Ask YC: I need a world-friendly bank

[icey]

This is only tangentially hacker related, but this is the best place on the internet I can think of asking.

I need a bank that works well with international purchases, both virtual and real. I currently use Wells Fargo for my bank and while they're fine for my purchases around town, they are TERRIBLE any time I need to make a purchase outside of the US.

I regularly have to make purchases over the internet in the EU as well as China. Unfortunately, Wells Fargo locks my account more often than not when doing this. They are happy to 'unlock' my account and 'let' the transactions go through after that, but it's an enormous inconvenience.

The secondary problem is that this has extended to travels I've had as well, and frankly there is nothing worse than discovering your credit card doesn't work when you're in some town outside of Cairo and you've found the one place in miles that accepts plastic.

So, I need a bank that I can use locally and internationally, and will give me a minimum of hassle when I need to spend my money.

Any ideas?

[goofygrin]

When I was in Brazil, HSBC was everywhere. Huge international banks like them might be a good place to start looking!

[icey → goofygrin]

HSBC is one of the banks I've been looking at, actually. They've started showing up quite a bit more in the states as well, so that's kind of useful.

[SwellJoe]

I've always had problems doing business internationally from US banks. EFT is ridiculously expensive in the states...and no one even knows what a SWIFT code is at every bank I've ever used (I don't know what they are either, but I know they're supposed to make funds transfers easier and faster...but they just mean the local banker spends a half hour on the phone talking to someone in NY trying to figure out how to deal with the SWIFT code). This is an area (banking in general, not just EFT) that I think subtly raises the friction on US companies doing business internationally that I suspect European companies don't have to deal with. One of many straws that eventually leads to Europe being a better place for business than the US.

I've yet to find a bank that I really like for business, and I've been through several. Local ones, paradoxically, seem to actually provide better service and less nuisance fees, but they have other problems.

[andr]

HSBC is quite good. They even mail my account statements, etc internationally. Plus, if you have about $30k or more in your HSBC you'll probably get invited in HSBC Premier and they'll have you covered for relocations, etc.

[staunch → andr]

One more vote for HSBC from me.

[jyu]

Not Bank of America. Although they have banks in many countries, their account information is not connected. Don't be like me and learn this the hard way.

[bk]

For purchases abroad, use a Capital One credit card. They don't charge / swallow the currency conversion and international use fees, so all you pay is interbank currency conversion rate. Other cards might have ridiculous fees (minimums and up to 3.5% transaction fees).

My only peeve with the Capital One card is that their online interface doesn't allow automated bill payment, so you have to do it manually once a month (and not forget).

For ATMs, any large US bank should work fine abroad (anything that's part of the cirrus, etc. networks). Fees vary. Also try telling your bank to whitelist you for certain locations/countries.

[mrtron]

I have found a few Canadian banks to be great internationally.

Specifically TD, CIBC and RBC.

I will be using a CIBC bank and credit card in asia leaving this weekedn, maybe I will use the iPhone app to post how it went.

[delackner]

I have been living outside the US for 4 years now, and for the first 1.5 years I pretty consistently (as in, every month) used my www.firstib.com bank ATM card to make withdrawals all over asia, and they never even once blocked me. They also have interest-bearing checking, and US ATM withdrawals are reimbursed. I forget if international withdrawals are.

[yawl]

It really depends. For example, if you travel to China, Bank of America is the top choice as you can get money directly from thousands of ATM without any fee. DiscoverCard is also very helpful in China as it more acceptable than Visa and MasterCard.

[graham-miln]

Consider Citibank or HSBC. Both banks offer an international perspective.

[dc2k08]

if you tell wells fargo that you make many purchases abroad or that you are travelling to such and such a place, they will not lock your card. they lock the card by default as a security measure, when it is being used outside of its normal enviroment, for your protection, in case it has been stolen. call them, speak to a member of the security team and they will remove or add as many security details as you like.

[gms]

HSBC. "The World's Local Bank". The only problem with them is that their presence in the States is really limited so far.

[hhm]

Isn't any bank the same if you use a credit card like Visa? Is BBVA well known in USA?

[whalesalad]

I vote HSBC as well :)

[aneesh]

Use cash.

[icey → aneesh]

As soon as I can use cash on the internet, I'd be happy to. Please note that PayPal does not count because the providers I deal with only accept actual credit cards.