Banking Overseas

[DangerMouse]

I would stick with using your ATM card as that is what we do.

However, I doubt if the US authorities are going to get excited over you transferring money out of country. I recently sent $100k to my account in Australia and there was no question asked, nor was it delayed.

[wcv56]

Citi debit card from their brokerage service.
No fee and exchange rate I believe it is about .2% from bank to bank rate
(preferred customer). Used in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Central America. Can walk in most banks and get $50K instantly if they have it on hand.

[megacorp-firee]

Thanks all for your insights. This has been very helpful.

[Freein05]

We travel in Europe a lot and opened and funded an account in a German bank. Most large foreign banks will allow this. You will have to have all of the proper documentation so they know who you are. It is so nice to travel in Euro land and not have to pay exchange rates or pay with a VISA or MC and pay both exchange rates and foreign transaction fees. We funded it when you got less than one Euro for a dollar and now have a big advantage when we go to Europe with the current exchange rate. If you travel a lot in a foreign country it is great to have an account in that country. This is especially true for Europe. I have a Citibank account and Citibank has a lot of branches in Europe but they are hard to find and are mainly in major cities. If your Citi account is in US dollars you still have to pay exchange rates. With so many countries using the Euro a bank account in any of those countries means you never have to exchange money.

The $10,000 limit people are referring to comes under the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti Money Laundering banking regulations. The $10,000 is used for cash only so checks and transfers made are not reported. The reason for this is you have left a paper trail by writing a check. But under the USA Pat Act banks are required to report any suspicious activity. So if you regularly send money to your account in Dubai big brother may be watching!