[Sidney Crosby]

What banks do you guys use for Europe? I plan on extensively traveling Western and Eastern Europe and would like a bank with

-Cheap monthly fee's
-ATM's in most countries or low fee's for using the competitors
-An available prepaid credit card.

It would be nice to be able to bank in multiple currencies as well but I don't want to be too fussy.

I did some searching and it seems like Charles Schwab is a good bank but from what I understand it's only available to US residents.

HSBC and Barclays seem more catered to people with high net worth.

[Cheetah]

If you aren't making any local money why not stick with your bank that you already have? How much do you currently pay for an ATM withdrawal overseas?

[Sidney Crosby]

Sorry forgot to mention, after traveling I plan on settling in western Europe (business idea) so I would need to have a chequing account.

[Cheetah]

How do you plan to get credit from the bank by just showing up in the country? Which Western country are we talking about? You should preferably have a bank where you will be or possibly where most of your clients will be (if they are to pay to your account and not by credit/debit card). Each country has their own banks even if some banks might have offices in more than one country. Even if they do, your account will most likely be a local account anyway.

[Pepini]

In order to open an account you will need:
- proof of residency,
- proof of income,
- passport (generally first and last page).

The banks are local this means you open a bank account in Portugal in BBVA or Santander. This banks have no connection with Spain.

I would advise opening two types of bank accounts one for you to have your money probably Deutsche Banke. For your business a national bank. A national bank is preferable cause if there's a more complex operation the decision from the bank will be quicker. Instead of needing to wait from the approval of London. If you open a bank account in Spain from Barclays any hard decision must be decided in London. This is time consuming and can break a deal.

[DaveR]

Banks don't operate across borders in Europe, so branches of the same group (brand) in one country can't help you with your accounts in another. Even HSBC Premier is quite limited due to national banking regulations.

If you need a Euro current account (what you call a 'checking' account), they're very easy to open with minimal documentation in Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic - you'll probably only need your passport, but take your licence as well in case they ask for your address.
UniCredit covers most of Central and Eastern Europe as well as Italy and Germany, so that would probably be a good choice. They don't charge fees for Euro withdrawals from UniCredit-branded ATM worldwide. If you're planning on visiting Prague, they have a centre for foreign clients which makes the process much easier in terms of languages, and they're more flexible than the regular branches.

You'll probably need to register some kind of business to get long-term residency. For that you will need a local business account in whichever country you choose, because it's much more difficult to open business accounts cross-border.

The pre-paid credit card you're referring to is called a 'debit' card in Europe. The main differences are that transactions are balanced immediately rather than each month, and that your limit will be matched to the amount you have in your current account at the time.

[the-dream]

I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure that each country in Europe has its own banks and there aren't any that work across the borders. So it totally depends on the country you're planning on settling. Research the banks native to that country and see which ones have the lowest fees for use abroad.

[The Beast1]

(09-06-2014 03:30 AM)Sidney Crosby Wrote:  

What banks do you guys use for Europe? I plan on extensively traveling Western and Eastern Europe and would like a bank with

-Cheap monthly fee's
-ATM's in most countries or low fee's for using the competitors
-An available prepaid credit card.

It would be nice to be able to bank in multiple currencies as well but I don't want to be too fussy.

I did some searching and it seems like Charles Schwab is a good bank but from what I understand it's only available to US residents.

HSBC and Barclays seem more catered to people with high net worth.

Have you tried calling Schwab's customer support? They can open an account with you over the phone but will have to fax specific documents to you for you to "sign" and fax back.

You could also in theory take a trip to Reno NV where Schwab has their only actual "bank branch" office and open the account there. You'll need a passport and the like, but should be pretty trivial once you're moving along.

[OBJ Snakebite]

Living here in US and traveling abroad fairly often, I like Citibank. They have branches most everywhere and your american account will be recognized abroad. currency exchange is at very favorable rates because of this. You probably won't be able to do actual business at the bank because they are different companies. Citibank Europe for example is visa affiliat ed, while American citibank is master card.
However, everything you can do at the ATM you can do there.

[RexImperator]

What about the institution of the Single Euro Payments Area? Doesn't that make it easier for receiving bank wires to a Euro bank account from any country within SEPA?

[samsamsam]

How about HSBC depending on where you will be in Europe.

https://www.business.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/hsbc-country-list