Opening A US Dollars Account

Whilst setting up my various utility and maintenance accounts for my new flat in Florida, it seemed quite clear that almost all of them would only accept payment from a US bank account or payment by US dollars cheque (check). Here in the UK, it's possible to pay for some utility accounts by credit card (even paying online) or by transferring funds from your bank account. This doesn't seem possible in the U.S.

I therefore needed to set up a US bank account. Whilst I believe this would be simple enough to do if you're actually out in Florida, it's not so straightfoward how to do it from the UK!

So what's the solution? I'd advise checking with your local bank in your home country to see if they can help - they may have branches in the U.S. I bank with HSBC in the UK, and they have a pretty large presence in the U.S.

As such, my local HSBC branch were able to help me set up a US bank account. I was sent various forms that I had to fill in and then submit to my branch...and then simply wait for the account to be set up. In fact, the whole process was much simpler than I was expecting.

A few things to note, however:

• I believe you can specify a US branch - this hopefully means you can specify a branch close to your property! If not, you may a general branch (e.g. based in New York state, as mine is) which can be reached by telephone banking, 24 hours a day. If you have Internet banking, a local branch may also not be that important.
• You may have to pay a fee to your bank for setting up a US bank account.
• You will definitely have to pay to get a cheque (check) book on the US account. I didn't know this (I don't pay for this in the UK!) and waited a good few weeks for my cheque book to come through, not realising they weren't sending it to me because I didn't have any money in my account (and therefore couldn't pay for the book). Except I didn't have any money in my account because I was waiting for the cheque book to reach me first!
• The easiest account to set up is the most basic - a current account. You'll probably be able to get a debit card for this type of account, though, which might be useful!

If your home bank can't help, I'd advise to set up an account the next time you're in the U.S. Other banks in the UK may be able to set up an account for you, but are likely to have restrictions - e.g. Citibank in the UK can open up a US current account for you, but you'll either need to be an existing customer, or maintain a monthly balance of £2,000 in the account - otherwise you'll have to pay monthly fees.