Opening a US bank account

Mr. K

I'm opening a US bank account in the next few days, but I'm not sure which one to go with? I'm in New York and Chase seems to have the most branches.

I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations, in terms of the services each bank offers and how good they are to deal with?

muff03

I find Chase to be very good, very helpful and like you said, they have branches on nearly every corner. Plus their mobile app is fantastic. Just be careful as to what type of account you open, they'll explain this to you when you go in but some accounts have a fee per month if you don't have enough lodged.

Also, you need proof of address, passport or other ID (I brought two types) and SSN.

silja

I heard good things about Chase and bad things about Bank of America.
In general, I find regional banks give better customer service and are more willing to be flexible to your personal circumstances, so unless you plan to travel around a lot I would go with a regional bank.

crapmanjoe

Mr. K wrote: »

I'm opening a US bank account in the next few days, but I'm not sure which one to go with? I'm in New York and Chase seems to have the most branches.

I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations, in terms of the services each bank offers and how good they are to deal with?

I would definitely go with Chase as they the largest bank in New York. ATM withdrawls at banks that you dont bank with generally cost 4.50 so its very important to use some one with convenient branches.

iusedtoknow

I've had nothing but good experiences with BOA but Chase have a great reputation as well.

Most of your day to day stuff will be done online, but the more branches you have around the better

InTheTrees

I had BofA for years but finally dumped them last year and went for a local non profit community bank.

Consider it if you can because local banks have exactly the same FDIC insurance as the big banks but you'll get a far more personal service and if you pick a non-profit (there're all over the place), the deal/interest you get charged can be a lot less than the big boys.

There's also the service, etc.

Just a thought.

lil_lisa

It really depends on the services you need. When I was opening an account I went with Chase because they offered free banking. Some banks charge you for certain accounts if you don't keep a minimum in them. I also chose Chase because they were everywhere and I didn't want to have to pay ridiculous fees to take money out all the time.

However, I'm now leaning more towards InTheTrees way. I barely need or have cash on me. Everywhere and almost everyone (now with this Square app) take card so the odd time when I do have to take cash out at the last minute, I usually get stuck paying those fees anyway :P

Ponster

I went with Capital One and they seem fairly decent. As the others have said, if you're just looking for a basic checking account then go with the one that offers the lowest fees or zero if you keep your account about a certain limit ($750 for me) and one that has convenient ATM locations.
I think most banks have a decent banking app for mobile banking. Some offer extra features such as the ability to deposit a check by taking a photo of it with your phone.

A lot of friends have recommended Charles Schwab Bank. It'll be online banking only but they offer free money transfers to banks in Europe which may be useful for some.

jjbrien

Citi are also quite good my wife is a US Citizen and uses them all she has to do is either do one direct deposit a month (just getting your paycheck paid in) or do a bill payment and she gets her account for free. We are moving over to the US sometime this year when my greencard is settled and we should be set. Citi v chase id go with citi as they are not confined to NYC they are all over the US

EyeSight

i find chase are great. simple online services(way easier than in ireland), they have so many branches and they're packed with staff so you never have to wait and they usually take you to their office rather than the bank teller.
and they have chase ATMs in every duane reade, which is a "pharmacy" which is only almost every street corner in new york (remember that you get charged for using another banks atm over there)

Aprilmay

We bank with Wells Fargo, I can't say anything bad about them they have been great. There are lots of ATMs but saying that we are living in the south and their HQ is based here.

ProudDUB

I'm with Wells Fargo too and I really like them, but I don't think that there are Well Fargo banks in the north east. At least there weren't any in Boston when I was looking for one a couple of years ago.

OP, while the smaller banks are more personable from a one on one point of view, they can be prone to being gobbled up by the bigger ones. When I first moved to the US, I banked with First Union, then that was taken over by Suntrust, then it was taken over by Wachovia, then it was taken over by Wells Fargo, who I'm with now. My money was perfectly safe while all this happened, but I had to get new checks & debit cards at each new switch over and change several direct debits. That was a bit of a pain. As one of the take overs took place while I was on an extended holiday in Ireland, not having plastic that worked was a major hassle. There's not much chance of Bank of America or Chase being taken over by any one any time soon I don't think.

Aprilmay

ProudDUB wrote: »

I'm with Wells Fargo too and I really like them, but I don't think that there are Well Fargo banks in the north east. At least there weren't any in Boston when I was looking for one a couple of years ago.

OP, while the smaller banks are more personable from a one on one point of view, they can be prone to being gobbled up by the bigger ones. When I first moved to the US, I banked with First Union, then that was taken over by Suntrust, then it was taken over by Wachovia, then it was taken over by Wells Fargo, who I'm with now. My money was perfectly safe while all this happened, but I had to get new checks & debit cards at each new switch over and change several direct debits. That was a bit of a pain. As one of the take overs took place while I was on an extended holiday in Ireland, not having plastic that worked was a major hassle. There's not much chance of Bank of America or Chase being taken over by any one any time soon I don't think.

There are I just checked because we used them in New York ourselves when we were there last and we were trying to avoid ATM charges. There probably more now in the North East because Wells Fargo bought out Wachovia branches.
Here are the locations.
https://www.wellsfargo.com/locator/search/?searchTxt=New+York+City%2C+NY&mlflg=Y&sgindex=2&chflg=N&bo=1&_bo=on&_wl=on&_os=on&_bdu=on&_adu=on&_ah=on&_sdb=on&_not=on&_fe=on&_ss=on

InTheTrees

ProudDUB wrote: »

OP, while the smaller banks are more personable from a one on one point of view, they can be prone to being gobbled up by the bigger ones.

But there are plenty that dont. And you'll be supporting your local community and economy instead of a wall street banker.

Plus you'll most likely get better rates. And service.

So on the off chance that they may at some point be taken over its worth it.

GenericName

I use Bank of Internet USA, https://www.bankofinternet.com/bofi. I had no credit history and was on just a regular B1 visa at the time, but they had the account setup in two days with minimum fuss. The card they provide is Visa Debit, looks hilarious.

It's an online bank so you deposit checks with your scanner etc. Love the convenience. You have a choice of earning interest on your balance or getting rewards on purchases. The best thing though, they refund all domestic ATM withdrawals, no matter who the other bank is.

Ally Bank is another online bank that are advertising heavily. They were a pain to get set up with tho as a foreigner.