Banking Questions

[runamonk]

Howdy All,

I am new here. I wish I had found this forum before I had moved to the UK and went through the whole visa process.

My wife and I had made some serious mistakes along the way. Anyhow after a long and expensive visa process we are married and I living in the UK.

I am still working for a US based company I have been with for the last 7 years and they are still paying money into my US bank account. Now accessing funds from this account can be a real hassle and expensive with all the additional charges because of international transaction fees and the like.

Now what I wanted to do was open a bank account here and have my paychecks direct deposited directly into my UK account instead of my US account but that is not doable.

So my question is how can I easily get money from the US to a UK bank account to help save on fees? Does anyone know of a good international bank where I could have the money direct deposited and still be accessible here in the UK without a ton of fees?

Thanks,

Ron

[jlms]

Try Citibank, they used to have a very good international service for individuals.

HSBC is cackling all the time about being the real international bank (I am sure you have seen their ads), test them! :-)

[runamonk]

I tried HSBC and had zero luck with them. I am already waiting to hear back from Citibank.

[Suenneil]

Originally Posted by runamonk

Howdy All,

I am new here. I wish I had found this forum before I had moved to the UK and went through the whole visa process.

My wife and I had made some serious mistakes along the way. Anyhow after a long and expensive visa process we are married and I living in the UK.

I am still working for a US based company I have been with for the last 7 years and they are still paying money into my US bank account. Now accessing funds from this account can be a real hassle and expensive with all the additional charges because of international transaction fees and the like.

Now what I wanted to do was open a bank account here and have my paychecks direct deposited directly into my UK account instead of my US account but that is not doable.

So my question is how can I easily get money from the US to a UK bank account to help save on fees? Does anyone know of a good international bank where I could have the money direct deposited and still be accessible here in the UK without a ton of fees?

Thanks,

Ron

Hi Ron

surely you could use a currency exchange company to move money from your USA account to a UK account ? the majority dont charge fees for transfers in or out and offer better rates of exchange to most banks, and once you have set up a "trading account" you can move it yourself online.

Lots of the big names are easy to find on the internet such as Hifx, Currencies Direct, Moneycorp and Im sure there are 100s of others.

Sue

[Bevdeforges]

In my experience, you're going to run into fees and a certain amount of hassle on any sort of transfer from the US to the UK (or between any two countries) - even if you're dealing with the same bank on both sides.

Why can't you have your paychecks direct deposited into a UK account? (Suspected answer: because then your employer would have to pay the transfer fees.) In any event, you shouldn't still be having US withholdings and social security taken out of your pay if you're now resident in the UK.

Technically you should be paid through your employer's UK office - with standard UK withholdings taken out. If you're working remotely, you may want to consider becoming a "contractor" and billing your US employer for your services (in sterling) so you can simply deposit payments directly into a UK bank. You would then be responsible for making your own payments in the UK for social insurances and taxes, etc.
Cheers,
Bev

[runamonk]

I haven't been, I've only recently started looking into it and trying to decide the best place to get a bank account here in the UK. I started looking for more information and found a place called xe That's as far as I've gotten so far into it. I need to do more research, I really appreciate the advice on that. I wasn't sure how many people actually used such services and how legitimate these services really are hehehe.

[runamonk]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

In my experience, you're going to run into fees and a certain amount of hassle on any sort of transfer from the US to the UK (or between any two countries) - even if you're dealing with the same bank on both sides.

Why can't you have your paychecks direct deposited into a UK account? (Suspected answer: because then your employer would have to pay the transfer fees.) In any event, you shouldn't still be having US withholdings and social security taken out of your pay if you're now resident in the UK.

Technically you should be paid through your employer's UK office - with standard UK withholdings taken out. If you're working remotely, you may want to consider becoming a "contractor" and billing your US employer for your services (in sterling) so you can simply deposit payments directly into a UK bank. You would then be responsible for making your own payments in the UK for social insurances and taxes, etc.
Cheers,
Bev

Okay let me explain. My office is a US based company, they are not in the UK in any form or fashion. They cannot pay me through direct deposit into a UK based account since the UK and the US don't share routing information. It would need to be done through IBAN or Swift and my office doesn't currently support that.

About the taxes, I am currently working as a contractor for them so no I am not having any withholdings of any sort taken out of my expenses. I've already looked into this portion of it, so long as I make under a certain amount in USD I won't have to pay any taxes in the US. I will still need to submit taxes but I shouldn't need to pay any there.

I have already registered as a contractor/self employed here so I am good to go on that front.

I'll probably end up having to use a company to transfer money back and forth, I still have bills in the USA and I pay them all online through my bank there. So having money in that account is essential.

[Suenneil]

Originally Posted by runamonk

I haven't been, I've only recently started looking into it and trying to decide the best place to get a bank account here in the UK. I started looking for more information and found a place called xe That's as far as I've gotten so far into it. I need to do more research, I really appreciate the advice on that. I wasn't sure how many people actually used such services and how legitimate these services really are hehehe.

Hi Ron ... Im sure you can do some research with a few of the currency exchange companies and get a better idea yourself of how it works, and what the savings / costs may be .... I have used them previously and it really is pretty simple to organise .... as a starting point Id give one or two of them a call or email, we have a lot of overseas clients who use them all the time, particularly if they are living in one Country and have properties / committments in another.

Sue

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by runamonk

I have already registered as a contractor/self employed here so I am good to go on that front.

I'll probably end up having to use a company to transfer money back and forth, I still have bills in the USA and I pay them all online through my bank there. So having money in that account is essential.

You know, if you're being paid as a contractor, you also are entitled to deduct your business expenses from your income (and actually should be getting paid somewhat more than "just an employee" to cover taxes and withholdings, plus added office expenses).

For reporting purposes (and also for UK taxes) you may want to look into deducting those transfer fees as a business expense. It should save you a bit on your UK taxes at least. Not sure, but you might also ask at the exchange companies if there would be any benefit to having a business account with them rather than a regular individual account.
Cheers,
Bev

[runamonk]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

You know, if you're being paid as a contractor, you also are entitled to deduct your business expenses from your income (and actually should be getting paid somewhat more than "just an employee" to cover taxes and withholdings, plus added office expenses).

For reporting purposes (and also for UK taxes) you may want to look into deducting those transfer fees as a business expense. It should save you a bit on your UK taxes at least. Not sure, but you might also ask at the exchange companies if there would be any benefit to having a business account with them rather than a regular individual account.
Cheers,
Bev

Yep yep, I just recently spoke with an accountant about these types of things. I will be able to deduct quite a few things, my mobile broadband, phone etc.