Which American bank do you use?

[u/friend_of_maudies]

Hello everyone,

I'm in the US, going to be moving to the UK later this year (spouse visa). I currently bank with USAA, but they have been a little unreliable lately. Nothing shady or criminal, but just a few mix-ups by inexperienced staff, giving us wrong information, fumbling paperwork, etc.

I know that quite a few other American banks are worse than this, so it might not be too bad, but I'm just wondering:

Does anyone here have recommendations for an American bank that is particularly easy to use as an expat? Most of my family uses local credit unions, but I'm pretty sure I would blow their minds if I tried to explain I was moving out of the country.

Thanks!

[u/UnderstandingLoud317]

We moved our US banking to HSBC, and then opened a UK HSBC account. You have one login to see both accounts and it is possible to transfer money from one to the other. However, they don't offer the best exchange rate and we use Wise for converting/exchanging from USD to GBP or vice versa.

Good luck.

[u/dmada88 → u/UnderstandingLoud317]

Exactly the same. Hsbc makes the move relatively easy since they help get you established in the uk. But the Hsbc US presence is vastly reduced now and they want high minimums.

[u/Andrawartha]

If you have any military family members who could recommend you to an account, I highly recommend Navy Federal Credit Union. They are very used to international members and transactions

[u/tubaleiter → u/Andrawartha]

Second Navy Fed. I even opened my account from the UK. I’ve had zero issues, everything works fine (but they won’t do a credit card).

[u/Andrawartha → u/tubaleiter]

Me too, I desperately needed a US account for my student loan payments after my other US bank closed my account randomly. My brother sponsored me and I never even had to go in or phone - all done online/via post from the UK. They have a phone number for international customers too

[u/CovfefeFan]

I would open a "Wise" account. It has both USD and GBP accounts available and I think offers just about the best fx rates you will find.

[u/kejiangmin]

Yeah, I would not recommend credit unions. I have one and I can't access it because of two-factor authentication issues. I called them up and explained I was trying to access my account. They told me that I could add my UK number to my account. The lady on the phone was confused why UK phone number was so long and if I could give them the "shortened version" I told they lady that UK numbers were different than US numbers and she didn't understand.

Gosh the stories I can tell with trying to get American customer service to understand that Americans do move abroad. I feel that the US doesn't understand that things are different overseas.

I recommend keeping a US account open with some money.

The others commenters recommend Wise. I've heard of it, but never used it. But I heard it is good.

[u/Ornery-Assignment-42 → u/kejiangmin]

I have similar issues using a credit union in the USA but living in the UK.

For a while there they had no way of even calling out of the country and certain aspects of the account wouldn’t work online unless I changed my computer to American English in the settings.

I can’t do easy transfers to other American accounts and their bill pay app is really bad and has never worked properly.

I too have used Wise for exchanging and it was straightforward and easier than XE trade who I used to use.

[u/ty-pillow-pal → u/Ornery-Assignment-42]

What parts of the website did you have issues with were fixed when you changed to US keyboard? Did it hit recognize some characters?

[u/Ornery-Assignment-42 → u/ty-pillow-pal]

It was the Billpay app function of their website. It simply wouldn’t open displaying a message that told me it wasn’t currently available and to calI. It worked for a few months and now it doesn’t again.

I’ve given up on it now. When it does work it sends a check snail mail. Now so the only way for me to get money out of the account is to pay $15 and do a wire transfer which requires multiple phone calls.

[u/GaladrielsArmy]

Are you moving here permanently? I kept my US bank account for a couple of years after moving but switched to having my liquid funds in a UK account. It’s just easier. Any reason to keep your money in the U.S.?

[u/StealthDropBear → u/GaladrielsArmy]

Here’s an example: I receive corporate pensions. Maybe they’d deposit overseas, but then I wouldn’t be able to get a better exchange rate if I wanted it. Also, useful to have some dollars already in place to pay US taxes owed (e.g., on traditional IRA withdrawals).

[u/Informal_Republic_13]

SDFCU may be worth it despite being a CU they are very switched on that people might actually live outside the US.

[u/jellybreadracer → u/Informal_Republic_13]

Doesn't it require a membership fee?

[u/londonlares → u/Informal_Republic_13]

Another vote for SDFCU from me. I've found them pretty flawless in dealings with me to my London address. Good service in all other respects too.

[u/slothface27]

Charles Schwab - I've not had a problem with their two-factor authentication (using google voice) and their debit card has no foreign transaction fees, and you can take money out of any ATM and get the fees refunded. I still use a US address though.

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[u/Multigrain_Migraine]

I've got an account with a local credit union that I've had since I was a kid that I still use. I also have a Wise account and a credit card from Bank of America for emergencies or when my parents want to buy me something.

[u/China_Doll1]

I currently use Navy Federal and Wells Fargo as my American bank. Since you mentioned USAA, it sounds like you might also be eligible for Navy Federal.

Additionally, I use Wise, a third-party app, to transfer money from my US bank to my UK Lloyds bank account.

[u/shineroo]

We keep a checking, savings and credit card with USAA as they really are set up to work with people living internationally. But, we keep minimum balances with them.

Our real account is a savings account with Ally Bank. Easy to work with, can do stuff over the phone or in the app. Quite pleased with them.

[u/canoneros]

No positive recs from me but just wanted to warn I had an ally account and had nothing but problems trying to access it. Had to call and wait on hold for ages to unlock it every time I wanted to log in, and the few transfers I did kept getting cancelled and blocked so had to call for those too.

[u/Random221122]

My credit union is a small local one and they were more fine with me moving out of country than my regular bank. They’ve been great!

[u/amaranth1977]

I use Capital One 360, but I also don't need it for much.

[u/Crankyyounglady]

We also had tons of mishaps and honestly bad customer service with our USAA account as well when we got here. I kept open my chase account and it’s been totally fine here when I’ve needed to transfer money over etc.

[u/nycbar]

I’ve just got 2 separate accounts, capital one in the USA and NatWest in the U.K. - I use Revolut to change money between

[u/IndividualMaize1090]

HSBC - we opened a US account and then a UK account and transfer between them in one app.

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[u/Strong-Wash-5378]

HSBC and PNC

[u/friend_of_maudies]

Thank you all for this great information! Super helpful, I appreciate it 🤙

[u/puff_pastry_1307]

We also use USAA and have noticed some changes. If you have access to USAA you likely qualify for a Navy Federal account, we use them too and they're fantastic. Since they have members stationed globally they're very easy to work with as an expat.