Good US dollar bank account for UK user

Any suggestions?

[musicales]

I'm sure I'm not alone here in the UK struggling to find the best way to deal with my dollar cheques from affiliate programs. I currently get stung for each one I cash, plus no doubt a fairly lousy exchange rate. Anyone got any good suggestions as to the best way to go about this?

[Kerrin]

I've been looking into this myself and CitiBank US Dollar Current Account [citibank.com] is the best i've come up with so far.

[Iguana]

If you are dealing with small amounts then Smile only charge a minimum of £4 - I looked into Citibank but I think there was a minimum balance of $2000

[musicales]

Thanks Iguana - is that a smile current account? I also had a look at citibank and they wanted 30,000 a year sallary (maybe next year ;) )

[topr8]

barclays will let you pay foreign cheques into a regular current account, the fee for cheques valuing under 50 pounds is zero! the exchange rate is also fair.

for larger amounts they charge a sliding commision depending on the amounts, but you can bundle cheques together.

[Kerrin]

I get 8-10 USD cheques a month and was being charged a small fortune to cash them. I kicked up a fuss and now get charged about £15 for the lot and instead of it taking over a month for the funds to reach my account, the bank deposits my money right away. The real stinger at the moment is the very bad exchange rate which is why i'm looking for a UK USD account myself.

Musicales, Iguana: Remember that YOU are the customer. Kick up a fuss about the charges every time you cash a USD cheque at your local bank. When I say "kick up a fuss", I mean do it in "Anne Robinson" proportions. It's amazing what can happen if you keep giving tellers hassle and ask see your bank manager every time you cash a USD cheque ;)

[webdiversity]

I had to chuckle when you read the t's and c's of Citibank it states :

You must be able to credit your monthly salary or make an initial deposit of £2,000 into your account

But I want a US dollar account, it's not for my normal salary etc...

I'm surprised that there is not an American bank that has latched on to the fact that affiliates could be a very lucrative area for them. Like Kerrin we get quite a few US$ cheques every month, some are around $25-30 and it's just too expensive to cash one and the exchange rate, by the time you factor in the charging is just crazy.

Although many affiliate schemes give you the choice of direct credit, and currency either they should all do it or a bank needs to recognise this as a business development opportunity. I know a lot of affiliates who make serious money.

[profitpuppy]

Hello I live in Australia and have the same problem ... get dozens of cheques and some of them are small amounts, so my bank fee of AUD$10 per cheque is ridiculous. Have recently opened a USA based Chase bank account whilst in NY, {www.chase.com} but you can do it remotely by sending them info, and a bank reference etc. This seems the best way to go for smaller cheques.

[musicales]

profitpuppy thanks - what's the charge at the moment - and are there some minimum income /deposit requirements?

[maccas]

profitpuppy do ANZ in Australia charge? as they don't here in NZ.

[jmbishop]

It would be nice if everyone would pay you via PayPal or a similar scheme. You can then request an ATM card from PayPal and just withdraw the money from the corner machine for $1.50 a transaction.

I try to set all of my hosting customers up on PayPal with their recurring subscription system because it saves me the hassle of having to invoice them and with the economy tight, a few of them prefer to pay via credit rather than deplete what cash reserves they have by writing me a check each month.

Jerrod

[profitpuppy]

Yes PayPal is better ... although not perfect. I can't remember how much chase charges, but it's not cheap. ANZ do charge in Australia ... when I asked them it was $10 per cheque I think. $10 AUD which is about $5 US.

If you are earning a reasonable income the best option is an offshore company and bank account. This is what I'm looking at. If anyone has info on this please sticky mail me. Thanks.