Help my friend with the traveling jewelry saleswoman problem

July 12, 2010 6:09 AM

Help a traveling jewelry saleswoman do her banking abroad

Question for a friend. The answer is probably obvious, but here you go.
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i'm a dual US/EU citizen who sells jewelry and craft items at fairs all over the US and Europe. most of my income is cash. (yes, i pay taxes on it.)

i'm a resident for tax purposes in the US and paying taxes on my income there. i need to be able to deposit cash wherever I am(in euros, dollars, pounds) so I don't have to carry it around with me.

posted by alternateuniverse to work & money (5 answers total)

Citibank UK/US
Yes, horrible company, but you can:

Open a dollar account in the US
Open a Euro, Pound and Dollar account in the UK. (Might work in mainland too, but I dunno.)

You can then move money between those 3 currencies in the UK banks, and then move instantly dollars to the US account.

Pair it with a few more ubiquitous local banks and use the EU wiring system (FREE!), and you're set.
posted by Lord_Pall at 6:41 AM on July 12, 2010

I am not your or her lawyer, and this is not tax or legal advice--but your friend should make sure she consults an accountant or a lawyer regarding the "FBAR" rules for U.S. persons who own or control foreign bank accounts. The IRS page is here. I don't know whether these rules would apply in her case, but she should confirm either way.

Again, not tax or legal advice, and I am not your or her lawyer.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 6:47 AM on July 12, 2010

Lord_Pall... what would the ubiquitous local banks be? If she's in Germany and has a bunch of euros, can she deposit into a local German Citibank and have it go to her UK bank? The issue is walking around with a wad of cash, safety, etc.
posted by alternateuniverse at 7:13 AM on July 12, 2010

HSBC has accounts that cater to this exact scenario. If she has $100K USD or more, she can set up a Premier account in several countries (Just need to keep a combined $100K USD amongst all accounts). Transferring to other accounts does not incur any extra fees other than the normal exchange rate, which technically isn't a fee.

I think you can do the same thing with their regular accounts, but will incur fees to transfer funds to other countries.

I have accounts in Australia, US and UK and it has been seamless and easy to move monies around and deposit as needed in each country. You can see a list of countries here.
posted by qwip at 9:57 AM on July 12, 2010

So I passed this on to her (she's staying with me for a bit), and she called HSBC. Unfortunately, this only works if they have active branches in the countries and you can open an account there. But if you're traveling through France for a week, make 2000 euro and don't want to carry it around, you're out of luck. There's no way to deposit money in France unless you live in France.

Does any bank do this?
posted by alternateuniverse at 12:27 PM on July 12, 2010