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Can I (American) open a bank account in America without being in America? (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by BurntAlmonds13@alien.top to c/digitalnomad@expats.zone

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Hello all, I'm a US citizen living in Asia; and I haven't returned to the US since I left more than two decades ago.

I'd like to open a US Bank account while living abroad that I can access online for basic personal finance and possible business ventures in the future. Ideally I would be able to connect a debit card and possibly get a US PayPal account, too.

What I have:

Original US birth certificate
US passport
Social Security number

What I don't have:

A residential address in the US (or any close family whose address I can use)
A phone number in the US

I'm really clueless about my options for doing this and would be grateful for any tips you can offer. Thanks.

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[–] TransitionAntique929@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Very, very unlikely. Banks must obey "Know Your Customer" rules and they interpret these as saying they must physically see you walk in the door. A quick visit would probably work. Another excellent possibility. would be to file an LLC and then have it open the account. There are online services that do this and they can provide the bank account as well. Cost you a few hundred, though.

[–] BigAbbott@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Wut. There are so many internet banks that don’t even have physical locations you could walk into if you wanted.

[–] thekwoka@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Banks must obey "Know Your Customer" rules and they interpret these as saying they must physically see you walk in the door.

This is not true. Specifically that a human sees you physically in a branch.

Many banks have no branches, like charles schwab.

[–] TransitionAntique929@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

No, it’s absolutely true and done to prevent “money laundering”. I don’t write the rules, I just report them.

[–] thekwoka@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Well, you report them wrong.

I've never had to go into a bank to open an account, even at a new bank.

[–] TransitionAntique929@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

So you never had to provide a signature card? I know it hurts to be wrong but I find it extremely hard to believe you can open an account in the way you describe. Perhaps times have changed, though?

[–] thekwoka@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I don't even know what that is.

I've only had to go on site to open a bank account in Korea with KB*. I also opened an account with KakaoBank and that was online only.