Personal bank account opening in US

[Educate]

I am wondering can a foreign individual from Europe open a personal bank account in US when visiting US?

And if yes, which banks would you recommend?

 

[UScorp]

Yes that is possible. You can go to Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, TD Bank .Better to call a branch and make appointments before your visit.

 

[TurnedToRobot]

If that will work for you then please post back here. I don't believe it to be possible.

 

[challenge]

BofA and TD will 100% do this on the spot. Better call before as some branches are more picky than others. You may need more than one ID document and you'll need a domicile address. Better use a real one, some mail forwarder and PO boxes are not accepted by them. But it should be pretty easy to open a personal one. Business is much harder.

 

[Nyep]

I don't believe it to be possible

Not only is it possible, it is actually easy. No appointment required. Step in, show your passport, get an account. Almost any bank/branch. If you are denied by silly staff, just step over to the next branch.

 

[JohnLocke]

So I can only encourage you to reply here with the results regardless if this works or not. A good feedback would be much appreciated.

 

[Milky Moon]

Yes this is possible and very easy.

WellsFargo is the bank to go to at the west coast, (deposit $1500 and you do not pay account fees)
TD at the east coast (deposit $500 and you do not pay account fees).

With both banks you get issued a debit card. Your account opening deposit ($150), which you can spend immediately with your debit card.

BoA also accepts walk in customers.

You need a passport + drivers license, and a credit card to fund you deposit (WF) or cash (TD). For both you do not need a US address (you do for BofA). A US cellphone number is easy (for account autentication, you can easily change this to a EU number once you are back in Europe.

https://www.tdbank.com/tdhelps/defa...red-to-open-an-account-at-td-bank/v/39159993/https://www.wellsfargocommunity.com/s/article/DOC-1505
Chase only wants to sell you their Wealth Mngt Services; Bank of America needs a US address and I do not like a mailcompany to have access to my finances (the bank envelopes stand out )

 

[Flatworld]

yes You can...need a local address...

 

[Nyep]

Chase only wants to sell you their Wealth Mngt Services

Chase will happily open a normal checking account with proof of address.

 

[TurnedToRobot]

Great, so I assume we will soon see alot of happy new foreign customers with US bank accounts. Let's see if they can overcome to report back here or if they just avoid the feedback.

 

[Milky Moon]

The nice thing about a US bank account: No tax information (TIN etc) was asked. And US is no CRS land ...

 

[Martin Everson]

If you are opening a US Bank account to avoid CRS then you are wasting your time and money as US account information is being shared as I explained in below post.

https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/th...n-us-person-deposits-in-them.22676/post-91669
However, if you are opening a US account because you want diversification, good USD access or an ABA number then I guess it may make sense. Otherwise ignorance of cross border information exchange is bliss

 

[Milky Moon]

As I understood it, banks are not required to inform the IRS about non-interest bearing accounts. Savings and brokerage accounts do need to be reported and are within scope for CRS/IGA/DRS2.

 

[bakqueso]

So you will open US bank as a non resident alien and how do you plan to pay your taxes with that?

 

[bakqueso]

If you are opening a US Bank account to avoid CRS then you are wasting your time and money as US account information is being shared as I explained in below post.

https://www.offshorecorptalk.com/th...n-us-person-deposits-in-them.22676/post-91669
However, if you are opening a US account because you want diversification, good USD access or an ABA number then I guess it may make sense. Otherwise ignorance of cross border information exchange is bliss

What happens after the exchange? How the non resident alien gets informed? and how can they pay taxes after the exchange info?

 

[Martin Everson]

What happens after the exchange? How the non resident alien gets informed? and how can they pay taxes after the exchange info?

Your local taxman will be in contact with you. He will explain everything to you. Just lotion up your wrists in advance as handcuff's tend to scuff.

 

[Mark Rucken]

Private account in the US is not a problem, just walk into any bank and you will most likely get it within minutes. As for the automatic exchange of information, there is a big question mark are US banks really doing it. There are a few colleagues of mine who are EU citizens with private accounts in the US and they never had any problem. In my honest opinion, I think USA is terrorizing the whole world to report accounts of US citizens abroad, but when it comes to their banks seems like they are not doing it ... because they simply can do whatever they want. This is just my personal opinion.

 

[daxbr]

Private account in the US is not a problem, just walk into any bank and you will most likely get it within minutes. As for the automatic exchange of information, there is a big question mark are US banks really doing it. There are a few colleagues of mine who are EU citizens with private accounts in the US and they never had any problem. In my honest opinion, I think USA is terrorizing the whole world to report accounts of US citizens abroad, but when it comes to their banks seems like they are not doing it ... because they simply can do whatever they want. This is just my personal opinion.

True, but if one makes prudent business decision, he has not choice but to act as if "US banks really doing it".

 

[Mark Rucken]

True, but if one makes prudent business decision, he has not choice but to act as if "US banks really doing it".

Definitely

 

[fredouille1973]

Hi , I'm updating this post, any remote solution like mercury and other which are only for business?