What are the best foreign banks for US citizens to put money into?
January 25, 2025 10:22 AM Subscribe
What foreign banks, without branches, offices, or holdings in the United States, accept deposits from US citizen non-residents? Preferably online, but in-person is also welcome.
The more willing the bank is to take *small* amounts - I don't have like, Cayman Islands amounts of money - the better.
The more willing the bank is to take *small* amounts - I don't have like, Cayman Islands amounts of money - the better.
Bison Bank in Portugal will do it, although they may have minimums. They are primarily an investment bank, however. NovoBanco and Millennium will also do it, but people don't really like NovoBanco much (pain in the ass with paperwork).
...do remember that you will need to file with FinCEN unless we're talking about really small sums, and if you are moving this money from a US bank then your US bank will absolutely rat you out to FinCEN (who will then notice if you subsequently fail to file). Having said that, the filing is quite easy to do so there's no reason not to file unless you're doing illegal things with the money.
posted by aramaic at 12:41 PM on January 25 [3 favorites]
...do remember that you will need to file with FinCEN unless we're talking about really small sums, and if you are moving this money from a US bank then your US bank will absolutely rat you out to FinCEN (who will then notice if you subsequently fail to file). Having said that, the filing is quite easy to do so there's no reason not to file unless you're doing illegal things with the money.
posted by aramaic at 12:41 PM on January 25 [3 favorites]
N26.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:58 PM on January 25
posted by DarlingBri at 12:58 PM on January 25
(You will also have to report yearly on your taxes if the sum is over (I believe) $10K. That's not a reason not to do it, but best to keep it in mind.)
posted by praemunire at 1:16 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 1:16 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]
if you are moving this money from a US bank then your US bank will absolutely rat you out to FinCEN
I am not a great source on this but to the (limited) extent of my knowledge it doesn't matter if you're depositing money as a transfer from a US bank versus some different way: FACTA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) means that if you're a "US person", such as a citizen, then most foreign financial institutions still need to report your account information either directly to the IRS or to the other country's tax authority, which is then supposed to report it to the IRS. (You can find the per-country details here.) That's separate from your own responsibility to file an FBAR if you've got over $10,000 outside of the US, regardless of how many accounts that's spread out over.
posted by trig at 2:07 PM on January 25 [4 favorites]
I am not a great source on this but to the (limited) extent of my knowledge it doesn't matter if you're depositing money as a transfer from a US bank versus some different way: FACTA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) means that if you're a "US person", such as a citizen, then most foreign financial institutions still need to report your account information either directly to the IRS or to the other country's tax authority, which is then supposed to report it to the IRS. (You can find the per-country details here.) That's separate from your own responsibility to file an FBAR if you've got over $10,000 outside of the US, regardless of how many accounts that's spread out over.
posted by trig at 2:07 PM on January 25 [4 favorites]
The Royal Bank of Canada has a US subsidiary called RBC Bank, so if you want a bank without offices or holdings in the US, Royal Bank of Canada is not the bank for you (all the major Canadian banks will have some kind of presence in the US, but RBC probably has the largest US presence).
posted by ssg at 2:52 PM on January 25
posted by ssg at 2:52 PM on January 25
If this is to support a digital nomad-type life, transferwise (now just wise) is not too terrible an option. They're basically a web front for back-end banks for each currency. I used to use it more before they started changing their fees a bit too often.
posted by dum spiro spero at 4:42 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
posted by dum spiro spero at 4:42 PM on January 25 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: The intention is to keep it under 10K. To clarify, the intention isn’t to avoid US taxes or do illegal things with the money, so much as to park small sums of money in an emergency bolt hole in case stuff went seriously south in the US.
posted by corb at 7:00 PM on January 25
posted by corb at 7:00 PM on January 25
I’ve checked, and Bison has a $25K minimum, my apologies for that.
Note also that N26 will not accept US clients (they closed the accounts of all US persons).
If you’re willing to accept restricted access to funds and no interest at all, Swiss banks still accept safe deposit box customers at varying prices (iirc, 500CHF/yr rental fee for the smallest box).
A person of Indian origin (ie., able to get an OCI card) could open an account in India (with, tbh, the usual hassles of doing anything in India, so for example an in-person visit might be required)
posted by aramaic at 7:53 PM on January 25
Note also that N26 will not accept US clients (they closed the accounts of all US persons).
If you’re willing to accept restricted access to funds and no interest at all, Swiss banks still accept safe deposit box customers at varying prices (iirc, 500CHF/yr rental fee for the smallest box).
A person of Indian origin (ie., able to get an OCI card) could open an account in India (with, tbh, the usual hassles of doing anything in India, so for example an in-person visit might be required)
posted by aramaic at 7:53 PM on January 25
Many non US banks refuse to open accounts for US persons to avoid various reporting requirements to the US. A lot of the ones that will accept US persons have a presence in the US. So I have no specific recommendations- the two Swiss banks my US expat colleagues can bank with are UBS which has a US footprint and a cantonal bank that requires people to be residents. This is just background as to why this is so difficult to find.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:43 AM on January 26 [1 favorite]
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:43 AM on January 26 [1 favorite]
+1 to aramaic's comment on Portuguese banks. I did this myself a couple of years ago with Millennium BCP.
You may need to do some digging to see if either of these banks truly satisfies your "zero US presence" requirement.
A few cautions:
- Opening an account remotely without a local representative is difficult or impossible. I used https://bordr.com/ to facilitate this process. This costs $350 and took about 3 weeks.
- You will need a Portuguese tax number (NIF) which you can get via Bordr as well, also for a fee
- Monthly fees are high compared to US banks and may be charged both per-month and per-transaction
- Are you sensing a theme here? You'll pay a lot in both one-time and recurring costs for your under-$10K deposit.
- I have heard, but not personally verified, that scrutiny of accounts held by non-residents is increasing leading to longer processing times and requests for additional documentation (e.g., regarding your source of income).
posted by 4rtemis at 5:02 AM on January 26 [1 favorite]
You may need to do some digging to see if either of these banks truly satisfies your "zero US presence" requirement.
A few cautions:
- Opening an account remotely without a local representative is difficult or impossible. I used https://bordr.com/ to facilitate this process. This costs $350 and took about 3 weeks.
- You will need a Portuguese tax number (NIF) which you can get via Bordr as well, also for a fee
- Monthly fees are high compared to US banks and may be charged both per-month and per-transaction
- Are you sensing a theme here? You'll pay a lot in both one-time and recurring costs for your under-$10K deposit.
- I have heard, but not personally verified, that scrutiny of accounts held by non-residents is increasing leading to longer processing times and requests for additional documentation (e.g., regarding your source of income).
posted by 4rtemis at 5:02 AM on January 26 [1 favorite]
Clearly one should consult with legal counsel before opening an offshore account. In general terms, the more stable the political and economic environment, the more secure the investment in that country. Switzerland, Luxembourg, Gibraltar and other European jurisdictions are considered safe.
posted by mond50 at 2:08 AM on January 31
posted by mond50 at 2:08 AM on January 31
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There are no branches here, but I do all my banking online.
I was formerly at United Bank of Switzerland. Very easy online interface, but they do have some branches and "Bancomats"
posted by mmf at 12:36 PM on January 25 [2 favorites]