Hi guys,
Has anyone setup a US bank account from Australia via Citibank or any other bank? or is HSBC the way to go?
Cheers,
Jason
Hi Jason,
I have 2 accounts at the moment. 1 with Watchovia bacnk (soon to be closed as have now imposed $20 a mth fee) and the new
account with Citizens Bank. The details are coming in the mail soon.Both accounts were set up via my attorny in the usa
I have not been successful in setting up a US account with Citibank from Australia. They all seem to require you to visit in person to set it up. Will have to get someone on my behalf to set it up in the name of the LLC that is based over there.
You can maybe try Bank of America, they have an office in Sydney I believe, have not tried it myself but could be worth a shot.
I went to HSBC yesterday and was emailed a form from their international banking centre to get things started.
I noticed after completing the form that the email was prefaced with:
Thank you for your enquiry on the HSBC account in the USA.
*This is to inform you that we can certainly assist with your request to set up an account in the USA, however there is an International Service Fee of $200 AUD and as per the most updated regulation laid down by HSBC USA, It is MANDATORY for you to be an existing customer and hold an account with HSBC for at least the last 3 months, the USA would not process an account if this criteria is not met.
Wachovia is now Wells Fargo ……. my account when it was Wachovia were charging $20 p/m in fees …..
I have an account with Citizens Bank and Trust …..customer service via email was a little slow to start but now i have online set up. I have a Visa debit card to access money from any ATM in Australia it all seems to be going well.
Jason,
I’ve got an HSBC account. The 3 months is a necessity, so just open your account today if your not needing it right now and in 3 months you’ll be able to get one possibly. I was told that is on a case by case scenario. Hope that helps. I currently have not had my account for 3 months yet so I cant let you know how easy it is. I would assume that A$200 is cheaper than getting an attorney to set one up though…..or flying there….. I found Citibank really annoying and not forthright with information, just wanting to get me in the door, credit card etc etc. However, that may just have been my single experience.i had no dramas at all getting Citizens bank and trust. Set up via House buyers USA. Filled out 1 form and they took care of the rest.
I even have a guy on the ground who i have authorised to take car of any bank drams if need be. Cant complain about that service !Hey Rick, that bank seems to be based in Florida. Did you buy in Florida?
hey benny,
I believe they are Floria based. I own a property in Kansas City Mo.
Have found Citizens B & T to be good and the online banking once set up has been easy to
use.Opening a US Account from Australia
HSBC Premier suffered from the rule changes in April 2011.
After switching to HSBC in March/April after we were told they were able to open a US account from Australia, we were suddenly told the rules had changed and we could no longer open an account from Australia for investment purposes unless we ‘owned a property in the US’. Further investigating discovered that we had to have ‘a US property which was our primary place of residence’ before HSBC USA would open an account for us to buy property.
What? Yes. We needed to live in the US permanently. But they didn’t want to say that in those words. We gave up and flew to the US and opened an account with Wachovia.Re: Wachovia-Wells Fargo Transition
Be warned. Wiring money from your own account in the US to another US account holder is not as easy as here. Particularly not during the ‘transition’ to Wells Fargo.
The Wachovia staff are under the pump and don’t really know what they’re doing anyway. Most days they’re in training. Processes have changed. We are still waiting for the wire transfer docs to be filed and our pin # returned to us. (over 1 month of stuffing around so far).
Patience is required!
My time saving tip? Ring Wells Fargo yourself, get the correct information then tell your ex Wachovia banker how it all works! (Yes at 11pm our ES time)Thanks for that Cococam,
I’ll be calling HSBC straight away tomorrow morning to confirm this. If so then I may as well cancel my account with them.
Hello,
I used HSBC before – you can check with their Sydney office. Wachovia is still fine.
Regards,
Steve
Hi,
I understand that HSBC has changed their policy due to the US Patriot Act, or something. In short, they've made it harder to open a US bank account from Australia. I will attempt to verify this with them tomorrow as I have a contact who gave helpful advice a few months back. I'll write an update when I get confirmation.
I'm not sure about Citibank.
In regards to Wachovia… they are currently being gradually rebranded Wells Fargo after a take out.
Cheers,
– Steve
Steve McKnight | PropertyInvesting.com Pty Ltd | CEO
https://www.propertyinvesting.comSuccess comes from doing things differently
Hi Steve,
That would be amazing if you could hunt down a definitive answer for HSBC.
Cheers,
Ben
In regards to the Wires with Wells Fargo/Wachovia, WF has a system called Direct Pay which seems to be cheaper then Wiring and easier, check out their website.
steve,
your right. My Watchovia account is now transfer to Wells Fargo. No other changes i have been made aware of. But I will be closing it and just using Citizens Bank and trust account from now on.Just an update – have put in a call to HSBC and am waiting to hear back from their international banking division.
The person I spoke to (help line) did say they still have an US account option, and that there is a $200 set up fee.
I'll report back when I know more.
– Steve
Steve McKnight | PropertyInvesting.com Pty Ltd | CEO
https://www.propertyinvesting.comSuccess comes from doing things differently
Once they send email with Application Form. It says following
Please specify the Purpose of account opening (Investment in Property in USA, General savings, Rental Income etc. are not acceptable by the USA to set up accounts with them)
- Also additional proof needs to be provided in case the Purpose of account opening is Relocation to the USA for work or study or Family members in the USA.
- Even in case of Wire Transfer Details, please mention only if you are expecting to send or receive money outside the USA and the Beneficiary Name & Country are mandatory.
In an application form they also ask
"Do you expect to receive funds transfers?" with full detail who will be sending you funds, how many transaction a month, $ value etc..
"Do you expect to send funds transfers?" & Same as aboveSteve, Let us know once hear back from them.
Is there any other bank (apart from bank mentioned above) through which we can open US a/c while in Australia ?
petejac1 wrote:In regards to the Wires with Wells Fargo/Wachovia, WF has a system called Direct Pay which seems to be cheaper then Wiring and easier, check out their website.Unfortunately for non US citizens Direct Pay appears to be available through Business Banking for which you need a Social Security Number.
Basically any transactions made through Business Banking require this form of ID.From the Business site you can’t pay even $50 to someone unless you first set them up in the WF Bill Pay system. This can also only be done with a social security number.
The solution is to have a Personal Checking Account. Then you can pay people reasonable amounts.Amounts over 50k need to be wired by phone using a special pin number which needs to be sent to you in Australia.
Apparently you call the number, enter the pin then speak to the representative. ( I only received my pin in the mail today, took 5 days) to get here.I’ll report back once I’ve tried the system…
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