not sure, and would need someone else to confirm.

Also worth noting that the account charges no (or utterly pitiful) interest, and also is subject to a £5 (equivalent in $) monthly fee for any month the balance is on average less than £2000 (equivalent in $). If there is nothing in the account, the fee is not charged however the account will go dormant after 6 months or so of no activity.

In my case I withdrew the large amount of dollars cash at their branch in Canary Wharf and then walked 100 metres to Ace FX where I exchanged it to £'s at their extremely favourable online exchange rates, before going up an escalator to Lloyds and paying it straight into my current account.
The whole process took me less than 30 minutes and probably saved me a couple hundred £'s in traditional fees and exchange rates etc.

chrislewis7

Nath4n, brilliant. This was exactly what I was looking for. As I'm not sure where I will backpack next but I know I will need to carry USD getting them in my hands is the best solution. Also as you did it also gives the option to exchange them at a specialist Forex shop.

Thanks again.

The_Corrupt_Banker

If there is nothing in the account, the fee is not charged however the account will go dormant after 6 months or so of no activity.

Just bear in mind this will no longer be the case when the new terms and conditions come into effect from 1st April 2014. There is a provision there for the fee to be charged even if the account is empty, it will simply come from another account you have with them.