Are there any banks that are good to use worldwide or does it depend on which country you relocate to?

My pension is paid by the US Government but is done via direct deposit. It would be good to have a bank that I can set up the same kind of situation with once I figure out where I'm going to retire.

Due to the differences in banking regs from country to country, there really isn't any such thing as a truly "worldwide" bank. HSBC has a presence in lots of countries and, though their premium services (for which you need a certain minimum balance) can generally provide all sorts of support for transfers between countries and other useful information for expats.

In some countries (such as France), the US Consulate handles various government transfers of funds (like Social Security), making direct deposits at very favorable exchange rates for US citizens living in the country.
Cheers,
Bev

HSBC claims to be good and convenient in many countries, but I and my peers who have tried them have found even their premium services to be sub-par. Really, it's hard enough to be the best bank in one country (which HSBC certainly isn't in the UK) let alone dozens of countries. Citi is largely the same story; global branch network, but in practice not nearly as good as you'd hope. Brokerage model works best for my needs, and allows me flexibility to choose an institution in each country which best meets my needs in each country.

In my experience the most globally seamless financial institution for managing personal finances is a brokerage house, not a bank. My brokerage has offices in countries all over the world, 24 hour service, and will wire money to just about any bank account on earth, in any G10 currency, once a month (after the first wire, there is a small fee for each wire, but this fee is still much lower than what banks charge). For non-wire transfers, such as ACH in the US, there is never any fee and number of transactions is unlimited I believe.

So what I end up with is personal accounts with local banks in the different countries where I live/work/visit regularly (chosen for their offerings and service, they don't necessarily need to be big or international) and each of them is linked to my brokerage account. So this facilitates secure, easy and very low cost transfers between countries. Also I get direct access to the foreign exchange market via my brokerage account to manually convert currency, such that the bid/offer spread is typically 0.00005 wide on the major pairs (the true foreign exchange market, where you can see bids and offers in the millions being hit, and exchange rates moving constantly). Typical USD/EUR would look something like 1.30000-1.30005. Nothing like the 3% spreads you get at a retail bank.

Great info, thanks a lot. I'll check into the brokerage idea.

Just to clarify, there is one free wire transfer per month, to any bank account in any country. After the first wire transfer of the month, then there is a small fee each time you do it, mainly because they prefer you take out large lump sums rather than use your brokerage account like you would a checking account (loads of tiny transactions).

I'l let out my secret: Charles Schwab Bank.

No fees.

Incredible customer service. You don't listen to a recording. The reps are perfectly pleasant without being overbearing. I could swear that they are hiring college grads to answer the phones. They never try to sell you anything. They make helpful suggestions about using your account while traveling. ("Oh, you are calling from India... I see that's not on your travel list. Would you like me to add it, so that your card won't be inadvertently blocked due to a security alert?")

They not only don't charge ATM fees anywhere in the world, they also REFUND any foreign ATM fees with NO LIMIT (I've had $40+ per month refunded sometimes.)

The account is interest bearing (though it's quite low of course--0.25%). You can have your ATM withdrawal limit raised by calling them (I've withdrawn as much as $20k in a day.)

You get a huge overdraft line, no fee to use it, and--in my experience--no interest if you pay it back by the end of the month. (I can't find the interest rate exemption in their literature, but I used $6000 of this once to buy some extra merchandise that I had an immediate buyer for and didn't want to pull funds from other investments. I paid it back in under 10 days and no interest was due. It literally cost me nothing. Crazy.)

They send you prepaid mailers for paper checks--just drop in the mail, no postage necessary. Thave several processing facilities and in my experience they are processed in 48 hours from the mailing date.

Charles Schwab is a model customer service organization. I can't say enough good about them.

Online Checking Accounts: Online Investor Checking Accounts: Charles Schwab

No ATM fees. Get 0.25% variable APY.1 FDIC insured.
Earn 0.25% variable APY in an FDIC-insured checking account—plus no ATM fees, no minimums, and no monthly service charges.

Better yet, our free checking comes with a Schwab One® brokerage account with no minimum balance requirement or monthly service charges.

"Best checking account two years in a row"—Kiplinger's Personal Finance, December 2009

That sounds very very attractive. I've never heard of foreign ATM fees being reimbursed, that's excellent. Not to mention the other strong points you've raised. Will keep them in mind myself!

this has been a very informative read!! learned lots!!
thank you all,
cheers
nick

That is all great info. Do you happen to know how much they charge for wire transfers?

Thanks,

Anna

I never knew this info about Charles Schwab, good to know even if the expat thing doesn't pan out.