# Received Stimulus Check - now how do I bank it?



## popcas (Mar 18, 2021)

My father used his accountant to file for my stimulus check which has now arrived. Totally forgot to confirm the amount. My father llives in the US.

I currently live in the UK and am a dual UK / US Citizen.

I thought I had a still active US Bank account but it looks like it was closed a while back and I must have forgot.

So how do I bank this check? I can't sign it over to my father as I need to physically sign it and I am in the UK.

I was given advice to open up a Wise account but I didn't as my father Accountant said there was no need as a check will drop in the post.

So can I open up a US Bank account whilst still in the UK?


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

This shouldn't be an insurmountable problem, but your father's accountant is a bit of a bonehead, frankly. 

Your options:

(1) ask if your UK bank will deposit the check, likely with a large service fee attached (don't do this if you are concealing your US citizenship from them to avoid FATCA reporting, obviously)

(2) open a US bank account somehow and deposit the check via mail or phone app

(3) find out if it's possible to deposit checks to a Wise account; if yes, do that


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

At the moment, there doesn't seem to be a way to deposit checks to a Wise account. But definitely ask your UK bank (even if you are keeping secrets from them). I know of at least a few people here in Europe who received EIP checks and were pleasantly surprised to learn that their local bank would accept them for deposit. (And these folks weren't US citizens, either.) At least ask the question. The fees for depositing a foreign check aren't nearly as obscene as they used to be. But be sure to ask the question "innocently" at your bank. (I.e. don't indicate that you think there is any "problem" to doing this) You may be pleasantly surprised by the response.

It's highly unlikely that you'll be able to open a US account from across the pond, thanks to the "Know Your customer" rules that have been in effect for some time now. And as I found out (the hard way, of course) many US banks no longer allow customers to endorse checks to a third party anyhow, so it may not do much good to open a new account over there.


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## jweihl (Jul 18, 2017)

Perhaps a US bank with a branch in Paris might help. They're probably french banks that are affiliated, but maybe they can work some magic. France - U.S. Banks and Local Correspondent Banks | Privacy Shield


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Generally speaking, depositing (or cashing) a foreign check is a service reserved for a bank's existing customers. It may have something to do with the fact that actually "cashing" a check here in France is pretty difficult to do - you normally have to deposit it in your account and then draw funds out using the bank machine.

But the OP is in the UK, so I'm not sure how likely it is that the banks there will do this for an existing customer. They've got plenty of post-Brexit issues to deal with as it is. However, here in France, I was actually quite surprised to find that most of the banks actually will deposit a foreign check (or at least a US check - especially one from the US Treasury Dept.) for their regular customers. Not free - but the fees have come WAY down from what they were a decade agao.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Bear in mind that the bank's exchange rate likely won't be great, in addition to whatever fee they charge. The advantage of the Wise account is not only the speedy direct deposit, but also a better exchange rate when you transfer that loot into a sterling or euro account.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

The Wise account is fine - but unless you know of a way to send them a paper check, I don't believe that is an option. Normally they require that you transfer funds into your account via a bank transfer or using a credit card.


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Bevdeforges said:


> The Wise account is fine - but unless you know of a way to send them a paper check, I don't believe that is an option. Normally they require that you transfer funds into your account via a bank transfer or using a credit card.


No, I think that ship has sailed, unfortunately. Unless there's a way to return the cheque and request a direct deposit instead - which I might not be inclined to do given how backed up the IRS is these days.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

Nononymous said:


> No, I think that ship has sailed, unfortunately. Unless there's a way to return the cheque and request a direct deposit instead - which I might not be inclined to do given how backed up the IRS is these days.


Don't forget that the IRS can (or will) only do direct deposits into a US bank account - and at that it has to be the account you authorize them to use for depositing your tax refunds, so that ship has sailed, too. I have heard tell that some of the EIP payments are made by a "pre paid debit card" which might be easier - except that there is no way to request which sort of payment you prefer. (And as you say, as overburdened as the IRS is at the moment, probably not really worth the effort to make the request.)


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## Nononymous (Jul 12, 2011)

Bevdeforges said:


> Don't forget that the IRS can (or will) only do direct deposits into a US bank account - and at that it has to be the account you authorize them to use for depositing your tax refunds, so that ship has sailed, too. I have heard tell that some of the EIP payments are made by a "pre paid debit card" which might be easier - except that there is no way to request which sort of payment you prefer. (And as you say, as overburdened as the IRS is at the moment, probably not really worth the effort to make the request.)


The IRS will do direct deposit to a US dollar Wise account, which is what I was getting at. From their you convert to another currency at a good rate and wire it to your home country. Probably not possible to change the current payment after the fact, but if the OP is eligible for any of the new child credits or benefits in future, they would be well advised to set this up.


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