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fhq
Joined: 21 Apr 2014
Posts: 14
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 Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 12:58 pm Post subject: Best bank for Americans |
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Is there a bank that's known to be the best choice for American expats? Especially from the perspective of wiring fees.
Also, is there an ideal recipient bank in the US that charges a minimal amount for incoming wires from Saudi? |
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Gulezar
Joined: 19 Jun 2007
Posts: 483
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 2:38 pm Post subject: Re: Best bank for Americans |
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| fhq wrote: |
Is there a bank that's known to be the best choice for American expats? Especially from the perspective of wiring fees.
Also, is there an ideal recipient bank in the US that charges a minimal amount for incoming wires from Saudi? |
I never had too many issues with SABB
http://www.sabb.com/1/2/sabb-en/home |
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buravirgil
Joined: 23 Jan 2014
Posts: 967
Location: Jiangxi Province, China
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 3:08 pm Post subject: Re: Best bank for Americans |
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| fhq wrote: |
Is there a bank that's known to be the best choice for American expats? Especially from the perspective of wiring fees.
Also, is there an ideal recipient bank in the US that charges a minimal amount for incoming wires from Saudi? |
Not really. The fees are modest, so any ol' bank in America will do. An employer typically chooses a bank to deposit a salary.
I think the fee on both ends (the bank my employer used, and my own) was $15 for any amount. Brits cornered the market on this aspect of Saudi/Western relations with the single, American exception of J.P. Morgan. Brits corner a lot of markets. Viva Johnny Depp! |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Check out the major credit unions in your US city; mine charges a flat fee of $10. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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Banks in KSA do not compete. The services provided are very similar. It may be better to open an account with the same bank that your employer uses. If you insist on a US connection, try SAMBA, but they do not have many branches. http://samba.com/en/personal-banking.html
It can be cheaper to use some of the Remittance Companies like Speedcash (operated by Saudi American Bank) or Al-Rajhi when sending money, but you are not talking about saving a lot of dinero by doing that.
Many expats use online banking. I never trusted that. Stuck in the past ! |
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buravirgil
Joined: 23 Jan 2014
Posts: 967
Location: Jiangxi Province, China
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2015 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| scot47 wrote: |
Banks in KSA do not compete. The services provided are very similar. It may be better to open an account with the same bank that your employer uses. If you insist on a US connection, try SAMBA, but they do not have many branches. http://samba.com/en/personal-banking.html
It can be cheaper to use some of the Remittance Companies like Speedcash (operated by Saudi American Bank) or Al-Rajhi when sending money, but you are not talking about saving a lot of dinero by doing that.
Many expats use online banking. I never trusted that. Stuck in the past ! |
SAMBA's not actually American, despite the name. Samba Financial Group.(Wikipedia)
After setting up accounts, I was able to transfer money abroad from an ATM. The banking system is one of the few things about Saudi that was more advanced than back home. Erm, maybe the only thing.
I was lucky my employer used Riyadh bank because it meant more convenient ATMs. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 7:52 am Post subject: |
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Right - I see Citibank sold its share of Samba.
I used the Riyadh Bank, but at various times also used Arab National Bank and National Commercial Bank.
Banks in KSA are efficient but be aware of the problems of accessing your account if your Iqama expires or if you are out of Kingdom. The poster known as "ghost" had a nasty experience. See his tale of woe elsewhere.
Banks in Saudi Arabia are geared up to doing international business. They are pretty slick at this and proof that Saudi nationals can perform ion a "modern" work environment. Front-line staff are all nationals. |
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1Sapphire1
Joined: 17 Aug 2009
Posts: 42
Location: Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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| I've wired my salary into my brokerage account, (Ameritrade). They do not charge incoming wire fees. They will usually not accept 3rd party wires so the name on both ends must match. |
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