What U.S. bank to choose?

enveloped on 31/05/2017 - 13:59
Last edited 31/05/2017 - 14:26

I am visiting U.S. and with a 10-year VISA I can get social security number and such, and open a bank account.

Ideally, I want to bank with some bank who have a branch in Australia (or Australian bank's U.S. branch). Unlike ANZ, whose different country's branches do not recognise nor takes care of each other's customer. HSBC, on the other hand, seem to be able to link the different accounts of one customer from a different country and can do things like re-issuing a lost debit card, process chargeback or help with international money transfer between the same person's different country's account and so like.

And I want to have a bank who never says "Because of this and that, please visit one of our branches and do this and that". One such good example in Australia is Macquarie. American Express also never ask you to visit a branch office.

I know a lot of people on this forum frequents U.S. so can I get a bit of advice? Thanks!

My income is from Australia. I needed the bank account in U.S. to occasionally receive overseas service payment, buying stuff that are only available to U.S. customers and sometimes large money transfer for investing in the U.S.

Financial

Comments

[Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 14:04
The 5 Largest Banks In The US

JP Morgan Chase Bank of America (BoA) Wells Fargo Citigroup Goldman Sachs Group.

heres 50 to choose from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_banks_in_the_U…
- enveloped on 31/05/2017 - 14:22
  
  At least we have a list to start. That is not directly useful. Let's take our experience in Australia, ANZ is one of the biggest bank, but its online banking system is shit, and you often need to visit their branches to do things. CommBank is a lot better but Macquarie's online banking app is like breeze. Size doesn't equal to convenience to operate remotely from AU, and in fact, the bigger they are, the more likely they expect you to physically show up to do something.
  - [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 14:23
    
    Macquarie has no CS in aus though from what I know.
    - enveloped on 31/05/2017 - 14:25
      
      What is CS?
    - [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 14:26
      
      @enveloped:
      customer service.
    - enveloped on 31/05/2017 - 14:28
      
      @tuzii: I'm a MacQuarie bank customer. I called their CS before, it was a Sydney number and a real person. Do you mean that they have no physical branch?
    - [Deactivated] on 31/05/2017 - 14:28
      
      @enveloped:
      no as in the person is off shore.
KaTst3R on 31/05/2017 - 14:16

+1

I have Citi accounts in multiple countries, the customer service reps have no access to each other's database.
- moonphase on 31/05/2017 - 14:28
  
  Same here. Citibank is much easier in this case. HSBC could be alternative.
- djkelly69 on 31/05/2017 - 15:49
  
  I would say Citi as well. Perhaps Kat can confirm, but I believe you can transfer very easily between your AU and US bank accounts.
  
  Citi's AU app is not great IMO, but the above would significantly outweigh this for me.
  - KaTst3R on 31/05/2017 - 16:03
    
    +1
    
    From my experience, Im saying that Citi customer service people cannot see my overseas accounts. I tried inquiring before but they have no access to the database other than the local one, vice versa. Even the login details have to be separate as I have tried asking Citi to merge them. I have always wanted like a one page overview of all my Citi accounts globally but seems like it wont happen so soon. The accounts are not centralised.
    
    I have never done a Citi to Citi transfer but I would expect it to be an easy process and probably cost less in fees as it is intrabank.
- jjjaar on 31/05/2017 - 18:09
  
  +1
  
  I agree. Communication between Citi in Aus and U.K. was useless.
chumlee on 31/05/2017 - 16:39

Citi or hsbc
mshanann on 31/05/2017 - 17:11

Are you just visiting, or staying as a resident?

Do you have a US drivers license?

Do you have employment in the US?

Most banks require more than just a SSN to open an account.

I lived in Bay Area circa 2002-2005 on an L1 visa. Obtaining a bank account back then was kind of tricky without having the drivers license.

The software company I worked for however had a relationship with a local credit union (Provident CU), and they were able to hook me up with a bank account relatively easy with just the Australian passport. Once I got the CA drivers license, it would have been much simpler to open up banks accounts elsewhere, but I never bothered.

I've been using that same bank account ever since, all remotely from Australia. It helps to have colleagues still in the US to get drivers licenses re-sent, debit cards etc renewed. Getting these types of materials sent to Australia can be tricky. For international fund transfers and the like, I just submit a copy of my CA drivers license, along with banking instructions etc and they will give me a call.

Potentially it may be easier to deal with a smaller flexible bank/credit union, then a big one with fixed policies.
- mshanann on 07/07/2017 - 13:20
  
  Just got back from a US trip and had to setup a new account at a credit union.
  
  They wanted:
  US Drivers License
  Social Security Card
  Proof of Income / Employment
  
  They were able to print a Visa Debit card on the spot (non-embossed)
  
  Unfortunately I did not have Social Security Card on me, and had to get it sent across from Australia. The number alone was not sufficient.
forumninja on 31/05/2017 - 23:14

Where in the US? Bank presence in the US vary from state to state. It really depends on where you end up, as unfortunately you're much more likely to have to visit a branch to do X in the US.
- enveloped on 02/06/2017 - 19:56
  
  Las Vegas.. but I only go there once per 2 years, so I'll refrain from opening an account if they would often ask me to visit a branch.
aboutconfig on 08/06/2017 - 17:29

how about HSBC, more like a world bank, seems able to transfer funds between your own accounts opened in different countries, by yourself freely and easily using internet bank
tess1988 on 11/06/2017 - 16:59

another idea may be a AU Citibank debit account with 0% international transacting fees and I'm 99% sure you can you a ATM(at least Citi in the US) for free and get a US credit card, I guess you will need to apply for a basic/building credit on first

Also I think I'm the US check out charles schwab checking account for free for free ATM withdrawals
https://youtu.be/5pBIvE3XElc
But it does do a hard pull on your credit file so I'm not sure but you may need a high credit rating but you could try

Another option is checking account that pays 5% interest
https://youtu.be/E4_4q-YaQxM
https://youtu.be/lLsgRnv_nGI

Hope that helps I don't live in the US but hope it helps a bit

Edit: about going into branch not sure about last one but I guess Charles Schwab won't because I guess they don't have any

What U.S. bank to choose?

Comments

New Forum Topics