Being paid in US dollars in UK Bank account

sideshowrick

i,

i have gained a new client from the US who wishes to pay me in $'s. I know there will be some costs from the bank to handle this so wondered what the best way to deal with this is? Should i open a currency account with Barclays or try and open a bank account in the US?

many thanks

bowlhead99

If you don't have a presence in the US it is going to be a huge pain to establish a bank account over there.

So your most practical choices are, either get your bank to autotranslate your received funds into GBP (with the cost that entails each time you receive some money), or establish a USD bank account here in the UK (again, not usually cost-free but rather than paying big fees each transaction, creates an ongoing e.g. monthly cost).

The latter option will allow you to choose the timing of your currency conversions and get a better rate by shopping around for the best translation option (e.g. use a broker if worthwhile). But if the USD receipts are infrequent it's potentially expensive to maintain a foreign currency bank account at all times on a 'just in case' basis.