Swiss Bank Account

[stevenjhepburn]

Is it possible to open a Swiss bank account from the UK? If so, how easy is it? Can you get an account which can hold GBP and USD and a debit card that can be used for either?

If it's not so easy is there a UK or International bank which offers the GBP/USD/debit card combination?

[davepoth]

No need to be Swiss.

http://www.expat.hsbc.com/1/2/hsbc-expat/ways-to-b...

I'd be amazed if everyone else didn't do the same.

[stevenjhepburn]

davepoth said:

No need to be Swiss.

The Swiss part is just for the 'James Bond' aspect.

Do you have experience with the HSBC account? Do you know if withdrawals of USD in the US would be free from any ATM?

[davepoth]

stevenjhepburn said:

davepoth said:

No need to be Swiss.

The Swiss part is just for the 'James Bond' aspect.

Do you have experience with the HSBC account? Do you know if withdrawals of USD in the US would be free from any ATM?

Withdrawls in the USA are never free. At least I've never seen a free ATM in all the time I've spent there (about 5 months all told).

I've not had any experience with the HSBC account; it was just the first one that came up in Google.

[stevenjhepburn]

davepoth said:

Withdrawls in the USA are never free. At least I've never seen a free ATM in all the time I've spent there (about 5 months all told).

My fiancée has a US account and withdrawals are free from her bank's ATMs or those within her bank's network.

[davepoth]

stevenjhepburn said:

My fiancée has a US account and withdrawals are free from her bank's ATMs or those within her bank's network.

That's probably the best you'll hope for; I went for an account that didn't have a monthly charge but did have withdrawl fees, and certainly every ATM I used with that card and my UK debit card had a charge of somewhere between $1 and $2 for each transaction.

The US banking system is very fragmented - HSBC for example only have good penetration in the New York area - so you may be better off looking for a dedicated account from a US based bank rather than going for an international solution. That will I think still be dependent on being able to provide a Social Security number though, which may be problematic.

[megaphone]

The HSBC accounts are very flexible, you can have USD/GBP/EURO accounts all running next to each other with cards in each of the currencies, you can use the USD one in the US with no charges, or there may be a fee for cash withdrawals. Managing them online is a doodle.

HOWEVER. There are minimum criteria required to hold these accounts with underfunding fees, if you don't keep a good balance they charge you a monthly fee, so check the small print.

Also they're no longer tax free, unless you live outside the EU. You have to declare you are an expat or they take tax from any interest etc. They are not out of the clutches of the HMRC.

Edited by megaphone on Tuesday 6th August 08:35

Edited by megaphone on Tuesday 6th August 08:35

[Eric Mc]

UK domiciled tax residents were ALWAYS obliged by law to declare interest earned on foreign owned bank accounts.

[SLCZ3]

Ask any of the major banks for info on their links with Jersey/Guernsey, they will all have facilities/branches (international)there.
They will all have the facility to open US dollar accounts and provide international debit/cash/credit cards, some will have "free" accounts which will pay no inerest, which is useful for tax declaration(to HMRC).

[Lawrence5]

I bank with HSBC in Jersey and it's as easy as the UK..... suspect they will charge for USD accounts.

[KTF]

Why not get something like a Halifax Clarity credit card so you can just pull whatever currency you want from the ATM when you get there at the inter-bank rate?