UK users: How do you open a USD bank account as a UK resident

TigerUK

TigerUK

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Aug 23, 2008
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I don't have a business bank account, and am avoiding doing this as I don't want fees and shitloads of business related circulars coming to my home.

I would prefer to keep my business stuff on current account designed for consumers.

Question is, is it possible to open a USD bank account while being a resident of the UK?

I have a lot of income and expenses in USD, and it's a complete bitch doing the accounting for all these transactions and currency exchanges, as well as the fact that I'm probably losing money from the currency exchange.
 


All of the 'world' banks will offer a USD account. HSBC and citigroup both do, from memory the minimum amount you need to keep in the account is around $10,000 USD and they also charge some fees whenever you deposit or withdraw.

My suggestion would be to look at a couple of different ones and then go into a branch and get advice, or speak to a financial advisor.

If you have under $10,000 USD saved up then you're basically shit out of luck (a lot of the banks will forfeit any fees if you're holding over $250,000 USD in the accounts as well).
 
Check out the Amex Dollar/Euro card:

https://www.americanexpress.com/idc

To get approved you'll need bank statements, a reference from your banker, and around ~₤15000 GBP in your account.

Go for the Amex green first-- it's the easiest to get approved for -- build some history and then apply for the gold/platinum.

You'll also get all the rewards/points just like a regular Amex.
 
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Any bank will do it. Phone up your bank and ask. I'm with Lloyds, I believe they give you 3 months free then charge £30 a month if your balance is under a certain amount.

Whenever I've gone into an HSBC branch, the staff have been retarded.
 
-joe- said:
Any bank will do it. Phone up your bank and ask. I'm with Lloyds, I believe they give you 3 months free then charge £30 a month if your balance is under a certain amount.

Whenever I've gone into an HSBC branch, the staff have been retarded.
Click to expand...

QFT - strangely though their asian branch staff are fantastic, saved me a tonne of fees the last few times i have dealt with them
 
-joe- said:
Any bank will do it. Phone up your bank and ask. I'm with Lloyds, I believe they give you 3 months free then charge £30 a month if your balance is under a certain amount.

Whenever I've gone into an HSBC branch, the staff have been retarded.
Click to expand...

cool, are there any special requirements, do you have to be a US national or provide reasons why you need a USD account.

I dont want them to know Im using a personal account for business. I'm with HSBC and their USD acccounts supposedly cost just $5 a month, but I don't know if there are any extra fees.

Also can you pay in clickbank earnings via wire transfer into your USD account? Clickbank allow you to choose target country for payment but do not let you choose currency, it would be a major fuckup if they sent me GBP into a USD account, get double raped by currency conversion.
 
Depends on the figures you want to handle. If its just a couple thousand a year, just ask your local bank to open an additional account thats tied to your regular one in the currency you desire. That does usually not cost much.

HSBC is being recommended by some. Thats because HSBC is pretty well known which is because they run shitloads of advertising. You are paying for those advertisements. Fees with HSBC are through the roof for everything. If you want something a bit exotic, Ive seen em charge 75 a month for internet banking. Dont go that route.

If you want to handle bigger figures, like 80k+ a year, your best bet is to approach a swiss cantonal bank that keeps their mouth shut. Has nothing to do with tax evasion, but if you want to do business on a personal account, they sure wont report that to any stupid government. Swiss cantonal banks are within reach and very secretive about the business they do with their customers.

If you want to take this a bit further, you could take your business to singapore. But thats probably overkill for what you want to do.


Just approach your local bank and ask. They can do what you are looking for. If you want the protection of working with a bank that understands that people are not in the mood of paying sky high taxes, go the swiss route. Hit me up if youre interested.
 
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TigerUK said:
I don't have a business bank account, and am avoiding doing this as I don't want fees and shitloads of business related circulars coming to my home.

I would prefer to keep my business stuff on current account designed for consumers.

Question is, is it possible to open a USD bank account while being a resident of the UK?

I have a lot of income and expenses in USD, and it's a complete bitch doing the accounting for all these transactions and currency exchanges, as well as the fact that I'm probably losing money from the currency exchange.
Click to expand...


You know there are UK banks that offer fee-free business banking, right?

I'm with Co-op and they don't charge me (they pay me £25 per year in fact as a "loyalty bonus"). I joined the FSB which is worth is for the tax investigation insurance. I think Santander do free business banking too.

If you're doing currency FX, see my other thread about tranzfers.com I have used auctionchex in the past too, their spread is very high so only really suitable for small amounts, and I'm not sure if they accept wire transfers.
 
wayn3 said:
Depends on the figures you want to handle. If its just a couple thousand a year, just ask your local bank to open an additional account thats tied to your regular one in the currency you desire. That does usually not cost much.

HSBC is being recommended by some. Thats because HSBC is pretty well known which is because they run shitloads of advertising. You are paying for those advertisements. Fees with HSBC are through the roof for everything. If you want something a bit exotic, Ive seen em charge 75 a month for internet banking. Dont go that route.

If you want to handle bigger figures, like 80k+ a year, your best bet is to approach a swiss cantonal bank that keeps their mouth shut. Has nothing to do with tax evasion, but if you want to do business on a personal account, they sure wont report that to any stupid government. Swiss cantonal banks are within reach and very secretive about the business they do with their customers.

If you want to take this a bit further, you could take your business to singapore. But thats probably overkill for what you want to do.


Just approach your local bank and ask. They can do what you are looking for. If you want the protection of working with a bank that understands that people are not in the mood of paying sky high taxes, go the swiss route. Hit me up if youre interested.
Click to expand...


Good info. Thanks man
 
I bank with HSBC and have accounts in over 7 currencies including USD. Go for any international bank or even RBS, Lloyds or natwest can offer you the same.
 
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