US bank account?

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this question!

So I’m slowing planning my move over to the UK in about 7 months and I’m wondering about keeping a bank account and credit card open in the US. I have about a $1500 bill on my credit card and I’d much rather save money for my move instead using every paycheck to pay it off before I leave. I also think it will be handy to keep around.

It seems a lot of you have kept a bank account in the US and I'm wondering who you have them with. Right now I have a checking account with Bank of America but its only free because I have direct deposit. Otherwise I would be charged $5 a month to keep it open. Should I just move my money over to somewhere like Wells Fargo where they offer completely free accounts? I need a bank with excellent online banking, since that is how I would be making my credit card payments. Where do you have yours?

Do you transfer funds into your bank accounts by just using paypal?

I bank with Navy Federal Credit Union (www.navyfcu.org) and Washington Mutual (www.wamu.com) no service charges regardless (depending on the account you open).  Credit unions are generally your best bet over-all, if you qualify for one.

Good luck!

Mine are with Bank of America.

I have Wachovia...and I've not had to transfer $ yet as my job directly deposits money into it monthly (lucky me!)...but I may have to use paypal at some point...I do have to pay for previous debts so needed the bank & internet banking option.

Karenn,
We have Bank of America accounts and really like them.  Their online bill paying is fantastic.  Definitely keep your credit card account open.  When you move to the UK, it can sometimes take some time to open a bank account (2-3 weeks), and american checks take a long time to clear here (other posts on this site have said 6 weeks or so).  Also, because (most likely) you have no UK credit rating, doing anything that means getting a credit check can be a hastle.

Check with B of A to see if there's a way they'll give you the account w/o the service charge.  For instance, our mortgage on our US home is with them so we get something like 2 free checking accounts, free savings accounts and safety deposit boxes etc.  Even if you don't have that, it never hurts to ask.
Good luck with your plans!
Stephan

We closed our checking account because of the fees with low balance problem.

We opened one alongside our brokerage account, making sure that we'd have web access, bill payer and be able to transfer money easily to the UK.  We haven't transferred any money yet due to the sky-high exchange rate, but all the other services seem to work well.  No fees, and we get a token interest payment too.

It's good to have US accounts as it will make moving back so much easier. 

I have a US bank account because my ex pays child support in US dollars. The money gets deposited into my US account and I draw it out of the ATM here. Ive been doing this for 4 years. No problems

Hi Karenn,
I'm in a similar situation--when I moved to the UK I kept my US bank account to pay my credit card & student loan payments. I actually just set up a payment through the credit card's web site, and didn't need to use my bank's online banking for this at all. You may want to investigate whether you can do that. I'm with HSBC in both the US and the UK, but there might not be HSBC's in your neck of the woods.

I've been really wanting to close my US account because of the monthly fees - but I've resisted because every now and then, on birthdays and stuff, someone gives me a US check and it's just so much easier to have my mom deposit it into my account there so I can either paypal it to myself or withdraw it from here.... It's also a bit cheaper to deposit my student loan checks into it rather than cash them over here. But the monthly fees do add up. If anyone has any suggestions on avoiding US bank fees, I'd sure love to hear it. I'm with Wells Fargo and have had the same account for a good 17 years now!

My mother and I opened a joint account at Wachovia (First Union) before I left - since she's over 55 it's a "special" checking account and there are no fees, except the $2 to withdraw money from a non-Wachovia ATM.  However, since I really only take money out from it about 1 or 2 times a week, and I don't get charged by the bank for the exchange and get a pretty fair/reasonable exchange rate, it's worth it.

Peedal, that's a FAB idea!!! I'm going to suggest to my mom when I talk to her tomorrow that she look into that for us! That would really solve a lot of problems!

Ooppsss...forgot to mention that I do the same with my dad at Wachovia...it works well as he can do deposits or withdrawls for me (especially if there's an emergency need!).

I've got an account with First Internet Bank of Indiana (http://www.firstib.com), which I've had for about 6 years now.  They're a completely online bank, which is very handy, as it means I can do everything over the 'net.  They've been great!

I've got a free checking account - no maintenance fees, but also no interest (which is ok for me as I don't have much money there).  They now charge if you use their online bill payment though - but all of my credit cards allow me to pay online through their own websites, so I don't have to use my bank's bill payment service.

We have a credit union account in the U.S and had our last tax return deposited there so we have a balance.  There weren't any fees when it was low either. 

We have a HSBC offshore account that we use in the U.K, transferring money to our U.S account takes between 1 and 3 days and has a nominal fee.  All done online.

We kept our U.S accounts incase we ever move back and need that great credit rating.  The relatives love it because they can still send U.S dollar cheques for birthdays etc.  Mailing them back to the U.S and seeing them in our account usually takes about a week.

for those of you who have hsbc accounts..did you open them in the us first? i noticed that there were lots of hsbc's over there and thought that opening an account here would help with getting a uk account, since it seems like such a pain...but it also seems like keeping my good old wamu account might be the way to go initially....any thoughts?