America in 4 days... and no bank card!!

kalasio201

Hi all,

As the title says, I am going to the US in 4 days for 3 months. I have my cash withdrawn from my bank account because my card has gone missing in the last 2 days. What would any of you experienced folk do? Do I just go carrying €2000 in cash until I find a bank over there (I won't have a permanent residence for 10 days) and set up an account? If so, with what bank? Some people have suggested getting some card from the An Post and lodge my cash there before I leave Ireland.

Any help here would be great, I'm starting to feel uneasy about this!!

Graham

Prepaid debit card ( An Post ) or USD travellers cheques if you can still get them.

MagicMarker

Graham wrote: »

Prepaid debit card ( An Post ) or USD travellers cheques if you can still get them.

Don't think travelers cheques are a thing anymore.

Graham

MagicMarker wrote: »

Don't think travelers cheques are a thing anymore.

I did suspect that, it's been a while since I used anything but cards.

InTheTrees

kalasio201 wrote: »

As the title says, I am going to the US in 4 days for 3 months. I have my cash withdrawn from my bank account because my card has gone missing in the last 2 days.

Why couldnt your bank give you another card? They can set up a blank one in a few minutes cant they?

Otherwise buy a pre-paid card. You can get them in US drug stores I'm pretty sure.

Graham

InTheTrees wrote: »

Why couldnt your bank give you another card? They can set up a blank one in a few minutes cant they?

You would be doing fairly well to get a new bank card in 1 - 2 weeks from an Irish bank.

ProudDUB

Why not just order a new card and have someone here post it on to you in the US when it arrives?

irishgeo

ProudDUB wrote: »

Why not just order a new card and have someone here post it on to you in the US when it arrives?

pretty sure it has to be activated in a cash machine here on its first use?

ProudDUB

Yes, but if the OP has some one that they trust, they could do that for him/her.

Graham

irishgeo wrote: »

pretty sure it has to be activated in a cash machine here on its first use?

And even when it is activated most Irish banks restrict foreign cash withdrawals to €1.87 per day (or some amount equally ridiculous). Handy for card transactions though (also subject to fairly arbitrary limits).

InTheTrees

Here's a link to info on pre paid VISA in the US. You go to a drug store and you buy a blank VISA card.

http://usa.visa.com/locators/get-a-card.jsp?filter=prepaid-card

michealsad

Do not buy an american pre paid card, you have to top up with cash up to 2K usd before a social security number is required or load the balance with another 'American' card.

Best thing to do buy a travel card from An post and put the cash on it there. Are you moving to USA or on a J1 , not sure a bank will open an account for temporary visitors

jaymcg91

Banks absolutely open accounts for J1ers.

InTheTrees

michealsad wrote: »

Do not buy an american pre paid card, you have to top up with cash up to 2K usd before a social security number is required or load the balance with another 'American' card.

Why?

Mars Bar

I used the An Post card last year and it was handy.

michealsad

jaymcg91 wrote: »

Banks absolutely open accounts for J1ers.

I didn't say they didn't. I said that they won't open accounts for visitors , it people coming into the country on an esta. They are allowed to open accounts for j1's.

jaymcg91

michealsad wrote: »

I didn't say they didn't. I said that they won't open accounts for visitors , it people coming into the country on an esta. They are allowed to open accounts for j1's.

And people have already said that certain banks absolutely will open accounts for people visiting. Just need to be intelligent and do research on which ones instead of spouting incorrect information .

Cushie Butterfield

irishgeo wrote: »

pretty sure it has to be activated in a cash machine here on its first use?

No, it can be activated anywhere in the world at an ATM displaying the Visa logo (I'm assuming it's a VisaDebit Card).

http://www.visa.com/atmlocator/index.jsp#%28page:home%29

michealsad

jaymcg91 wrote: »

And people have already said that certain banks absolutely will open accounts for people visiting. Just need to be intelligent and do research on which ones instead of spouting incorrect information .

Not sure why you are being rude ? There really wasn't a need for it . What makes you think everyone else is correct ? You don't need to question my intelligence either .

For example since the patriot act was signed into power in the United States it is now required to either have a social security number or a tax identification number to open a bank account there , so they can trace funds to combat terrorist financing and anti money laundering.

Unless you have been issued a visa , such as a J1 or are an American citizen you will not receive either .

Now banks can ( and some do ) take a risk based approach implementing these requirements however under most state laws. Which I am happy to go into more detail here... You have to provide evidence of your address through a utility bill or other various evidence ( again a risk based approach is applied here )

Now if you are visiting the USA it will be pretty difficult to obtain a document as such .

Now I am not saying US banks don't open accounts for people resident over seas , as they do but these (if US citizens ) then fall under another piece of legislation called FATCA. Again will be required to prove residency .

Plus banks are a commercial entity so most will decline opening an account for someone who is there for two weeks as there is no revenue there for them.

Now I could be wrong, I did check my facts , and was only trying to help :-)

Ps I worked in AML (anti money laundering compliance ) for two U.S. BANKS based in the USA. Not saying I'm write as there are always exceptions to laws as long as the bank can justify its risk based approach to implementing.

kalasio201

Thank you to all for your help here. I am going to get the An Post card on Monday morning. I am sure a print off of my balance on the card will be sufficient when showing officials how much money I have when entering the US? Thanks again

Mars Bar

Yeah I got the PO to print off a statement for me and that's what I used at border clearance.

kalasio201

Great, this thread has given me some peace of mind, thanks :-)

jaymcg91

michealsad wrote: »

Not sure why you are being rude ? There really wasn't a need for it . What makes you think everyone else is correct ? You don't need to question my intelligence either .

For example since the patriot act was signed into power in the United States it is now required to either have a social security number or a tax identification number to open a bank account there , so they can trace funds to combat terrorist financing and anti money laundering.

Unless you have been issued a visa , such as a J1 or are an American citizen you will not receive either .

Now banks can ( and some do ) take a risk based approach implementing these requirements however under most state laws. Which I am happy to go into more detail here... You have to provide evidence of your address through a utility bill or other various evidence ( again a risk based approach is applied here )

Now if you are visiting the USA it will be pretty difficult to obtain a document as such .

Now I am not saying US banks don't open accounts for people resident over seas , as they do but these (if US citizens ) then fall under another piece of legislation called FATCA. Again will be required to prove residency .

Plus banks are a commercial entity so most will decline opening an account for someone who is there for two weeks as there is no revenue there for them.

Now I could be wrong, I did check my facts , and was only trying to help :-)

Ps I worked in AML (anti money laundering compliance ) for two U.S. BANKS based in the USA. Not saying I'm write as there are always exceptions to laws as long as the bank can justify its risk based approach to implementing.

Sorry mate, I didn't mean to be a ****, must have read it at a bad moment!

I did just find this though, from TD Bank

As you're writing in from Asia and if you are a non-US resident at this time, in order to open an account with us, it will be required for you to visit us at a TD Bank Store location, during lobby hours. If you will be visiting U.S. in the near future, check out our Store locator for our hours and locations here: http://bit.ly/TDStores.

When you are ready to visit a Store, as a non-US resident you will need to bring two forms of identification with you. One form of ID must be a valid non-US Passport and the second form of valid ID you may select from the list below:

- Employment ID with Photo and Signature

- State Issued ID or Driver's License with Signature

- Foreign Driver's License with Photo

- US Employment Authorization card with Photo, Signature and Expiration Date

- College ID with Photo

- Alien Registration Card with Photo

- Permanent Resident Card with Photo

Please note; it is highly recommended to contact the TD Store you will be visiting to open the account in advance to confirm if any other information will be needed.

http://www.tdbank.com/tdhelps/#account-can-be-open-sitting-in-asia-by-online/v/40879265/

I'm looking to open up a US Dollar account myself so I'm optimistic! I'll definitely be paying a visit.

InTheTrees

jaymcg91 wrote: »

I did just find this though, from TD Bank

I'm looking to open up a US Dollar account myself so I'm optimistic! I'll definitely be paying a visit.

There's some interesting language on that web page. They dont refer to branches of the bank but "TD Bank Stores"(?).

The parent company TD Ameritrade is a stockbroker. My guess is that an "overseas account" is just for investments.

But I could be wrong.

jaymcg91

InTheTrees wrote: »

There's some interesting language on that web page. They dont refer to branches of the bank but "TD Bank Stores"(?).

The parent company TD Ameritrade is a stockbroker. My guess is that an "overseas account" is just for investments.

But I could be wrong.

I called them and they've said they're happy to open up a checking account for me. Because I don't have an SSN I have to go in store with all my ID when I'm over, and they'll open up and provide me with a Visa Debit card on the same day. A basic checking account is $5.99 per month. This is great news .