Do US banks allow non-US citizens an account?

[antirack]

I am wondering if there are any banks in the USA which open accounts for non-US citizens if you walk into their branch.

Foreigners can get US drivers licenses without SSN. But you have to go to the social department, which will then issue a certificate that says that you are not eligible for a SSN because you are not a resident or whatever. Now with that certificate you get a drivers license. How about bank accounts?

[Corey Bryant]

Valis was using Mt Morris to do this. But with the Patriot Act, etc - it probably became too costly for Mt Morris to do this.

Bank have to follow a lot of rules an regulations, one being YKYC (you know your customer). If you did happen to find a bank - sometimes the loophole in the YKYC clause is just by accepting a wire transfer from your bank.

I am hoping that Valis will be able to find another bank that can support foreign accounts. Another option is to also locate a bank in your contry that has a branch in the United States.

-Corey

[martingale]

I have a Citibank account that I opened when I was living in the US on a temporary visa (contract work). They were happy to open it since I had a US address at the time, and happy to change my address to Canada when I moved home.

I opened it before 9/11 so maybe the rules have changed and/or they will terminate my account at some point.

[Corey Bryant]

It really all depends. It seems you have actually the YKYC regulation. We have a few clients that fly over or come to the US to open a bank account and then go back to their country. The banker has met the client and it does seem that is all it might take

I am too too certain on the YKYC regulations unfortunately. You have come into the bank, signed the papers, etc

-Corey

[gpilling]

Yes, banks will open an account for a non-US citizen.

I have two employees of my US company, that both live and work in Canada, and are Canadian citizens that opened accounts for ease of payment of US funds. Fairly simple, and we used WellsFargo. They work in Canada, and I pay them here - and they use their ATM cards to get cash.

The accounts were opened in person, photo id was required and we used the companies address as a local address for them. I don't know if they would send statements out of the country or not.

I have a friend who is a mortgage broker who says she does mortgages on a semi regular basis for foreign nationals, so you can buy a house too :)

[sophie turani]

Hi,
i'm a french citizen and i'm trying to open a us bank account as well.
I'm complety deseperate, does anybody can help me?
i can t go to the us because i am a single woman with a small baby and i need to take care of my business as well.
please please please help me....

[Jon_King]

Why not simply call a major US bank and ask them? Or email your question to a major bank here: [bankofamerica.com...]

[Corey Bryant]

Opening in person satisfies the YKYC (you know your customer) rules.

I am in the US and opened up an account online via B of A. It asks if you are a US citizen, etc. And then I had to actually go in & sign the signature card. I was supposed to be able to download it but no link.

We are hoping that Valis will be able to secure another bank to open up a checking account.

Another bank - bpdbank.com - they might be able to help out. We just had one merchant approved from that bank and he is in Peru

-Corey

[ali_khankan]

The same topic has been opened many times for the last month since Valis stopped functioning,It seems like the current regime in the US is willing to make it difficult for international groups(what they call terror) as well as money washing groups to have financial support in the US(whether US bank accts or what ever),the US is being so strict these days..but sooner or later the banks and/or many financial firms will cry for the congress to do or modify some thing(THEY LOVE MONEY!),so i think the only choice now is to give Valis some time cuz i am sure they are extensively working on it,and they will come out with some thing after a while,except this i don't see any other route.
Ali