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Looking for bank based in the US that would allow me to hold foreign currency in a checking or savings account [US] (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago by TonyOstrich@lemmy.world to c/personalfinance@lemmy.ml

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I am a US citizen living in the US (glass it from orbit please) and as the title implies I am wondering if it is possible to move my checking and savings account(s) to a bank that would allow that money to be converted and held as euros. From my research so far it does appear there are some banks that may be able to facilitate this (HSBC, Citi, Wells Fargo), but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with doing so?

In addition to recommendations or general thoughts about the bank(s) I should consider looking at I was also curious if:

Direct deposits in USD were possible and how they were handled in terms of converting them (does it happen automatically, or is it a manual action)?
Is it possible to use ACH debiting?

For whatever it's worth in case someone asks or wants to interject, most of my money is currently in my retirement accounts and not in my savings, I have an emergency fund and I won't be doing anything that might harm it.

Regardless of whether what I am asking is dumb or ill advised I am currently looking for information on how one might implement this if it is possible at all. Feel free to offer your opinion/take on it if you are also able to point me to resources on doing this or additional reading on the matter. If this is just straight up not possible in any capacity (my initial looking seems to indicate it is possible, but I could be wrong) then feel free to let me know that as well. If the only feedback that can be provided is to tell me how dumb it is, or ask why I would want to do this my reasons are my own, and I would kindly ask it be kept to one's self, but I obviously can't stop anyone if they don't.

Regardless, I very much appreciate your reading this far, and thank anyone for their replies in advanced.

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[–] mapiki@discuss.online 1 points 4 days ago

Wise has been mentioned and I would also recommend. HOWEVER, remember that money held by them isn't insured the same way as at a bank. For instance, I would put money in for long enough to have an auto transaction when an the interest rate is what I want to then send on to my French bank account but I wouldn't simply hold cash longer than necessary. Also useful if you get their debit card so you don't need to take out cash in different currencies on a trip. You can transfer the money within "accounts" on the app and then use debit card to draw from appropriate one. Fees have always looked fair when I did comparisons.

(Also note that US requires foreign bank accounts with holdings greater than $10,000 to be declared yearly around tax time.)

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 7 points 6 months ago (3 children)

I think wise may do this

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Seconded - it’s pretty trivial to set up a Wise account; I’ve already moved a small emergency fund there and converted it into euros

[–] TonyOstrich@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Are all conversions done manually, or can it be done automatically? Have you done any kind of direct deposit with your account?

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 months ago

I would advise you to look at their own documentation.

I haven’t linked it to direct deposit.

[–] mysteriousquote@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

Yep, I was going to say the same thing. Wise (formerly TransferWise) is a pretty big player in this space.

You get a bank account in each currency you want, and you can do transfers between currencies all within their service.

I use them to move money between USD and EUR for bills, and the service fees are reasonable.

[–] TonyOstrich@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Thank you. Do you have any experience with them? My initial reaction (not saying it's justified, just what it is) is concern about the fact that they are a fintech that is still relatively new in banking terms. Given the issues other fintechs have had and the general tech bro vibe around them I don't think it's entirely unreasonable to be weary of them, but I also know I can be overly cautious in my thinking with these things.

Regardless, the service appears to be exactly what I was thinking of so I will dig into them.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 1 points 6 months ago

I created an account with them, but haven't had a chance to use it quite yet, so I don't have any real experience with them as of now.

[–] JoeKrogan@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

Revolut allow you to have multiple currencies.

https://www.revolut.com/en-US/

It is very popular in the EU has a bankling licence and deposit guarantees.

[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 months ago

You should be able to do this through Schwab. They offer Forex trading and checking accounts with the ability to transfer funds between them. Their support reps are also the best (by far) that I've ever experienced with any financial company.