Checking/Credit cards in England

<p>Hello,
Does anyone have any advice for avoiding ATM/Credit card fees in England for a semester abroad? Not sure if DD should open an account there to use an ATM cheaper or which would be the best card to use to avoid foreign fees. Does anyone have any thoughts on if the ATM route is better than using the credit card and is there a card or bank that is best? Thanks!!!</p>

<p>Do you mean England or the UK? England is not an independent state.</p>

<p>^ Why does it have to be an independent state? She can still ask for advice about banking in England, just as I could ask for advice about banking in Texas.</p>

<p>To answer the question, I think that since your daughter is an adult she should figure these things out for herself. Is it me or does study abroad really bring out the lowest-flying helicopter parents?</p>

<p>keepittoyourself - it matters because it helps if one knows to which country one is going. It just irritates me when people talk of England as metonymy for the UK - as if the Scots Northern Irish and Welsh do not exist, equally I would assume that Banking in Texas is the same all over the USA just as banking in England is the same as in the whole UK.</p>

<p>As for the second part of your answer - totally agree. She might not be an adult in the US, but she is in the UK, and therefore should sort stuff out for herself.</p>

<p>Thank you for the advice. I must be a truly terrible parent. When my daughter wants to hike in Iran or calls me that her roomate (amanda knox) seems a bit unstable, I will keep my mouth shut and tell her to figure it out for herself.</p>

<p>Bank of America have a deal with UK bank Barclays where you will not be charged for withdrawing money from your BoA account if you use a Barclays ATM (which are everywhere, including in major airports). As far as I’m aware, this is the best deal out there as a short term solution (don’t know about the exchange rate BoA uses to convert US$ to £ though). </p>

<p>click on “What is the ATM global Alliance” on this page for more info</p>

<p>[ATM</a> : Getting Started](<a href=“http://infocenter.bankofamerica.com/ic2/atm/getting-started/]ATM”>http://infocenter.bankofamerica.com/ic2/atm/getting-started/)</p>

<p>Looks like it works at Paribas too, for that weekend trip to France.</p>

<p>The other option is to open a UK bank account and transfer funds into it. Not sure if it’s worth doing for just a semester. Most international students have accounts at HSBC because it’s actually quite difficult to open a UK account when you’ve just arrived. Something to do with anti-money laundering laws where if you don’t have proof of a UK address they will turn you down.</p>

<p>Thank You cupcake. That information is great. I would not have considered the anti-money laundering laws.</p>

<p>^ Yes nurseratchet, I’m sure that the decision about whether to open a foreign bank account compares with whether to hike into a warzone. That’s a completely reasonable response.</p>

<p>The money laundering laws aren’t an issue for foreign students – most banks will take a letter from your college as proof of address.</p>

<p>Seriously though, this stuff is the easiest stuff in the world. Does your daughter really appreciate all your ‘research’ or would she rather live her own life?</p>

<p>agree with above: daughter has been advised to open Bank of America account here to withdraw $$ at Barclays…</p>

<p>Credit card without fees: Any Capital One credit card (confirm that before you apply; this information is from last June)</p>

<p>I just talked with Capital One last week and it’s true that there are no foreign exchange fees with their credit cards.</p>

<p>I don’t think you can open an account in England as a visiting student unless you are there for over a certain period of time. My friends daughter was in London as an study abroad student for a semester and the plan was for her to open an account they could transfer money to for rent etc. They were not allowed to do so (as far as I can recall it was to do with the length of time she was going to be there being less than a year so not requiring a student visa and not being able to open an account because of not having a student visa. or something like that, it was a while back so I can’t remember the exact details - just that she could not open an account).</p>

<p>On a different matter. Cell phones (called mobile phones in the UK). You can buy very cheap mobile phones for about 5-10 pounds. There is a sim card in the UK that gives you a choice between free international calls or free texts when you pur 20 pounds on the card. Can’t remember who it is from but if you would like the info I can go and dig my English mobile phone out of a drawer and post the info here.</p>