Banking - an easy way to open a USD account in the US? (13)
Banking - an easy way to open a USD account in the US?
Hi. I am signing up to Stripe to receive payments on a trading training product I am making. They only allow USD payouts to a USD bank located on US soil. That is, if I try to withdraw from Stripe to a USD account in London they won't do it. It is their policy and there is no flexibility on it.
Does anyone know an easy way / easy bank for opening a USD account IN the US? I live in New Zealand.
I can withdraw in local currency (ie NZD, or GBP to a UK bank) but then one pays the conversion cost. I would then have to convert back to pay USD advertising fees which is a waste of money.
Thanks in advance!
Regards
Rod
If you are able to go to US for a few days it is much easier. You can either get an LLC set up first and then open an account for that, or try to open an individual personal account. The former is probably better from a tax perspective, although a lot will depend on your specific circumstances. In any case, you will have to try a few different banks to see which one accepts you, so better to arrange your travels to a medium - large type city where you can shop around for different banks.
I have a Chase International account. Not sure if they still offer, you can check out their website. I went to my local US embassy to have my documents verified and I was able to open an account but that was more than 10 years ago. 
currenciesdirect.com
@wes888: Thanks. I will give Chase a call.
@nickpeplow: Thanks but they seem like a money transfer site? Stripe needs to deposit to a US bank on US soil (or in local currency elsewhere with conversion costs).
Bank accounts are becoming more and more difficult around the world often requiring a TON of paperwork, going in as an individual may be your best option to reduce that burden, maybe consider a different payment provider also and get the ball rolling there if you need a plan B?
i use worldfirst.com to get stripe and paypal payment wired to my UK based USD account. now they charge 1% from me because of volume, started at 3% i think
Transferwise borderless - multi currency account.
https://transferwise.com/borderless
I doubt you will see much success with services like the above mentioned ones.
I have dealt with Stripe, 2Checkout and PayPal across many accounts and can assure you that their know-your-customer (KYC) requirements and international regulations around money transferrals are extremely strict.
If you want an account with one of these companies as a business and want to withdraw money from said account to a bank account, that bank account will need to be under the same beneficiary name as the company you have registered with Stripe or whatever other payment processor.
Put simply, if they process transactions on behalf of Random Company LLC, they need to settle funds to a bank account owned by Random Company LLC and this bank account needs to be in the same country as where the company is domiciled. Furthermore, this usually is required to be settled out in the sovereign currency of that nation. In Europe it may be a little more flexible, e.g. for a UK company Stripe will let you settle out to a company bank account in GBP, EUR, CHR, DKK, etc.
There are very, very few exceptions to this and this will only become stricter with time as international regulations tighten.
So, @nzbryant, for your situation, even if you create a bank account in the US, you are not going to be able to withdraw your Stripe funds to it since your Stripe account is not owned by a US business. With PayPal there is a workaround where you can do this (for a non-US PayPal account) but it will require a good relationship with PayPal, the company to be a child company of the main one on the PayPal account, or have it be granted authorisation via signed letters to PayPal, etc.
I have a few suggestions:
1) If the reality is that you won't have a huge amount going through the payment processor, just use an NZ company and bank account and settle out in NZD. Trust me when I say that the banking and business complications you will experience in NZ are a speck of sand compared to the beach of bullshit you will experience in many other countries when trying to deal with new companies, bank accounts, payment processing, non-native currencies etc. NZ banking is a royal delight to use in comparison. Unless you are doing something like $100,000 USD a month in revenue through Stripe, in the first year you will probably save overall by not trying to set things up abroad in terms of time/money investment, travel etc.
2) If doing the above, use Transferwise to move any NZD funds to USD accounts abroad to keep FX losses low. Transferwise is awesome.
3) Stripe recently became the first payment processor to allow settling out in USD to Hong Kong companies. Usually if you have a HK company and Stripe account you could only settle out in HKD. Now you can also do USD, which is nice. The FX rates are pinned so its not a huge win but it avoids back and forth FX wastage and any HKD>USD losses are minimal.
If you want a reliable solution for payment processing in that sense, I would open an HK company and bank account. If you are in NZ then travelling to and from Hong Kong is not too bad and I would rather do this than set up a US company and expose yourself to US tax issues
Just don't open an account with HSBC, lol. I recently opened an account with Citibank HK and can recommend starting with them -- a lot less hassle.
Sorry, I should have elaborated. Currencies direct can give you a bank account with deutsche bank in New York, they then wire the money to any bank/currency.
If anyone facing these issues prefers a solely USA solution, I'd be happy to discuss a proxy solution wherein I'd establish the LLC/ Bank account, and disburse funds accordingly, acting as a silent partner.
I'd insist on everything being legal and above board, contracts and mutual diligence, etc.
PM me if you'd like to talk.
Payoneer will work if you set up an LLC.
@Zeno, legendary post, thank you very much. That all seems wise advice.
My only comment would be that Stripe wrote a comment to me, which I think conflicts with your comment "even if you create a bank account in the US, you are not going to be able to withdraw your Stripe funds to it since your Stripe account is not owned by a US business". Stripe emailed to me: "At the moment, if your business resides in New Zealand, you can only get paid out in NZD to a NZ bank account. The only way around this would be if you can create a Stripe account that allows payouts in USD. For example, if you have the criteria to set up a Stripe account in the UK and have a bank account based in the US, you can attach the US bank account for payouts.”
A UK Stripe account (and a Portuguese account) and some others, allow withdrawals to a USD account (based on US soil). Perhaps this is only for individuals rather than for companies.
Regards
Rod
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