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US pay into UK bank account

I have an internship in the US. Is getting paid into my HSBC student bank account, or should I get a different bank account (as I will get paid in dollars)?

Reply 1

gandalfslipper

Is your student account US or U.K. based? I imagine being paid into a U.K. account you’ll have exchange or transfer fees from the final sum. Can you not open a US account to be paid into? Might be more beneficial whilst in the US. HSBC have US branches (or did) so they may be able to help?

Reply 2

normaw

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

Original post by etothepiiplusone

I have an internship in the US. Is getting paid into my HSBC student bank account, or should I get a different bank account (as I will get paid in dollars)?

This is a tricky one. I assume that you will be in the USA long enough to need to access your dollars to cover expenses, entertainment, etc. It might be worth contacting your US employer to ask how previous UK interns have managed their finances.

Opening a bank account in the USA without being a citizen or resident is tricky, but not impossible. Read this article:

https://www.monito.com/en/wiki/open-bank-account-us-even-without-proof-residency

At the end of your internship, you should be able to arrange a money transfer from your US bank account to your UK account. You will need the IBAN or SWIFT code (or both) for your UK account (ask your bank for these), and your cash will need to be converted from dollars to pounds to make the transfer. You bank should be able to do this but sometimes you get a better exchange rate using a specialist international money transfer company such as torfx.com, xe.com or moneycorp.com. I've used two of these when I lived overseas and the procedure is simple.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

@Sandtrooper might have some idea about how to approach this?

I know my mum (who does freelance work in the US, but is a US citizen) has a US bank account as well as a UK one because they can't (easily?) pay her into the UK bank account. So you quite possibly do need to look into opening a US bank account while you're there...

Reply 4

martin7

Original post by etothepiiplusone

I have an internship in the US. Is getting paid into my HSBC student bank account, or should I get a different bank account (as I will get paid in dollars)?

If you're going to be working in the US, it would make sense to have an account in the US to receive your salary and pay your day-to-day living costs (e.g. rent).

There will probably be some additional formalities as a foreigner without permanent resident status, but if you have a paid job you'll presumably have a social security number (or equivalent) -- the sort of things a bank will need to record.

You wouldn't want to be using a UK debit card, for example, for months on end in the US as it's likely work out costly in terms of foreign transaction fees.

I suspect your employer won't have processes in place to pay your salary into anything other than a normal US bank account.

Once you finish working in the US, you'd probably look to arrange a wire transfer to your UK account of what's in your account. You'd need to find out from HSBC what details the sending bank would need to have to make sure the proceeds reach the right place.