anyone opened a US bank account?

[crabbie1]

Has anyone opened a US bank account and transferred money in from there uk account and used a card to draw cash out whilst over there? Was thinking of opening one and paying in some money each month to save for holiday spending money.Is it worth it ? Hoping to buy into DVC in the next 2 years. Is it better to do this than use a CC/Debit card from here?
Also can I open one online or do I have to go into a branch over there and if so which bank.TIA

 

[skelfbsfb]

Ive opened up a suntrust account whilst I was at WDW last July, it was a very easy process, need passport and driving licence and I put a deposit of $40. You can transfer the money from your own bank account to paypal and then to your suntrust account but this will take approx 10 days. There is an easier way through XE and open up atrade account and this generally only takes a day or 2 to transfer.

 

[wigeboo]

We opened a bank accout with city bank, we have a cash card/visa we pay money in to the account every month,we also opened it on line.

 

[crabbie1]

Thankyou.Looks like I will have to open one this time to save for next time. Is XE like paypal? Where is the bank in DTD? Will have a look into this before we go.Thankyou both.

 

[skelfbsfb]

Thankyou.Looks like I will have to open one this time to save for next time. Is XE like paypal? Where is the bank in DTD? Will have a look into this before we go.Thankyou both.

crabbie XE is online, heres the link for trade account

https://fx2.xe.com/fxlogin/

 

[kristieuk]

We also have a Citibank account, we opened it online in the UK. You get a debit card and cheque book, and you used to get a great $ rate - basically the market rate - but now it is a couple of cents off. It is convenient though. We keep £ in a Citibank sterling account so it can be transferred instantaneously when the $ rate is good.

Good luck whatever you decide!

 

[Elise79]

We have a Suntrust account and use XE to transfer the money.

The Suntrust branch is opposite the Market place at DTD - if you are driving from WDW towards LBV it is on the right just after the last parking lot entrance for DTD.

There is parking behind the building - its a large building that you can't miss when you are looking for it!

If you are looking into buying DVC then you need an account in the US if you want to pay dues monthly. The Citibank dollar account that can be opening online in the UK can not be used for paying dues monthly.

 

[nemmie]

We have Suntrust too and have always been very happy with them.

 

[crabbie1]

crabbie XE is online, heres the link for trade account

https://fx2.xe.com/fxlogin/

Thankyou

 

[Alex's Mummy]

Ive opened up a suntrust account whilst I was at WDW last July, it was a very easy process, need passport and driving licence and I put a deposit of $40. You can transfer the money from your own bank account to paypal and then to your suntrust account but this will take approx 10 days. There is an easier way through XE and open up atrade account and this generally only takes a day or 2 to transfer.

Just wanted to say thank you for this info. We just got back from our 3rd DVC stay and opened up a Suntrust account while we were there to pay our dues monthly. It was so easy and the staff were really helpful. We only needed to take our passports and drivers license with us. Managed to set up an XE account too. This was really useful info to know. Wish i had know this years ago.

Next january wont seem so bad now.

 

[orangetiggs]

we have a suntrust account and transfer using paypal

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Would they let you open an account at SunTrust if your credit history was slightly less than perfect do you think?

 

[orangetiggs]

Would they let you open an account at SunTrust if your credit history was slightly less than perfect do you think?

yes, they dont credit check you, we took a letter from our uk bank to say how long we have held the account and that it was in good standing

we dont have a great credit history and had no problem gettig a suntrust account

 

[Disneymad]

Suntrust and XE.com for me too. I did look into Paypal but the exchange rate was a couple of cents lower than XE (PP being similar the normal tourist rate, XE is similar to the Fairfx rate). It was a little bit intimidating using them the first time but really, it all went as smooth as can be.

Regarding Suntrust I had an small issue online which meant I had to contact their Customer Support and I have to say they were really helpful and friendly. In the end they couldn't fix it due to a snafu that requires me to actually go in person to a branch but they left a very good impression with me.

 

[sandshal]

Just wanted to post a VERY small warning about Suntrust on here ....... nobody hesitate opening an account because it's great, however be warned ........

We opened our account in 2009 and went through the email process to open an online account and request paperless statements to save $5 a time, which worked fine for 3 months then completely out of the blue started receiving them so account now $10 lighter I called customer services and they reinstated paperless statements, although no refund of charges ........ Problem solved.

However 12 months on I wanted to check that I'd remembered my PIN so went to a UK cashpoint .......... pumped in the pin ....... pin OK but details unavailable ..... assumed it was a fault with the system so couple of days later tried again at another cashpoint .......... details still unavailable ............ Anyhow to cut a long story short even though I got absolutely nothing from these transactions I was charged $5 a time for trying, so another $10 lighter!!!!!!!!!!!

Phoned customer services who were not helpful at all and to be honest were really quite rude

Started off opening the account in Davenport with $100 now balance is $80!!! Peanuts but every little helps so:-

A) Make sure you sign up for paperless statements and check your online balance periodically to ensure it doesnt get turned off

B) Never check your balance or check to see if your PIN works at a UK cashpoint unless your really have to.

 

[Disneymad]

You know that there is every chance (especially as you didn't make a withdrawal) that it was more likely the UK bank that who charged you for accessing their cashpoint with an Overseas Bank Card than Suntrust though right?

As an aside, I can't see the balance of my UK bank account at the cashpoints in the US so I think it would be unlikely you could check a US account in the UK anyhow.

 

[sandshal]

You may well be right although I suspect it was a bit of both ....... Lady at sun trust told me it was their charge but then she did seem pretty clueless ..... Really just wanted to make sure I'd remembered by pin

That said, do Check your balance online every now and again to ensure they don't switch off paperless statements

Still other than that super easy to open with a minimum of fuss .... Was $100 dollars opening balance at the branch on the US27 though

 

[fuse04]

We tend to use commission free credit cards like Post Office and take some cash for cabs etx. However we have a citibank dollar account we opened a couple of years back for when we have a large amount of dollars. The only drawback is that the account earns no interest (but the account is free) and the nearest branch in thwe uk to us is London.