When we decided to move, we tried to round up as much information as we could about what we'd need to open a bank account in London. There was no one site or book with a comprehensive list about items we'd need to have on-hand. So we decided to bring everything and anything we could. We had our bank write a letter for us saying we were in good standing. We printed out pay stubs and bank statements. We got a letter from Leo's employer stating his salary and confirming his employment. We had an invoice for the flat we are temporarily renting. Of course, we had our passports and visas. We'd even gone to the US branch of the bank to ask questions, as well as to a branch over here to make sure we had all the necessary identification.
So we walked into the very well known, worldwide bank mildly confident that we'd be able to open a bank account...and we were denied. Apparently, in order to open up the better "immigrant" account (the one we would be able to get a credit card with, and we'd be able to open jointly) we'd also need a bill in our names from our permanent residence. So, we decided that we'd open up the basic immigrant account - what they call a Passport Account. The name alone made us confident that we'd be leaving with a place to store our money. But we were denied again. We were told that the invoice from our temporary housing, and the letter from the employer were not enough to prove that we could handle the responsibilities of putting money into their bank. Instead we'd need another letter from the employer stating where we were living. Once we came back with that, we'd be able to open up an account for each of us (the Passport Account can not be a joint account), we'd pay about 7 pounds per month, and in 6 months we'd be able to switch to the better immigrant account (also with a fee).
We left in the rain, disheartened and afraid that no one would take our money. After a pint, we were willing to try again with another, friendlier looking bank. The woman helping us was very nice and helpful. All they'd need was a passport in order to open the most simple account, but they run a credit/background check on us to see if we qualified for a better account (which she was confident we would). We weren't able to get it done that day, but could make an appointment to come in later, which we will. Hopefully, the next update on this topic will be a happy one.
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4 comments:
You can always resort to crying...
Don't think that you can easily transfer money between a US and UK account even if the bank name is the same. We have a Citibank (or should I say Shitibank) account that we cannot transfer money between UNLESS we physically go to the bank branch and pull money out of our US account from the bank machine and deposit it in our UK account. Then don't even get me started on the POOR customer service given here at the branch when I hand the money to them.
Maybe I'm just dumb and/or ignorant, but why can't you just keep your U.S. bank account (with direct deposit) and credit cards and use them in the UK? (I can use my U.S. ATM card and credit card while vacationing in the UK, for example.) For the things for which you need to write a check (e.g., rent), you could just withdraw money from the ATM and then buy a bank check, no? But I'm sure you have already thought of the alternatives....
the difficulty with only using a US account is that US debit/credit cards do not have chips in them and not everywhere accepts a card without a chip. also with US cards/accounts, you'll be paying a ton of fees - not just the commission on the exchange rate but there may be additional charges on both ends. leo, and hopefully me when i get a job, will be paid in pounds, so we need a UK account for them to be put into. also, we'll probably need to set up a direct withdrawl from the UK account for our rent. we are keeping our US account, but that is mainly to pay off any existing loans and credit cards.
thanks, mctwo for all of your advice. we had gone into our US bank before we left and found out the wire transfer situation. the bank guy said happily that there are no wire transfer fees from their bank. so we were thrilled. then we asked if we can fax the wire transfer forms in from abroad. and he smirked and informed us that we could only do a wire transfer in person, in that bank in NY. how helpful!
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