Anyone go through again how to open a US bank account

[tubtruck]

I am wanting to get a US bank account when I go to WDW in August, I rember reading on here this is possible with Sun Trust, it would be useful to me being a DVC owner.
Can anyone point me in the right direction of what I need to do this.

Thanks

 

[orangetiggs]

we opened one last feb and it was very easy, we took loads of id and had letters from our bank saying we were good customers etc.

We got the simple checking account and we went in there and were seen within 5 mins, pin numbers were picked there and then and the cards were sent to our home address

Make sure you sign up to internet banking with them as they charge you for every statement they send you so we now just have a paperless one and log in on line

 

[Elise79]

We opened ours in March (in preparation for buying our DVC!) it was so easy! We also have the free checking account.

We took our passports and driving licences for ID.

I can PM you the name of ther person we saw if you would like as she was great. I have also emailed her with a few queries since and she is very prompt at responding.

We opened our accounts on the Thursday and our cards arrived on the monday or tuesday the following week! Couldn't believe the service and you get to pick you PIN when you are opening the account.

 

[orangetiggs]

you also get a free phone number to c all from the uk as well if you need to speak with them so they are very helpful, sometimes better than our uk account!!

 

[Lisa1976]

I can vouch for Sun Trust too. We wen to the one opposite Downtown Disney. Very friendly staff, were seen within minutes, just used our passports and driving licences and ID and away with came with a sparkly new US account. I also have the free checking account, mainly because its what it is "free" as some of the others charge you.

 

[Twilight Terror]

This is an interesting thread considering we are now DVC. Just paid our annual dues, but did so via debit card online. My question is, how does it work with money transfers to the US account? I mean, my mum, sister and me are regularly trading money via online banking for bills and payments that we owe each other, and there's no charge involved in that. Is there a charge involved in transferring into the US account?

 

[orangetiggs]

there is a charge i beleive but what i do is transfer the money to my paypal account and then i can add a us bank account to paypal and then move the money that way, no fees involved then

takes about 5 days to get from my uk account to paypal and then a couple of days to get to my us account

 

[Lisa1976]

Thats exactly what I do too orangetiggs

 

[jharrowell]

there is a charge i beleive but what i do is transfer the money to my paypal account and then i can add a us bank account to paypal and then move the money that way, no fees involved then

takes about 5 days to get from my uk account to paypal and then a couple of days to get to my us account

Snap!

This is exactly how I do mine. £100 into the paypal then out again regular as clockwork. Then straight back out to pay our DVC, Seaworld EZPay Annual passes and our US Cell phones. (We've got an orlando area code phone number, it's soo cool!)

Only thing of note is that Paypal doesn't always have the best exchange rate. Still a lot easier than transfering any other way though.

 

[kristieuk]

I know this isn't really the question, but just to let you know an alternative - we opened a Citibank account online when we were getting ready for our Florida wedding. We've got a sterling savings and current account and a USD current and savings account. It's really easy to do all the transfers online, and they are immediate between the accounts - you don't need all those accounts though, you could just have the current account if you prefer. We just hold cash in the sterling savings account and transfer it to the $ account when the rate is good.

You get a usd cheque book and debit card, and there are no fees involved at all - it can all be done online before you go www.citibank.co.uk