# Wells Fargo no longer supporting International Accounts



## Marion Derrett (Jul 30, 2021)

My husband and I used to live and work in the USA. We banked with Wells Fargo, and have continued to do so.

This was important to us as: 1. My husband has a US pension from a company that will only pay it into a US bank, and 2. my husband had a 401K that was rolled over into an IRA (tax sheltered) when he retired. He is allowed to take a payment from this, tax free, each year, which he has been doing.

Now Wells Fargo have told us they are, as of Sept 30th, no longer supporting International accounts, and that we need to open accounts in the US with another bank, and that Wells Fargo will help with the transfer of our assets. We have spoken to Wells Fargo, but they will not recommend any bank or even suggest a bank that might work for us.

This is turning out to be a problem. Our financial advisor at Wells Fargo is not being at all helpful, apart from talking to a contact of his at Morgan Chase who said Morgan Chase is also closing International accounts, he will do nothing. It seems that it is up to us to find a bank in the US, and open the account. 

We have contacted HSBC, but have informed us that they are not taking on any more international accounts for the time being.

We need to find a US bank that will take on the Wealth management of the IRA, as well as provide us with a current account. Can anyone help?


----------



## fstiffan (Aug 4, 2021)

Marion Derrett said:


> My husband and I used to live and work in the USA. We banked with Wells Fargo, and have continued to do so.
> 
> This was important to us as: 1. My husband has a US pension from a company that will only pay it into a US bank, and 2. my husband had a 401K that was rolled over into an IRA (tax sheltered) when he retired. He is allowed to take a payment from this, tax free, each year, which he has been doing.
> 
> ...


Hi Marion
we have the situation with Wells Fargo and so far there has been very little help indeed except saying “find another bank”. I have tried Ameritrade, Fidelity and Firsttrade and all refused to take my IRA from Wells Fargo. The only answer I am getting is that I can pull the money because I am older than 55 but I get a 10% penalty on pulling the funds before age 59,5. Can we find more people with the issue so we can all push for a solution at Wells Fargo? Check out article Why US Brokerage Accounts of American Expats are Being Closed (2017)


----------



## Pallykin (Mar 30, 2014)

It sounds like the answer to this is to establish a US address. We came up with a service called St. Brendan’s Isle, which started out as a a mail forwarding for (boat) cruisers: 






Business Mailing Address For Executives and Expatriates


Business Mailing Address is available through SBI for business executives and expatriate travelers who want to maintain a U.S. address.




www.sbimailservice.com





We have not used it, but it will likely try it when our time comes.

Other useful tips I came across are using Ooma (Internet Phone Services - #1 VoIP Phone for Business and Home) to retain a US phone number. We moved our landline to Ooma when we became cord cutters. It’s my understanding that when we move, we can pack up the Ooma box and the phone number will travel with us.

Last I checked, and this is not recent, it was possible to move a phone number to Google Voice and have it still ring in a fashion so you could answer it. This would be helpful for mobile numbers.

These things, taken together, should allow you to establish a US presence and then you can either update your address with Wells Fargo, or roll over your retirement investment to a different bank using the Florida address provided by St. Brendan’s Isle.

Let us know if this works…


----------



## b.s.mcknight43 (6 mo ago)

Marion Derrett said:


> My husband and I used to live and work in the USA. We banked with Wells Fargo, and have continued to do so.
> 
> This was important to us as: 1. My husband has a US pension from a company that will only pay it into a US bank, and 2. my husband had a 401K that was rolled over into an IRA (tax sheltered) when he retired. He is allowed to take a payment from this, tax free, each year, which he has been doing.
> 
> ...


All you needed to do was establish a permanent address within the USA, one done, then you retain your account


----------



## DFitzG (6 mo ago)

b.s.mcknight43 said:


> All you needed to do was establish a permanent address within the USA, one done, then you retain your account


When you say "establish a permanent address within the USA", do you mean you will need to prove that you now permanently reside in the USA.. And if so what proof would the bank likely need? Could one simply use the address of a relative or friend living in the USA?


----------



## expus (5 mo ago)

I also received email from wells fargo recently that they will no longer accept my foreign address for regular checking account. i am also looking for a us bank to accept my foreign address to open just a regular checking !
As far as retirement accounts did you try fidelity ameritrade or schwab? 

as american citizens living abroad, we are required to do taxes down to every detail to US every year, but when it comes to having a bank account in the US, it is between hard to impossible. this is not fair.. they make life really hard for us expats.


----------



## Pallykin (Mar 30, 2014)

If you change your address to a non-US one on any account containing ordinary mutual funds, you will no longer have the ability to trade those mutual funds. There are other kinds of investments that you will still be able to trade such as ETFs, but this means changing your investment strategy.

Read here and be sure to open and read the section on “Mutual Fund Restrictions”






Financial & Investment Information information : financial | Washington, DC |


Financial & Investment Information - Americans abroad often run into difficulties with their financial investments. This most often happens when investing in foriegn mutual funds or foriegn pensions that are taxed as PFICs or Passive Foriegn Investment Companies.Currency flucuations also present...




www.americansabroad.org





Let us know what you end up doing…


----------

