BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm here for a few months and am actually making some money with a job. I'm only being paid in cash however, and well...for obvious reasons having only cash can make things a bit complicated.

I went to KBC (I'm in Belgium) and asked about opening an account, but the woman at the desk acted as though she never heard of a non-citizen wanting to open an account. She also seemed to think I didn't have any money to put in the account...kinda weird actually. I'm going to go try another bank and hopefully I'll find someone more competent, but in any case, I wanted to get opinions from other travelers.

And to be specific, I'd like to open a checking account, such that I can get a debit card to use here. I have an account back in the states, but...well, I don't know how I'd get cash overseas safely.

Thanks

Someone smarter than me will come along shortly, but could you buy a money order and then mail it to your bank at home?

I've never tried this but go to a bank and ask if they can do a wire transfer if you give them the cash. I've only done wire transfers from banks that I have accounts at but I don't see why they couldn't do it unless they have a policy against it. There will be a small service charge.

I don't really know for your case, but in mine, even when all the bureaucratic things for the work permit have been taken care of, it is not always easy to open an account and it is sometimes harder to get a card. I'm assuming it has something to do with it being very easy for a foreigner to just build up debt and then leave and never deal with it. Not that you will, but that's the reasoning behind it I'm guessing.

I think the suggestions static and joepro made here are good
for getting money home. I've paid about 10-15$ at each end for a wire transfer.

If you are really set on opening an account, it probably makes a lot of sense to enlist the help of someone at your job who is familiar with your status and what foreigners in your place need to do/have...I don't know anything about your situation, but I would think, especially in western Europe, opening a bank account would be a normal thing for an employer to do, if your status is all good for that...so it might be worth it to check with your employer before you check with the bank.

I don't see why you couldn't do it if you're being paid a salary in Belgium. But KBC customer service sucksn they also refused to change my sister's home bank when she moved unless she took out a loan; so trying at a different bank might be a good idea.

While I was working in Holland I was allowed to open a bank account providing I had a letter of employment from my boss as well as a Dutch equivalent to a social security number, so I'm pretty sure you will be able to set one up in any country in Europe but then again I am a European so that might have made it easier.

Most of them I had to pay a monthly fee though... grim!

You didn't mention who your bank is in the US, but I'm guessing they don't have any branches or ATMs in Belgium. You might call them up though and ask if they have a partner bank or ATM network in your area where you can conduct transactions that funnel through to your home account.

We did without much problem even before going there. It worked well for us as we suspected the dollar would drop and changed it into pounds and Euros when the dollar was high before transferring it.

We did it with a bank in Gibralter because it was close to our location in Spain for the winter but they spoke English.

I have a Deutsche Bank account.
I just needed to register with the local authorities, which you can do on a tourist visa.

2 other banks turned me down first (PostBank, Berliner-Volksbank).

I only needed a passport to open a bank account in Madrid from which I can transfer $$ back to Canada.

I lived and worked in Belgium and I had no problem opening an account..had to have certain papers from work and also the residency permit. Was pretty straight forward.