Opening Bank Account in Germany and USA

[stek]

This is from my daughter, who's doing quite well selling shoes.....

Trades mostly via Amazon, who charge a fortune she says for converting cash, even if you have a UK Euro or Dollar account.

So, is it possible to open a US-based Dollar account, and a DE-based Euro account without residency or a local presence?

[expat]

This is from my daughter, who's doing quite well selling shoes.....

Trades mostly via Amazon, who charge a fortune she says for converting cash, even if you have a UK Euro or Dollar account.

So, is it possible to open a US-based Dollar account, and a DE-based Euro account without residency or a local presence?

something to verify: is it actually Amazon who charge for exchange when there is no need for exchange, or is it the UK bank? I looked at a UK Euro account once and found that the bank would convert incoming Euro payments to pounds as if it were going to a GBP account, then convert the pounds to Euros to deposit into the Euro account. Worth checking because if so you might be able to do more research than I did and come up with a bank that doesn't do that.

I then opened an account with Deutsche Post giving them my office address in Germany, then 2 weeks later changed it to my UK home address, no problem. Except that the UK address wasn't accepted online so I had to go to the branch to do it; and that of course having a German account might attract the attention of the German taxman (which I wasn't attempting to avoid).

[stek]

something to verify: is it actually Amazon who charge for exchange when there is no need for exchange, or is it the UK bank? I looked at a UK Euro account once and found that the bank would convert incoming Euro payments to pounds as if it were going to a GBP account, then convert the pounds to Euros to deposit into the Euro account. Worth checking because if so you might be able to do more research than I did and come up with a bank that doesn't do that.

I then opened an account with Deutsche Post giving them my office address in Germany, then 2 weeks later changed it to my UK home address, no problem. Except that the UK address wasn't accepted online so I had to go to the branch to do it; and that of course having a German account might attract the attention of the German taxman (which I wasn't attempting to avoid).

Cheers expat, good info - it's definitely Amazon charging, and she's no physical presence at all in either USA or DE. She says:

"Amazon charge the conversion rate then an extra 4% unless we get a eurozone account"

[WTFH]

What about getting a paypal business account? Is that any better, or does it get round the Amazon charge?

[expat]

Cheers expat, good info - it's definitely Amazon charging, and she's no physical presence at all in either USA or DE. She says:

"Amazon charge the conversion rate then an extra 4% unless we get a eurozone account"

There is no legal bar to a Eurozone bank opening an account, except for the requirement to "know your customer", which may just mean a branch visit. If any Eurozone bank will do, luxembourg banks may be easier.

[clearedforlanding]

HSBC Premier for transactional in €,$,GBP (heh, EU keyboard) - Currencyfair for exchange between them. Only thing visa debit cards offered for $ & GBP, € bizzareley is an Amex Platinum which cannot be use anywhere in Europe.

€ transactional with debits is best done by showing up to La Caixa or Sabadell in Spain. Their online banking is leagues ahead of anything else I have seen. Also very used to non-residents applying for an account. Just don't keep too much money in Spanish banks.

[jamesbrown]

Worth checking because if so you might be able to do more research than I did and come up with a bank that doesn't do that.

It think you've got the wrong end of the stick here. The bank will process the payment, as received from the sending bank, according to the currency of the receiving account. If a Sterling payment is made into a Euro account, it will be converted to Euro. In other words, if the sending bank processes a Euro payment as Sterling, the fault lies with the sending bank or your instructions to the sending bank. I have never encountered a situation whereby a receiving bank would receive a payment in the currency of the receiving account, but convert this via an intermediary currency (such as Sterling, for UK banks). The details depend on how an international transfer is made, but an international wire requires instructions on sending currency.

Anyway, I've had various accounts in various currencies and in various jurisdictions in the past and never had any problems, providing the correct instructions are given to the sending bank. Of course, Amazon adds another layer of complexity, and I'm not commenting on that, only on general practice.

In terms of opening accounts in different jurisdictions, I think she'll struggle, for money laundering reasons, without proof of residency. I've only ever opened accounts as a resident. If she somehow gains residency, it won't be a problem to open an account and transfer addresses when her residency changes.

Bottom line, I don't know how Amazon acts as an intermediary on these instructions, but it is standard practice for a receiving bank to process a payment in the currency of the receiving account if the payment is received in that currency, i.e. without any intermediate exchanges. Were that not to be the case, it would render all multi-currency accounts absolutely useless.

[stek]

What about getting a paypal business account? Is that any better, or does it get round the Amazon charge?

She says Paypal Business does the same.

"Amazon charges 4% then the bank charges
Paypal charge 2-3%
I use a broker at the moment that charges 1-2% but even with that I am losing ten grand a year"

Christ she's smarter than I thought!!!

[clearedforlanding]

She says Paypal Business does the same.

"Amazon charges 4% then the bank charges
Paypal charge 2-3%
I use a broker at the moment that charges 1-2% but even with that I am losing ten grand a year"

Christ she's smarter than I thought!!!

Send Money Abroad Online | CurrencyFair P2P International Money Transfers - let her set her own fx rates.

[borderreiver]

So, is it possible to open a US-based Dollar account, and a DE-based Euro account without residency or a local presence?

I think you need a German address to open a German bank account, but it's been a long time since I lived there ...

However, if you just need a Euro account in the Eurozone, why not organise a quick trip to Dublin? ISTR some of the Irish banks will quite happily allow you to open an account without an Irish address, as long as they see you in person first.