Close or not to close?

I have an American bank account with Bank of America(checking and savings). It's been alright up until now. They keep charging fees on my savings account(!!!) because it's gone below $300, and it's getting to the point where there's no reason why I should keep it going, I think. I reckon it'd be alright to keep it going if I saw us moving back to the States, but, I don't. I know that ultimately, it's up to me, but, has anyone done this themselves?

I know that I'll get charged by my bank here in the UK(Santander), and since my bank account in the States is in my maiden name, there might be some drama about cashing a check, since my UK bank account is in my married name. Geez! Can I transfer the money via direct deposit(for a fee, again, of course)? Do I even have to be there to close the account down and have the transfer done?

I've read the other posts about the charges on money transfers, and also on switching banks in the States to avoid the fees, but, I'd much rather have my money with me in the UK rather than in the States, if at all possible. Thanks in advance for the help!

Depends on the bank...some banks automatically close when your account hits 0-- others you have to officially close it. I know it is a pain, but your best bet is to give your bank a call. I have an account I have kept open in the states- but only cause there is no fee and I can literally just keep a few cents in it-- sometimes I will put a bit of money in it and use it for gifts in the states. I wouldn't bother keeping it if they were charging me though- so I can understand your thoughts.
An easy way to zero out the account is through paypal if you have a paypal account you can add both your us and uk accounts to it. You can add the money from your us account and then withdraw it to your uk account. This way you see conversions right away.

Hope this helps a bit.

You can chat on the computer with B of A customer service rep so I would ask them if you can open a checking account on line and then I would transfer the funds from the savings account so as to avoid the fees.

It bothers me when the bank dips into my money so I would do something fast so this doesn't happen to you.

I opened a B of A account about 7 months ago with no money but then I closed it with no problem because I wasn't using it. I already have 2 BofA accounts. That is one for my wife and one for me. Mine is kind of tricky because I don't have any checks left and I don't want to pay them $18 for a new batch of checks when other banks give them free.

I am running with 4 checking accounts right now with other banks and two of them pay interest. One of them I opened because they don't charge ATM fees and they also pay interest. I opened that one after reading about it on here. (that was a good tip, Candeza!) They don't charge fees when you use it in the UK but the downside is you must have served in the military or your Dad did.

There are at least three banks that do transactions only on the internet. I think they are called 'no morter banks' which means you can't walk into a branch because there isn't one. You deposit your checks in the mail or scan them on the computer. In my case I have my funds going in there on direct deposit.

I did chat with the B of A customer service last night, and it's easy enough to do. I'll just send them a letter saying that I'd like to close the account, and all of my account details. And then they'll cut me a check to send me the cash. I'd keep it open if there was more than $10,000 in the account, and DH and I were seriously considering moving back to the States, but, we're not. I'm settling quite happily here in the UK, and I don't want to go back.

I'm settling quite happily here in the UK, and I don't want to go back.

that made me smile--- it is nice to see you feeling settled

*Hijack*~Lots of factors have lead to it. One of the main ones being able to work and not feel guilty about mythering to DH about things.

End of hijack.

You can chat on the computer with B of A customer service rep so I would ask them if you can open a checking account on line and then I would transfer the funds from the savings account so as to avoid the fees.

That was sort of what I did (except it was a B of A checking they were charging fees on).

Yeah, totally annoying either way. That's why I'm getting my money out.  I don't have enough to pay them fees on an account in the States that I can't direct deposit money into. That's also part of the problem, when I put my pay checks direct deposit in the States, they didn't charge me. Oh well. :/ Sneaky, aren't they?!