US Online Banks

[AAArdvark]

I currently use Ally Bank but I'm having too many problems with them.  I can do a wire transfer to Transferwise but not a normal international transfer.  I cannot do an ACH transfer to Transferwise or to my Transferwise borderless account.  The boarderless account was setup just to bypass the ACH limitation on normal Transferwise transfers.  It created an account in my name in NY.

Any recommendations for banks that are pretty liberal with doing transfers and which I can setup in LOS.

[utalkin2me]

Schwab but would need a US address to get the initial piece of mail. Even if you do not have that it may be worth it to set up an address through a service... I think that is a service that is offered. 

[Thailand J]

Interactive Brokers, I've just opened a new account yesterday. Forget the banks, I have Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab and IB all with Thai address and Thai phone number.

[Pib]

Why are you trying to "push" money to Transferwise....it's pricey to do that with a US wire.   

 

Just allow Transferwise to accomplish an ACH Bank Debit (i.e, ACH Pull of funds).   I expect Ally Bank allows at least $5,000 per ACH transaction which is the default for most US banks.

[AAArdvark]

20 minutes ago, Thailand J said:

Interactive Brokers, I've just opened a new account yesterday. Forget the banks, I have Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab and IB all with Thai address and Thai phone number.

I don't have investments, just banks so I don't think that would work.

[AAArdvark]

35 minutes ago, Pib said:

Why are you trying to "push" money to Transferwise....it's pricey to do that with a US wire.   

 

Just allow Transferwise to accomplish an ACH Bank Debit (i.e, ACH Pull of funds).   I expect Ally Bank allows at least $5,000 per ACH transaction which is the default for most US banks.

Not allowed by Ally.  When I use Transferwise, I enter the amount, in the Transferwise app, to transfer and the next step is to transfer the funds (pay) into their account.  At this point, I am directed to my bank's account (Ally) which brings up the Ally transfer function.  Ally will allow me to transfer the funds by wire but not by ACH.  The reason given is that "I do not own" the Transferwise account.  I contacted Transferwise and was told the ONLY way around this was to open a Boarderless account, which I did.  However, Ally cannot "verify" the account, even though they did make 2 deposits of a few cents to test.  I am waiting for an explanation of why they can do test transfers but they cannot verify.  The Borderless account creates an account  in my name which, in theory, would allow me to ACH to that account and then ACH to LOS via Transferwise. If I attempt to do an ACH, I will get an email that it is not allowed.

Since Ally will not allow an ACH transfer I am stuck with wire transfers so I get this:

 

"If you choose to pay for your TransferWise transfer by "Wire transfer", you would need to send us your money manually. We can only display our U.S. bank account details, so you would need to log in to your online bank on a separate web tab (away from our website), open up your banking app or call your bank and make a domestic wire transfer to those details."
 

Edited May 3, 2019 by AAArdvark

[ThaiBunny]

1 minute ago, AAArdvark said:

However, Ally cannot "verify" the account, even though they did make 2 deposits of a few cents to test.  I am waiting for an explanation of why they can do test transfers but they cannot verify.  The Borderless account creates an account  in my name which, in theory, would allow me to ACH to that account and then ACH to LOS via Transferwise. 

That is correct - the Transferwise T&Cs for Borderless accounts specifically state that that form of verification is not supported. In order to verify you have to report back to Ally the amount that they transferred and the reference that they gave. As you have no direct access to your Borderless account that isn't possible

[AAArdvark]

1 minute ago, ThaiBunny said:

That is correct - the Transferwise T&Cs for Borderless accounts specifically state that that form of verification is not supported. In order to verify you have to report back to Ally the amount that they transferred and the reference that they gave. As you have no direct access to your Borderless account that isn't possible

I did report back and Ally and they were clueless.  I will try again.

[AAArdvark]

11 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

I did report back and Ally and they were clueless.  I will try again.

Tried again and this person knew that I had to report back the amounts.  However, my account with them for the borderless is "Suspended" because it is a "non-transnational account" which means that money can go in but not out.  Of course this makes no sense.  A case has been filed.  When Transferwise opens, I will see what they have to say.

[ThaiBunny]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

Why are you trying to "push" money to Transferwise....it's pricey to do that with a US wire.   

 

Just allow Transferwise to accomplish an ACH Bank Debit (i.e, ACH Pull of funds).   I expect Ally Bank allows at least $5,000 per ACH transaction which is the default for most US banks.

Why use a wire transfer at all? The point of having a borderless US account at Transferwise is that you can use the ACH system to push or pull. A push costs nothing or next to nothing; I've never bothered with a pull

[AAArdvark]

11 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

Why use a wire transfer at all? The point of having a borderless US account at Transferwise is that you can use the ACH system to push or pull. A push costs nothing or next to nothing; I've never bothered with a pull

As I have stated multiple times now, I have no way, with my current bank, to use ACH.  It I try to use ACH with TW but without a borderless account, it will fail - not supported.  So I opened a borderless account which my bank will not authorize for currently unknown reasons.  So for right now, that option is unavailable and I can only use wire.  I am waiting for Ally bank to explain why they cannot use the borderless account which is setup but suspended by Ally.

So I fail to understand, how I get money into the borderless account to be able to pull from it.  Right now I have $.46 in the borderless account so I guess I could pull that.

Edited May 3, 2019 by AAArdvark

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

45 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

I contacted Transferwise and was told the ONLY way around this was to open a Boarderless account, which I did.  However, Ally cannot "verify" the account, even though they did make 2 deposits of a few cents to test.  I am waiting for an explanation of why they can do test transfers but they cannot verify. 

 

Normally, it's you the Ally account-holder who sets up and triggers the trial deposit process when you create the new ACH link in Ally online banking using the ABA routing number and account number (in this case your Borderless account) for the recipient account.

 

Once you do that in Ally online banking, normally it's up to YOU to check the amounts of the two trial deposits that Ally would deposit into your Borderless account, and then for YOU to go back into your Ally online banking account and enter in the trial deposit amounts in their "verify" section....  Did you do that?

 

[ThaiBunny]

7 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

which my bank will not authorize

Why do they need to "authorize" it? I sent an ACH transfer (push) from my Bank of America account to a bank account and all I told BoA was an ACH routing number and account number. Transferwise was never mentioned. BoA never attempted to "authorize" it. All done in the standard ACH transfer "window" of a couple of days

[AAArdvark]

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Normally, it's you the Ally account-holder who sets up and triggers the trial deposit process when you create the new ACH link in Ally online banking using the ABA routing number and account number (in this case your Borderless account) for the recipient account.

 

Once you do that in Ally online banking, normally it's up to YOU to check the amounts of the two trial deposits that Ally would deposit into your Borderless account, and then for YOU to go back into your Ally online banking account and enter in the trial deposit amounts in their "verify" section....  Did you do that?

 

Once again.  YES, I did do that.  I reported in the deposits of 46 cents but still Ally suspended the account because it is non-transnational.  So until they reply to the case I opened, I can do nothing.  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 minute ago, ThaiBunny said:

Why do they need to "authorize" it? I sent an ACH transfer (push) from my Bank of America account to a bank account and all I told BoA was an ACH routing number and account number. Transferwise was never mentioned. BoA never attempted to "authorize" it. All done in the standard ACH transfer "window" of a couple of days

 

Most U.S. banks, but not all, require confirmation of trial deposits any time an account holder creates a new ACH link with an external account. That's to ensure that the routing number and account number being used are the correct ones and the link is really establish to the account that you want. That's also because ACH links typically allow two-way transfers, either in or out... So obviously, the bank would not want to let you be pulling funds out of someone else's account that you don't own/control.

 

Bill pay is the more normal method for sending funds into a 3rd party account where the sender doesn't own/control the other account. Because with bill pay, it's only outbound funds... no ability to pull funds in from the external account.

 

[ThaiBunny]

2 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

non-transnational

???

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

 I reported in the deposits of 46 cents but still Ally suspended the account because it is non-transnational.

 

I've never heard that term used before in U.S. funds transfer discussions... You do mean "non-transnational," not "non-transactional"???

Edited May 3, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[AAArdvark]

3 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

Why do they need to "authorize" it? I sent an ACH transfer (push) from my Bank of America account to a bank account and all I told BoA was an ACH routing number and account number. Transferwise was never mentioned. BoA never attempted to "authorize" it. All done in the standard ACH transfer "window" of a couple of days

Bank of America is not Ally.  Ally does not know about TW either.  I tried to do a push and I had to tell Ally the same information as you gave BOA.  Ally then did 2 small deposits to the borderless account, which I received.  I tried to give Ally the deposit information only to run into the "suspended" thing.  So, for now I have no way of pushing anything from Ally.

All of this is why the real subject of this thread is finding a new US bank.

[NCC1701A]

1 hour ago, Thailand J said:

Interactive Brokers, I've just opened a new account yesterday. Forget the banks, I have Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab and IB all with Thai address and Thai phone number.

you gave a Thai address to open a new bank account? this is news to me.

impossible to open US bank accounts without a real ID with a real address in the USA. not PO box.

 

tell me how you did this please.

[AAArdvark]

10 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

you gave a Thai address to open a new bank account? this is news to me.

impossible to open US bank accounts without a real ID with a real address in the USA. not PO box.

 

tell me how you did this please.

I think he is saying that he opened a new account with "Interactive Brokers" which I don't think is a bank.  No idea if you can open a brokerage account from LOS.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, AAArdvark said:

I think he is saying that he opened a new account with "Interactive Brokers" which I don't think is a bank.  No idea if you can open a brokerage account from LOS.

Yes, you can open a brokerage (or IRA) account with interactive with a Thai address and passport as I.D. They are special that way. 

[ThaiBunny]

29 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I've never heard that term used before in U.S. funds transfer discussions... You do mean "non-transnational," not "non-transactional"???

I suspect that what they said is it's "non-transactional" - that is, it doesn't support carrying out transactions. It's a term deposit or something of that sort

[NCC1701A]

41 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yes, you can open a brokerage (or IRA) account with interactive with a Thai address and passport as I.D. They are special that way. 

is it safe to say you can't do international transfers from brokerage accounts?

[55Jay]

What's the one that gets a mention on here now and then, more accommodating to overseas clients/expats....  State Department Credit Union? 

[Jingthing]

8 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

What's the one that gets a mention on here now and then, more accommodating to overseas clients/expats....  State Department Credit Union? 

Yes. SDFCU. State Department Federal Credit Union.

[AAArdvark]

1 hour ago, ThaiBunny said:

I suspect that what they said is it's "non-transactional" - that is, it doesn't support carrying out transactions. It's a term deposit or something of that sort

Silly spell checker, yes I meant was non-trasactional.  

TW says it is a checking account.  So until they resolve my case and I can talk to the sleeping TW support, I won't know what they really mean.

[AAArdvark]

18 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Yes. SDFCU. State Department Federal Credit Union.

Although I used to be in Foreign Service, it was a long time ago.  I see they have a way of joining through something called ACC.

I will contact them, but do you know offhand if they support ACH transfers to Transferwise?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

is it safe to say you can't do international transfers from brokerage accounts?

 Absolutely incorrect. I know of no major U.S. brokerage firm that won't allow its clients to do international wire transfers... The only questions are what method to initiate one, and one's the fee going to be... Obviously those details vary by brokerage firm...

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

you gave a Thai address to open a new bank account? this is news to me.

impossible to open US bank accounts without a real ID with a real address in the USA. not PO box.

 

tell me how you did this please.

 

There are several brokerages, including Charles Schwab, that will allow customers to open international/foreign accounts with addresses in those foreign countries. In the case of Schwab, there's a much higher opening balance requirement than for their U.S. accounts, and some other account terms may be different as well, including being barred from U.S. mutual fund transactions.

 

[NCC1701A]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

There are several brokerages, including Charles Schwab, that will allow customers to open international/foreign accounts with addresses in those foreign countries. In the case of Schwab, there's a much higher opening balance requirement than for their U.S. accounts, and some other account terms may be different as well, including being barred from U.S. mutual fund transactions.

 

yes ok. and the subject is drifting here a bit, but very recently Schwab would not let me open a savings account on line without a drivers license with a US address. (Which I no longer have) And I have a brokerage account with them already but no go with savings. I will look into using my Schwab brokerage account for international. Thanks.

 

In fact the only "bank" so far I have found that allowed me to open a account on line was Capitol One without a state ID. But no international transfers allowed, can only transfer to domestic checking accounts, not savings. So no use for Thailand.

 

Anyway this was started as a question by me about someone opening accounts on line which is something I am constantly looking for.

 

I will be returning to the US soon for the sole purpose of getting a new state ID card so I can open another bank account to do international transfers.   

 

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by NCC1701A