Show Me The Money!

So, I’m happy to announce that I just received my HSBC card! Yessss! I think I willed it into being since I’ve been thinking positive thoughts for 20+ days now. In any case, I have run into the issue of transferring money from my Bank of America account into my HSBC Passport account. I have deposited a large amount of money from US Loan Checks directly into my HSBC account (at a $1.61 exchange rate… only a couple of cents higher than the actual; not bad) but since that takes up to six weeks to clear, I need some cash to be thrown in there ASAP. Now, the most obvious option would be the direct wire transfer from B of A to HSBC. BofA allows account holders to wire money online now, so it makes it super easy, but they offer two plans of attack:

1) Transfer ‘x’ amount of dollars from the US into the UK and allow the UK branch to exchange the money at their exchange rate on the given day of receipt

or

2) Transfer ‘x’ amount of pounds sterling from the US into the UK account at the exchange rate provided by Bank of America on the given day (today the exchange rate is $1.589 but BofA is having me change my money at $1.668!!)

I spoke with the guy at HSBC and he said that the latter option seemed to be the most viable since (theoretically) HSBC can make the exchange rate whatever they want at the time of receipt — for example, although the exchange rate at this moment in time is $1.589, HSBC’s exchange rate might be $1.63 and Bank of America’s might be $1.61 — the $1.589 is a base but not a given… banks have the flexibility to set their own rates based on the market. For peace of mind, he said that exchanging it at a higher rate that you are sure of might be better than depositing the money and just hoping for the best! This seems like a logical idea, but BofA’s pricing is extraordinarily high. Like I mentioned — though the exchange rate is $1.589 right now, BofA is going to exchange my money at $1.668! That’s such a rip-off it’s asinine. For people that aren’t obsessive about following the rate of exchange every second of the day, this might seem okay, but I guarantee you it’s not. So, that being said — I don’t like either option. They both seem shitty to me and I feel like either way, I’m losing money that should be mine.

So here’s my shady, alternative plan of attack: Since Barclay’s and Bank of America are sister banks, I can pop into a Barclay’s branch and take out 200 GBP at the exact exchange rate at that moment in time without incurring international fees or bank transaction fees. Soooo… I might make a few runs to Barclay’s over a week or so and take the cash from Barclay’s and run it over to HSBC and deposit the cash in my account. Obviously more work than the direct transfer, but at least I’m not being charged a $45 wire fee + an exchange rate that I’m not comfortable with.

Anyone else have ideas on how to work the system?

It’s All Coming Together: Bank Accounts & Gym Memberships

Today has been my practical day, more or less. I started off the morning with a jaunt down to my local HSBC bank branch. Fortunately, HSBCs are scattered about London so they’re easy to find — this one was about five minutes walking from my flat. I was able to open a passport account in about fifteen minutes!

What to take into the branch with you:

– Passport or National ID Card
– Non-UK address Verification (Drivers License, Overseas Bank Statement, etc.)

I filled out the application form online through HSBC’s website and only had to provide those two items. If you haven’t applied online, you’d probably be better equipped by bringing in an LSE acceptance letter or verification of student status. My bank card will be arriving within 8 or so days, but I have been provided with all of the necessary account information to sign up for direct debits!

After hitting up HSBC, I decided to check out the Sainsbury’s down the way to load up on some groceries. After perusing the aisles (and finding that I was pretty satisfied with their selection of vegetarian and healthy foods), I left with a pack of Activia, a large container of soup, a bag of apples, a bag of carrots, a huge container of off-brand Splenda and a container of chickpea salad. All in all (after purchasing store brand versus name brand), I left just £8 lighter.

Post-groceries, I decided that the time came to check out Oasis Sports Centre, a gym that sits thirty seconds away from my flat (on the corner of Endell and High Holborn). After sitting down with a sales associate, I snagged a student membership for £22.50 a month with no contract required. The monthly cost includes unlimited access to cardio and weight equipment, access to the group exercise classes and unlimited pool time. For an additional fee, I can also use the sauna or the squash courts! I was able to pay for October (and the rest of September) in cash and set up a direct debit with my newly minted HSBC account.

What you need to sign up at Oasis:

– Bank account information (Sort Number and Account Number)
– Student ID card or Acceptance Letter
– Payment for first month (cash or card)

It took me roughly thirty minutes to set up the account, take a tour of the gym and schedule an induction (tomorrow at 7AM!) The gym isn’t huge but it definitely has a sufficient amount of equipment to satisfy my workout needs. If you sign up, you’ll be given an access card immediately; an induction has to be done first before you can actually use the facilities!

It’s not even 3P here and I feel fairly accomplished. I think I’m going to take a jaunt down to the LSE area again to check out the campus and visit the Royal Courts of Justice. I’ll be headed out with some fellow early arrivers tonight at the Great Queen’s Street pub for some bonding time!

Lots of love,

UPDATE: Bank of America Situation.

Quick update for fellow Bank of America customers!

I called their customer service (again!) and had a heart-to-heart with an associate to find out any way that I could get out of the fee situation. Here’s what I ascertained from the conversation:

CampusEdge Checking: I asked if I could revert to the CampusEdge checking to do away with fees. This is a no-go. The CampusEdge account is good for five years max, at which point you gain a normal checking account. Once you’ve racked up five years on that account, there’s no going back. If you’re of a B of A customer that hasn’t had their CampusEdge checking for five years, this would be something to look into!

Direct Deposit: After September 30th, I won’t have any more paychecks being deposited into my account (sad…), so I wanted to find out if there were any other deposits that qualified as direct deposits. Yes — there are a number of items that qualify. If you have any monthly income that’s electronically transferred into your account on a monthly basis, the fee is waived. Aside from paychecks (which people our age will normally consider), there are things like social security income, pension, child support, alimony, veteran’s benefits, etc. So, for me this doesn’t mean anything because I’m not a veteran, I’m not collecting a pension or social security and (fortunately) I don’t have an ex-husband/baby daddy to deposit money into my account monthly. If you happen to be collecting alimony/child support, though, this could work for you!

Notice for Cancellation: Since I hate fees with a passion, if I end up cancelling my account, I don’t want to incur a single dollar in fees. I asked what kind of notice they need to close down a checking account. The answer? A mere 48 hours once there’s a balance of $0 and your account can be closed. You don’t need 30 days notice or anything crazy. You probably have to sign some legal documentation though, so check with your local B of A branch.

After giving it some thought, I think I may keep $2000 in my checking account to keep it open and active. Like I had mentioned earlier, Bank of America counts Barclay’s & Deutsche Bank as sister banks, which means that a withdrawal at any of those cashpoints can be done without incurring a single cent in transaction fees. You get the money at the exchange rate at that given moment in time. It’s really quite nice (and a reason that I love B of A). Traditionally, I would probably transfer all of my money to the UK as to not deal with exchange rate fluctuations (who really wants to think about that?), but after reading a lot of forex literature, it seems as though the exchange rate will actually be going down. If that’s the case, I will probably like keeping some money in USD so it can work for me. If I start to see that the exchange rate is going up (and the USD is weakening) then I’ll just withdraw all of my money, put it into my HSBC account and cancel my Bank of America checking.

Stupid exchange rates.

Bank Blahs {B of A Customers, Check It}.

Whilst daydreaming yesterday, a thought interrupted my British fantasies: I had not yet contacted Bank of America to discuss my moving abroad/not having money in my American account situation. When I called, I spoke with a super helpful gentleman who gave the me the lowdown on my account come September:

A savings account can stay active (without fees) as long as there is $300 or more in the account.
A checking account only needs $2 a month to stay active and will not incur fees as long as the account is the recipient of direct deposit.

The checking is where I’m now having an issue. Obviously keeping $2 in there is no big deal, but the direct deposit? That’s an issue. I have had direct deposit through my company for the last four years, but now that I’m moving abroad there are no paychecks, pension money, Social Security and Supplemental Income (SSI) benefits, or other regular monthly income headed into my account. Without direct deposit, checking accounts are subject to an $8.95 – $9.95 monthly fee, unless you keep a minimum of $1500 in the account. I’m not really okay with that, to be honest.

Since this situation has arisen, I have opted to keep my savings account open in the US, but after transferring my money to my new UK HSBC Passport Account, I will likely close my US checking account. There’s no benefit to paying the $8.95 fee for a year (which adds up to $107.40 in just 12 months!)  since I won’t actually be using the account. Sure, I am familiar with B of A and they have always been super helpful, but these fees aren’t going to cut it. I really liked the fact that B o fA counts Barclay’s and Deutsche Bank as its sister banks and reduces my international charges, so I’m hoping that HSBC will have something similar. Alternatively, I may just keep $1500 in my checking for a while and use my US Visa Debit card at Deutsche Bank & Barclay’s cashpoints while I’m overseas; if the exchange rate goes up, though, that money’s coming out — I really don’t want to have to deal with/worry about exchange rate fluctuation! I’m going to pop into a branch and interrogate one of the associates to find out if there are any other deposits that can qualify as direct deposit and thusly remove the monthly fee. Also, I had noticed that the CampusEdge checking account (which I used to have) has no fees — regardless of how much money is in the account or the direct deposit situation. The account was created especially for high school and college students and after five years you are administratively enrolled in a normal checking (as I was when I hit 21), where fees can be incurred. I’m going to also see if they can re-enroll me in that account while I’m pursuing graduate-level education so I can continue to bank with them. If not, so long Bank of America. It was nice doing business with you!

Bank Account Update <3.

Dear my soon-to-be-Londoner friends and everyone else who is moving abroad looking for bank account information,

I just got a letter from HSBC regarding my HSBC Passport account! Although I researched every UK bankunder the sun and I’m sure there are loads of other banks that are awesome, HSBC has been a total gem! I applied online a couple of weeks back, filled out a fairly basic questionnaire including my country of origin, why I would be living in the UK and the institution that I will be enrolled at in the coming year, and submitted the initial packet online. Some A lot of banks don’t offer the online application portion, therefore instead of one trip to simply verify identity, it takes a number of trips to the bank to actually start up an account, verify identification, etc (boooooo); big hassle all around. So, for anyone still contemplating an HSBC account, here’s what’s left in the process for me:

I have to visit an ACTUAL branch once I get to London and provide one piece of identification and one piece of address verification.

The Basic ID can be in the form of a valid passport (which all international students should have!) or a valid National Identity Card.

The address verification can be one of a million things:

– Driver’s License (with address, signature & photo)
– Letter from UK Home Office confirming right to work in the UK
– Valid National Identity Card
– Overseas bank or credit union statement
– Letter from UK employer on official letterhead (non-students)
– Letter from UK uni dated within the last four months
– Overseas gas or electricity bill dated within the last four months
– Overseas telephone bill dated within the last four months (mobile phones don’t count!)

I’ll have my passport & California ID on me anyway, so all I have to do is pop into the HSBC branch near me, at 210 High Holborn (find your closest branch here), show them my letter and the two pieces of ID and they will activate my bank account and complimentary savings account, issue me a VISA Debit Card and a SIM card with 10 GBP pre-loaded! Sweet. And super easy!

Download the HSBC Passport brochure and check it out <3.

Such a relief. One worry down, two to go: still waiting to start (and finish!) the student visa process and currently looking into the best cell phone plans for internationals.

Wish me luck!