International Banks

Hello. I am preparing ahead of time for when I need to access my money here in the US from over there in the UK until I become a naturlised British Citizen.  I am going to use a prepaid Visa card to reload money from both direct deposit and from a bank account.  I just found out that my credit union doesn't do that cuz they are a small institution and not international.  I have some questions:

Does anybody here use Kaiku??
If so, what bank will allow ACH Transfer from a checking account onto that card??
And which of the three banks that Kaiku mentioned to me is in the UK: Chase, US Bank, or Wells Fargo?? (I don't think US Bank will be since they are US, duh)
What are their requirements for membership?
What are their monthly fees??

I like Kaiku cuz they offer $1.95 monthly fees which is taken out after your deposit.  Also, I can get my fiance a card and transfer money from my card onto his or vice versa.  And they have more in-network ATMs even in the UK! I would greatly appreciate your help in this matter.

None of those banks is in the UK.  Why don't you just get a British bank account?

Yes, that is what I just found out. I heard from another thread on here that HSBC is offered both in the US and UK. I might have to go with that. 

HSBC tho doesn't combine the US and UK accounts.  My husband was really annoyed that he couldn't move his UK HSBC account to his US account.  You can wire transfer, but not link. 

I am just closing my US account down and opening up a UK account.  Less headaches that I will have to worry about

HSBC tho doesn't combine the US and UK accounts.  My husband was really annoyed that he couldn't move his UK HSBC account to his US account.  You can wire transfer, but not link. 

I am just closing my US account down and opening up a UK account.  Less headaches that I will have to worry about

So, I can wire transfer say from my US account into my UK account right??

Just get an account with a UK bank, and move your money into it.  One transfer, and you're done. 

So, I can wire transfer say from my US account into my UK account right??

Yep.

That is good to know since I will have to keep my US account open until I become a British citizen then I can close it down. 

That is good to know since I will have to keep my US account open until I become a British citizen then I can close it down. 

Why?

That is good to know since I will have to keep my US account open until I become a British citizen then I can close it down. 

Is there a specific reason you have to keep it open??  

I will still have money coming in until I am married then I will be able to close everything out over here in the US.  That is why.

I will still have money coming in until I am married then I will be able to close everything out over here in the US.  That is why.

So you could close it once you're married and just have a British account.

I will still have money coming in until I am married then I will be able to close everything out over here in the US.  That is why.

Money coming in is deffo a reason to keep it open.  Fees from the bank for transfer, especially internationally, can be high.  We have used xoom in the past.

Money coming in is deffo a reason to keep it open.  Fees from the bank for transfer, especially internationally, can be high.  We have used xoom in the past.

Yes, I heard about their fees. And I heard xoom is good.  And yes, historyenne, I will def close down the US acccount once I am married.

That is good to know since I will have to keep my US account open until I become a British citizen then I can close it down.

I'm wondering why you want to close your US accounts? I intend to keep mine open for as long as possible with some USD so when I visit I'm not hit with fees and exchange rates. Not to mention, from what I hear, the retirement account options are limited in the UK and it may be a good strategy to keep some US retirement accounts open or open them while you still have a US address to give the institution.