joshwex90

Opening a bank account in Israel as a non-citizen is possible at all the major banks, but is not limited to main branches in either Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

You can open a bank account with Bank Leumi at virtually every branch, provided you have permanent residency,a work visa, or student visa.

Not sure what the policy is regarding regular tourist visa, but under current banking regulations, I'm not sure how they would allow it to be limited to one branch - either yes for everyone or no for everyone

uds0

How about Paris? I have an account at Bank of the West (owned by BNP) if that would help. Any tips? Would that trigger extra reporting tax return wise (foreign bank accounts, with their separate section on a tax return, maybe a favorite focus with the IRS, but if so, maybe foreign credit cards aren't an issue?).

I'm going to be there a week (no visa required) in April-May. I realize that I could get a UNFCO card for Chip priority, and having a foreign card sounds kinda sexy in the coffee shop.

uds0

I've randomly gotten ATM operator fees (and possibly 1% VISA ISA fee) while traveling (example: citibank ATM at Istanbul Atiturk airport), small town ATMs in Italy and France (been a while so maybe this has changed recently?), so the benefit of knowing that I can use ANY ATM world wide with either my State Farm or Schwab debit card and no FTF just makes life a bit more enjoyable and less complicated. With State Farm, they even reimburse balance inquiry fees and support deposits via deposit capable ATM (Schwab reimburses ONLY ATM cash withdrawal fees and no ATM deposit support). Schwab does have chip with secondary online pin for purchases (State Farm doesn't (yet?)) Citibank ATMs seem problematic since there are many reports of them charging fees to their card holders under excuse of the foreign citibank branded ATMs not actually being owned and operated by them.

Doesn't the UNFCO debit card have a 1% VISA ISA fee? Sure like the very rare PIN priority. Of course, if you pay it off the same day I guess 1% of 0 balance is 0?

joshwex90

I have no idea how banking in France works, though a coupld of points:

1. You are always liable for FBAR, FATCA, etc. (provided you meet the threshold) if you have a foreign bank account
2. France is predominately offline PIN, so UNFCU card is great. But lots of places require French-issued card. If you have a French bank account, why not get a French card that will solve your problems?

uds0

Yep, if I had a French bank account, should be easy.

Is a week enough to get a French bank account and card, and if so, anyone have recommendations of which French bank?

Would only be practical if no AF or other fees, at least while traveling within EU.

uds0

After walking the neighborhood and trying the ATMs, I conclude that ATMs are real cash cows (at least here in the US) for the ATM operators. EVERY ATM I tried (US Bank, BofA, Bank of the West, Safeway (Allpoint), Onpoint CU, Advantis CU, and First Tech CU) charged (most $3, Advantis might have been $2) for a cash withdrawal using this State Farm Debit card.

What a racket! (I think maybe some big city (San Francisco?) may have made this abusive practice illegal!)

I viewed balances on most of the ATMs and no fee has showed up as of a hour after using the ATMs, only the $3 US bank fee for actually withdrawing $100, so that's a good thing. Some banks even charge a fee when checking your balance using their card at a different bank's ATM (without warning at the ATM since the issuing bank is charging the fee - which is disclosed in their pricing schedule, so all everyone needs to do is remember ALL the fine print in ALL their banks pricing schedules .

This underlines the need and benefit of assuring that one uses a debit card from an institution like State Farm or Schwab that reimburses these high fees.

I understand that cash withdrawals in most of Europe, at least if they are from a bank that is foreign to Europe, from a Bank run ATM, don't charge an ATM fee.

Also, cash back using a debit card when making purchases doesn't seem to trigger this fee.

jumperabv3

That's so weird !!!
I cashed out from the ATM of Leumi Bank $200 US Dollars, dollars, not shekels, cash ... and I was charged exactly $200 USD in my PenFed card statement, nothing more, nothing less.....

uds0

Where is Leumi Bank please?

Looks like only private and commercial banking, so how hard to get an account at as an individual in the US?

jamar

I tried last time I went to France. Only HSBC will do it and they charge a monthly fee if you're not Premier/Advance and meet those minimums. If you really need a PIN-priority card, Canada's easier if you're willing to suffer the 2.5% forex fee (or deal with UnionPay).

Do note that it's not unusual for ATMs in other countries to dispense USD. It was probably an Israeli branch since they don't service regular customers in the US.

joshwex90

Bank Leumi is an Israeli bank. In Israel, it is a regular bank (Israel's 2nd or 3rd largest I believe) with ATMs throughout the country. They are unique in that most of their ATMs, even not in popular tourist areas, dispense USD and EUR (in addition to ILS).

Bank Leumi does have a subsidiary, Bank Leumi USA, which is private banking in the US (they have a large branch in midtown Manhattan)

uds0

Thanks!

I was trying to understand if it was an available tool to avoid ATM fees here in the US. Thus, I don't consider it statistically significant here.

jumperabv3

When I was in the US, I used my Halifax Clarity card to get cash from ATMs (Citibank / KeyBank / Wells Fargo) ... all of those ATMs usually charge a fee for cash withdrawal but this fee doesn't apply if you use your Halifax Clarity card, so although I had to pay the amount in GBP - I got it without paying any fee or any Foreign Exchange charges (Edit/Additional Info: and the GBP-USD was quite high at this time, around 1.60).

That's the benefit of having both UK and US accounts.

Furyleader

hmm you've previously mentioned the withdraw limit on the card is at 5k , but isnt the local atm operation also have its own limit ? I too will be traveling to taiwan/china soon don't think their atm have higher cap like ones in Israel

jumperabv3

Yes, sorry about that, I actually tested my PenFed card for higher amounts ... looks like the info I received from PenFed customer service was wrong.

Here are the facts:

• You can withdraw up to $500 at once! But only up to $500!
• You can withdraw more than $500 (e.g. take $500 from the ATM, then take another $500 from the ATM again)
• It will trigger the security feature on the card if you do it too many times (happened to me), you would need to call the verification line if it happens, but it was quick for me to call them and get it unblocked quite immediately
• To avoid getting blocked you can go inside the bank and ask them to SWIPE the card and get a large amount of cash - UP TO $5k - so in my case I asked for $2k - the teller had no problems to do that - remember to bring ID with you (even 2 types of ID) as the bank doesn't know you and need to ensure you own the card and verified
• There WAS NO FEE for me to do that with the bank teller in Leumi Bank so I can take up to $5k but that requires me to go inside the bank during opening hours ... I can also take up to $500 ... usually after doing it for 3 times i.e. taking out $1,500 - the card gets blocked

Furyleader

Thanks for clearing that up on withdrawing per basis limit, is there a total witdawy limit for the day then ?

since the branch at your the bank allows you do 5k , I suppose not all banks are likewise on the cash advance withdraw threshold ?