My weird question: Can a U.S. bank take a deposit in Euros?

[CTyankee]

What if I wanted to start saving Euros? Would I have to put them into a bank in Europe? And why?

I realize I can't take a lot of money out of Europe when I vacation there, due to each country's laws limiting the amount of Euros you can bring back. But it would be nice if I could take my 50 euros or so each time I go and put them into a local bank to gain interest...

I know, silly question. Still, just askin'...

[Gato Moteado]

1. my guess is that they'll convert them into dollars at the current exchange rate....

....and then deposit the dollars into your account.

[CTyankee]

4. Yeah, that was my guess, too. I wonder why we can't deposit Euros tho.

Is there some reason we can't?

[Poll_Blind]

6. I'm pretty sure your answer is correct, unless the bank in question...

...is a foreign bank. I could be wrong. But, say, if you found a U.S. branch of Barclay's (sp?) which is a British bank, IIRC, and deposited British pounds and you set up the account to be in GBP you might be able to withdraw pounds. This would only work in a really big city (if I'm even correct in the first place) like New York, Chicago, etc.

  My reasoning here is that you can pull out foreign currency before leaving for foreign destinations. Usually you do this at a crappy money changer in the international section of the airport but if your bank is international it's likely that they'll have small (but still huge to you and I) amounts of foreign currencies.

I'd love to know more about this tho!

PB

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. I tried to do this with the branch of a Japanese bank in Portland years ago

because I was traveling back and forth nearly every year.

However, the bank was there strictly to handle corporate accounts and didn't take deposits from individuals.

I also looked into establishing a bank account IN Japan, since that would be more convenient for my Japanese clients. (They had direct deposit years before the U.S. did, so depositing my fee into a Japanese bank would be an easy transaction for them, unlike wiring money overseas, which is expensive, or using Pay Pal, which is also expensive for me, or sending postal money orders, which is a hassle for me.)

The banks all told me the same thing: It is illegal for a foreigner to open a bank account in Japan unless he or she has a resident's visa, like a work visa or a student visa.

The only time I ever had a resident's visa was when I was a student at a university in Tokyo. I had a bank account then, but silly me, I closed it when I returned to the States, not knowing that it would come in handy 15 years later, when I became a translator.

Some translators who established Japanese bank accounts while living there have kept theirs open. Those who are married to Japanese people use their in-laws' address and remove money with their ATM card.

That method is not open to me, so some clients make international wire transfers, some use Pay Pal, and some use money orders.

[NuttyFluffers]

25. O_o useful info!

so when you have a resident's visa in Japan, start a bank account. check.
once you go back hold open that bank account as if your life depends on it. check.

yoink! taking useful info and running with it.

what's your opinion about Sumitomo vs. Mitsubishi vs. Matsui banks? i see more Sumitomo than anything else here in the SF Bay Area. can i get an account w/o any monthly fees and excessive overage charges?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. Sorry, I have no idea

My resident's visa expired longer ago than I care to remember, and since then, a lot of bank mergers have occurred. There are enough foreigners in Japan that some of the banks have English websites.

[CTyankee]

18. Well, since I know I'll be coming back to Europe and will need some Euros when I get there,

before I know how much to take out of the ATM, I found myself staring at my 30 euros in my travel wallet and wondering why it just sat there. I realized that those euros had gained in value from the time I got them in 06 till now. that's what got me started thinking. Small change, I know, but worth the thought...

[LSparkle]

2. Glad you're asking because I'm curious too

My current plan is to start saving in Euros and gold ...

[AlCzervik]

3. i just checked BOFA and they do not accept currency from other countries. but....

there are many web sites out there claiming you can open multi currency accounts.

[CTyankee]

5. What exactly is BOFA (Bank of ...?)

What are the web sites to which you refer? Gee, it would be nice if I could go down to a local bank and open a little Euro account and just watch it grow in interest...now there's a cute scenario!

[AlCzervik]

8. America! Why do you hate america! :-)

and this is what a typed into the google search box--
"can i deposit euros into my american bank account" Now you'll have to weed through stuff because you get a lot of "We here at xxxx bank will be happy to convert your currency"

[Poll_Blind]

7. Might see reply #6? n/t

PB

[AlCzervik]

10. it might work but i don't know, HSBC is another big bank with branches here as well.

[CTyankee]

14. Well, then, could I open an account in a European city I was visiting,

deposit my Euros and watch it grow, adding more each time I visited (and was able to get more Euros)? I'll be in Italy this May and Spain this November so maybe there's a European Union bank system that spans all the EU countries?

[AlCzervik]

15. i'll be arriving in London next Saturday morning so i'm putting a visit to a few banks

on my list of things to do, why not, i'll be there anyhow so i might as well find out.

[CTyankee]

16. Great! You could post a thread in GD for those of us wanting to know...

Thanks a lot.

What are you doing in London, vacation or business (if you don't mind my asking)?

[AlCzervik]

17. i don't mind you asking at all. It's all vacation, 6 days in London, 4 in Scotland and

5 in Prague. My husband has huge amounts of ff miles so all the airfare and the hotels are free.

[CTyankee]

20. Lovely! I'll be in Turin, Bologna, Venice and a few small towns in betwen in early May.

I'm also planning a trip to northern Spain in early November.

Lucky you with ff miles. I don'thave them, since I have a particular company that I deal with for my trips, but it's nice when you do.

I was in London MANY years ago on a trip to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels that my mother insisted I go on with her. I was a kid of 16 at the time and, of course, didn't know my a** from a hole in the ground. But mother persisted, dragged me to the National Gallery, the Louvre and the Riksmuseum (sp?) where I saw some of the greatest art in the world. I never forgot it!

[AlCzervik]

22. sounds like a nice trip you've got coming up! My niece goes to the London School of Economics

so we'll be hanging out with her mostly, we went 2 years ago when she was at Oxford and wow what a great tour guide she is!

I love museums so i was blown away by them there, i only have 2 left on my list so i'll be going to those this time and hopefully a castle or two. We did go to Windosr last time but we went to Legoland and not Windsor castle, we have 2 more Legolans to see and we will have to all 4, i love Legoes.

[CTyankee]

28. Museums are great! Some easier to negotiate than others however.

The Uffizi in Florence, for instance, is so chock full and not user friendly, but of course so much is there! The Borghese in Rome is wonderful, tho. And I LOVE museum gift shops. You can find some wonderful things. The Louvre has this little jigsaw puzzle of the Mona Lisa; my 6 year old granddaughter has fun putting it together!

[pitohui]

24. very difficult for a foreign holidaymaker to open a bank account in london

if you succeed PM me but you won't, it's a difficult process according to folks i've known who were highly motivated to get it right

you sure as heck won't get er done on a saturday morning between trips to paris and venice

[alittlelark]

9. We used Everbank for our international currency investments

http://www.everbank.com/001WorldCurrency.aspx

[Zornhau]

23. If you don't mind me asking, which are you using?

The CD's or just the access account?

[alittlelark]

27. Primarily the CD's

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. If you mean you want your money tied to the Euro

then I'd think the easiest thing to do would be to invest in an unhedged bond fund that invests largely, or totally, in bonds denominated in Euros (if it's the Euro that's important to you, rather than 'not-the-dollar'). This is not a recommendation of any particular fund, please understand; but the idea is that bond funds invest in safe, predictable interest-bearing bonds in foreign currencies; 'unhedged' means they don't try to get rid of the effect of currency fluctuations.

An article: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/MutualFunds/2WaysToInvestOverseasForSafety.aspx

[CTyankee]

13. I'm in bonds and bond funds for a variety of reasons but I hate to say I don't know

how much is denominated in Euros. I will ask my financial planner. With the US dollar now $1.56 for one Euro, it seems like a reasonable question...

[1monster]

19. If you put them in a safety deposit bank you can. Otherwise, I think not.

[CTyankee]

21. Well, my point was to gain interest so a safety deposit box would not work

toward that goal, altho it would safeguard them from theft, of course.