Digital Nomads

14 readers

1 users here now

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

communick@expats.zone

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

22 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] TransitionAntique929@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (6 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.

load more comments (5 replies)