Opening a bank account in the USA. Have to. Like tomorrow.

[Lantyssa]

*leans in*

Are you?

[Rendakor]

It's crazy that she thought anyone would answer either of those questions honestly.

[Samwise]

 

[Johny Cee]

When I applied for a mortgage the broker asked me in complete seriousness if I was an illegal alien.

It's the dark Mexican skin you have, right ?

 

I'm sure it was a little of that (pinche gringas, amirite?) but mostly my complete lack of credit history, coupled with having a more sizable down payment than most first-time buyers and apparently having all the rest of my paperwork in order.  It just didn't add up for her.  She also asked (lowering her voice) if I was involved in some kind of organized crime.  Seriously.

Umm.  They do have requirements to ask about your citizenship and (I think) if you are going to use the account for proceeds from illegal activities.  I have to regularly ask odd questions like this when doing taxes or audits, or filing certain forms.  For instance, some variation of "are you aware of fraud or any other illegal activities" or "are the proceeds from you tax refund going to a foreign financial account".

This sounds like a bank rep tried to get cutesy with questions she is required to ask you, and you taking it the wrong way.  Not being there, it sounds like she didn't like having to ask the questions and tried to make fun of them, but it came off like she's a wakjob.

[Zephyr]

We use First Bank in Colorado and it has a free checking account with no minimum balance.  They have been pretty good for us over the last few years and are pretty ubiquitous around the state.  A lot of people at work like Elevations Credit Union and looks like they have a free checking option as well.

[Samwise]

This sounds like a bank rep tried to get cutesy with questions she is required to ask you, and you taking it the wrong way.  Not being there, it sounds like she didn't like having to ask the questions and tried to make fun of them, but it came off like she's a wakjob.

She said that she asked specifically because she'd never seen heard of someone come in for a home loan and have zero credit before unless they were deliberately staying off the grid (i.e. undocumented immigrant or a drug dealer).

[CmdrSlack]

Also, if you want to get advanced, get a credit card with cash back and pay it off every month. You can actually make money using one if you are disciplined.

I finally started doing this just to make sure I'd have robust credit for future refinancing adventures.  I got the card through my bank, and set it up so that the credit card bill gets paid straight from my checking account each month; then I put all my auto-payable bills on the credit card.  Presto, automatic credit machine!

 

Thank you, sir. I can now advise clients to do this shit after a bankruptcy (they ALWAYS give you credit cards, shitty one but whatever, after a Ch 7 because you can't refile for years.)

That's like the slacker's credit builder. It's the flex belt of the credit score world.

[Paelos]

*leans in*

Are you?

Follow up, what are you offering?

[Malakili]

Only advice I'd give is that go through a local credit union rather than one of the big national banks.

My local credit union offers a free checking account, gives you the first box of checks free, gives you a debit card that can also be used without the pin via credit card things in stores (that's the technical term, I'm sure - although on a more serious note I - like several others mentioned - never use this card online).  They have no minimum balance requirement for checking.  I also have a savings account with them has the literal only "drawback" of a 5 dollar minimum balance.

When I moved here I had the whole thing set up in a couple days.  Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

[Lantyssa]

*leans in*

Are you?

Follow up, what are you offering?

An offer you can't refuse.

[Draegan]

When I applied for a mortgage the broker asked me in complete seriousness if I was an illegal alien.

It's the dark Mexican skin you have, right ?

 

I'm sure it was a little of that (pinche gringas, amirite?) but mostly my complete lack of credit history, coupled with having a more sizable down payment than most first-time buyers and apparently having all the rest of my paperwork in order.  It just didn't add up for her.  She also asked (lowering her voice) if I was involved in some kind of organized crime.  Seriously.

Us white people never have this much fun. When the wife and I bought a house, the loan officer just said we were their kind of people because of how often I went to the liquor store. Was pretty fucking creepy.

[Falconeer]

On the other hand, even though they have recently stopped harassing me when I walk INTO the United States (I guess they really know everything about me by now), this is the third time in a row that on my way out they swipe my hands for, I presume, drugs. Must be so disappointing for them every time, since I so look the part.

[Father mike]

it's actually the precursors or ingredients to explosives that they're swabbing for.

[Merusk]

When I applied for a mortgage the broker asked me in complete seriousness if I was an illegal alien.

It's the dark Mexican skin you have, right ?

 

I'm sure it was a little of that (pinche gringas, amirite?) but mostly my complete lack of credit history, coupled with having a more sizable down payment than most first-time buyers and apparently having all the rest of my paperwork in order.  It just didn't add up for her.  She also asked (lowering her voice) if I was involved in some kind of organized crime.  Seriously.

Us white people never have this much fun. When the wife and I bought a house, the loan officer just said we were their kind of people because of how often I went to the liquor store. Was pretty fucking creepy.

The really fun part is that Sam is pretty white. Maybe they confuse him with light-skinned Latinos in SF, but around here the assumption would be he was German or Italian.

[Samwise]

Yeah, I do have more than a little Latino ancestry but you would never ever guess it by looking at me or my last name.  I'm not sure what sort of illegal the mortgage broker thought I was; probably Russian or Canadian.

[HaemishM]

They thought you were a maple smuggler? 

[Falconeer]

it's actually the precursors or ingredients to explosives that they're swabbing for.

 

[Pennilenko]

it's actually the precursors or ingredients to explosives that they're swabbing for.

 

So the good news is that they don't prejudge you to be a druggie. Instead they think you look like a terrorist.

[Lantyssa]

To be fair, they assume everyone is a terrorist.

[Ironwood]

Fuck Sake People, I was joking.  Sam's whiter than Tippex.

[Falconeer]

To be fair, they assume everyone is a terrorist.

In my case, and I base such a comment on almost ten years of airport security experiences, they really have a hard time accepting I am not.

[Teleku]

Its the Atari T-Shirts.  Only terrorist wear those.

[Paelos]

Fuck Sake People, I was joking.  Sam's whiter than Tippex.

Every fifth one-liner you use a word I don't understand, and I have to google.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipp-Ex

[Sophismata]

Interesting to hear about the USA banks. The overdraft stuff was particularly interesting. Last time I accidentally overdraft in Australia it was a flat $35 non-escalating fee I had to pay, swiftly followed by denied funds.

Recently a more comprehensive overdraft system has been introduced by my bank (and they tried to sell it to me fairly often until I opted out*) that mimics a credit card. Any amount over-drafted is treated as a pre-approved loan at over 20% interest.

Credit cards work off of their own limit, they have a minimum repayment and any moneys owing longer than an interest free period gets charged interest. Keep the card @ $0 (ie, pay off your expenditure) and it's an excellent payment system with its own fraud protection that earns you points while costing next to nothing.

I'm also a US citizen though and I've been wondering whether it's worth setting up a foreign (ie, US) account to make things easier if I ever move there.


*opting out proved surprisingly challenging because of changing procedures. After brief stint of IT work for the bank I was able to have my profile corrected though.

[Teleku]

As others have said, opening a free bank account in the US is very simple.  I wouldn't worry about pre-opening one just in case you need to flee to the US in advance of a Chinese invasion force.  If you're a US citizen they'll give you one before you can finish asking.

Yea, see that's what the rest of the world has always called a credit card because it actually gives you credit.

Err, isn't the US version more accurate?  I mean, its giving you a line of credit, not tied into a bank account or anything.  Straight credit.  A self paying Credit Card that auto-withdrawls from your bank account is pretty much just a lazy debit card.

[calapine]

If Ian is still reading this thread:

It depends where in Europe. In Germany, your credit card is linked to your bank account and every month on a fixed date your credit balance is automatically paid in full. In France and Spain, your credit card is also linked to your bank account and every time you buy things with the card, the funds are immediately debited from your account. You can't spend money you don't have.

A credit card that withdraws funds immediately sounds just like a debit card. If it's not, what's the difference?

(Personally I have both, c & d-card.)