Moving from the US to Germany. How do I transfer my money to my new German bank account?
October 22, 2011 10:15 AM

I am moving from the US to Germany in two weeks. How should I plan transferring (most of) the money in my US checking account to the bank account that I will setup in Germany? More info follows...

I have an account with Bank of America in the US. I am not yet sure which German bank I will be banking with.

Should I take enough money with me to Germany to deposit in a new account and then have BofA wire-transfer the rest?
posted by hellhammer to Work & Money (7 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
That's what I did last fall, but they (Deutsche Bank) turned out not to need the initial deposit. I was able to get an account set up with a zero balance and then wire in money from the US.
posted by pete_22 at 10:32 AM on October 22, 2011


Thanks, Pete! How long did that transfer take?
posted by hellhammer at 10:33 AM on October 22, 2011


Deutsche Bank and BOA have a reciprocal relationship: you can use yr BOA ATM card to withdraw money from a DB machine in euros from yr BOA account, with no fee at all. That's right, no fee, it feels like cheating. There will be a percentage charge on the wire transfer.
posted by ennui.bz at 11:18 AM on October 22, 2011


The transfer itself took two or three business days, but I may have had to wait a few days first to get some paperwork in the mail...
posted by pete_22 at 11:28 AM on October 22, 2011


Once you have your German account, consider using XE Trade for amounts over $2000, you might get a better exchange rate/lower fees than your bank offers.
posted by jetsetlag at 11:51 AM on October 22, 2011


Deutsche Bank has offices in the US. Check with them. You might be able to just set up an account here, then the money will be available from the same bank there.
posted by eye of newt at 4:08 PM on October 22, 2011


Your fees are outlined here:
BofA FAQ California
it's $45 for USD, $35 for euro (plus the conversion %age, you may get a better rate from DB)
Most of my wire transfers have been 24 hours or less.

Good luck with the move!
posted by defcom1 at 6:40 AM on October 24, 2011


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