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I live and work in the UK and I often pay fees in USD (mostly to hosting companies) and receive payments in USD (for freelance jobs). Is there any way I can legally and practically open a bank account in USD by using my own name and:

  • without setting foot in the US (anywhere in the UK is fine);
  • without paying a single penny in silly additional fees for so-called "international" bank accounts;
  • without having to deal with minimum deposits nonsense?

Thank you.

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    This reads as a "shopping question". Ask your local banks if and of them can handle a USD-denominated account. Thd transnational banks probably can. Note that there will be currency conversion fees if you try to move UKP (or any currency other than USD) into or out of that account.
    – keshlam
    Feb 8, 2016 at 21:17
  • In the UK only a few banks offer USD accounts to individuals, and only two I know of do it without fees. It's just not needed that often in the UK.
    – Will
    Feb 8, 2016 at 22:14
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    Opening a foreign bank account in USD is not the same thing as having a bank account in the US. For example, cheques deposited in US banks by your suppliers may be held for a long time and have large fees applied. Best check that it's actually going to be useful to you- I imagine you'd want at least a credit-card like facility. Also, Paypal, for example, won't let you transfer USD directly to a foreign US dollar denominated bank account.
    – Spehro Pefhany
    Feb 8, 2016 at 22:35
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    Echoing the comment by @SpehroPefhany, I think that you'll get better answers if you clarify if you want an account at a UK bank denominated in USD or if you want a US bank account (also denominated in USD). Those are two very different questions.
    – user32479
    Feb 9, 2016 at 1:59

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This probably isn't an appropriate venue for this question, but HSBC offers currency accounts which are free if you have your main current account with them.

You should'nt ever need to step into the US to open a USD account, just like most major currencies (i.e GBP, EUR, CHF) it has no major limits on who may hold it, so banks in most countries can offer USD accounts.

The HSBC account only charges for transfers, as is to be expected.

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