Moving Money Around

Fortunately, I have two colleagues in the UK who have both lived in California for within the last few years (both British colleagues... they'd both moved to California and come back again after a couple of years). They had a variety of advice before we left, and some of that was to do with banking. The key is knowing that Citibank in the UK will open foreign currency accounts, and will maintain them without charges so long as you keep a total of at least £2000 (or currency equivalent) in your accounts with them. As far as I can tell, they're the only bank that will give you a foreign currency account without monthly charges. So, back in May I opened both Sterling and Dollar accounts with them in preparation for moving out here. Using the magic of online banking, it's possible to move money between the Sterling and Dollar accounts without commission or charges (which is pretty good in itself). Then, the real bonus in terms of utility is that you can transfer money from the Dollar account into any US based Citibank account free of charge. I managed to open a Citibank checking account in the US before we moved out here (that's another story, though), so I was all set. The surprising thing about moving money between the UK and US Citibank accounts is that it's instantaneous. Seconds after doing the transfer from the UK Citibank online system, the money showed up in the US Citibank online system. It's a modern banking miracle.