Free US dollar accounts

Dowsett

Hi,

Not sure i am in the right section here.

I have a small amount ($200) in my paypal account.

Basically i am going to Florida in May and i would like to use the currency instead of converting it to GBP and then back to USD.

Is there any free to open, no monthly fee US accounts i can open from the UK so that i can withdraw the cash when im over there? Im not sure how it'd work - will paypal request bank statements etc from me?

I may have a couple of friends over there that i could transfer to them and they could withdraw the USD cash for me, however i dont want to rely on them - plus i havent spoken to them for over 10 years.

Any other suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Westie983

try we swap, https://www.weswap.com/en/ you can have a US dollar account, its not free but low exchange rates.

Dowsett

Westie983 wrote: »

try we swap, https://www.weswap.com/en/ you can have a US dollar account, its not free but low exchange rates.

Can you do it that way though?

I have a Revolut card and it doesnt allow topping up frmo Paypal. Only Debit card or bank transfer...

Revolut say that they are going to be supporting the feature to top up from Paypal but cant give a date.

Kernel_Sanders

I imagine that if you asked for a free bank a/c in the USA then you might get the same reaction Marty McFly got when he asked for a 'Pepsi Free' in a 1950s cafe!

Voyager2002

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

I imagine that if you asked for a free bank a/c in the USA then you might get the same reaction Marty McFly got when he asked for a 'Pepsi Free' in a 1950s cafe!

Citibank offer an account that is free so long as you maintain a balance of at least USD1,500 at all times.

londonTiger

for 200 usd its not going to be worth it. banks will need a cut and that will wipe out any savings.

ppl are used to free accounts in the uk because banking is competitive. but foregn currency account is not competitive so banks will charge

Dowsett

so the only way to get to spend my USD is to withdraw it to my GBP account and lose money, only to be changing it back to USD - probably losing money again...

Dont suppose any currency exchange kind of places will let me do something with it through paypal? Even if i was to change USD to GBP - it would still be better than paypal fees i imagine.

Does anyone know if its possible to transfer it to a friends (US Resident) account and then they could withdraw the cash? or will i require bank statements and background checks like you do when you setup a paypal account?

Ballard

I only use PayPal very rarely but just opened the app on my phone and it displayed a message that I can pay to virtually anyone worldwide with just their email or mobile number. I can't remember my password so couldn't investigate further. Presuming that one of your friends has a PayPal account it seems that it's possible.

londonTiger

Dowsett wrote: »

so the only way to get to spend my USD is to withdraw it to my GBP account and lose money, only to be changing it back to USD - probably losing money again...

Dont suppose any currency exchange kind of places will let me do something with it through paypal? Even if i was to change USD to GBP - it would still be better than paypal fees i imagine.



Does anyone know if its possible to transfer it to a friends (US Resident) account and then they could withdraw the cash? or will i require bank statements and background checks like you do when you setup a paypal account?

As I said earlie for $200 it's just not worth getting a dedicated USD account. A USD account will have fixed overheads and a minimum balance. That is you will have to pay a monthly fee to have the account open and also keep $1500 or so as a minimum balance on there.

With paypal you get hit by an effective 3% currency conversion cost (or thereabouts). Their exchange rate will always been 3% less to their favour. But 3% on $200 is just $6. A USD account will have a £5-£10 montly fee and possibly a minimum term. It's only worth doing if you're heavily trading in USD.

Dowsett

londonTiger wrote: »

As I said earlie for $200 it's just not worth getting a dedicated USD account. A USD account will have fixed overheads and a minimum balance. That is you will have to pay a monthly fee to have the account open and also keep $1500 or so as a minimum balance on there.

With paypal you get hit by an effective 3% currency conversion cost (or thereabouts). Their exchange rate will always been 3% less to their favour. But 3% on $200 is just $6. A USD account will have a £5-£10 montly fee and possibly a minimum term. It's only worth doing if you're heavily trading in USD.

Ok thanks.

I had done a search on US account but was getting fustrated.

Seems we have it quite good in the UK with being able to open a normal 'cash card' account where as US and Europe have to pay for their accounts..

I could pay friends which will lose a bit of money but i will look in to it then if ive only got a couple of options.

Thanks all

eDicky

Dowsett wrote: »

Does anyone know if its possible to transfer it to a friends (US Resident) account and then they could withdraw the cash? or will i require bank statements and background checks like you do when you setup a paypal account?

That should be the cheapest and simplest solution, with it staying as dollars.