# Which US checking account to keep? Chase or Bank of America?



## lsz0719 (Oct 8, 2013)

Hi guys,

I currently have checking accounts with both Chase and Bank of America in the US and was wondering which one to keep after relocating to Dubai. Do you happen to know which one is more convenient to use in Dubai or have partnership with any local banks?

Thanks!


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## Bulls_96 (Apr 21, 2010)

lsz0719 said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> I currently have checking accounts with both Chase and Bank of America in the US and was wondering which one to keep after relocating to Dubai. Do you happen to know which one is more convenient to use in Dubai or have partnership with any local banks?
> 
> Thanks!


I have the Chase Mileage Plus credit card. It has no foreign transaction fees. I've never used BOA, so I can't think of anything good about them.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

I have been using BOA years before leaving US 18 years ago (was under a different bank name before called BOA) and continue to use them until now (after 7 different countries) without any issue. I do not see any reason / problem to change in the future...

They also have CC with no foreign transaction fee plus normal online access, international transfer, etc - I guess most large banks have same.

No affiliation locally for BOA, that I know of. If that's important to you, Citibank has a global account that is easily transferrable everywhere they have branches so you could move with you - but the minimum balance is high, if remember correctly.

Can't answer your question directly, just feedback on BOA.


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## Visp (Mar 23, 2013)

B of A is good for international transactions. Chase is more likely to panic and shut down your entire account because you accessed it from outside the USA, and then take forever to re-instate it.


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## ccr (Jun 20, 2010)

Visp said:


> B of A is good for international transactions. Chase is more likely to panic and shut down your entire account because you accessed it from outside the USA, and then take forever to re-instate it.


About BOA, it also depends...

At the beginning, whenever I travel (which I do a lot) to a different country, the CC transaction would get a lot of hassle (i.e. call the bank to verify) which is almost impossible at some places where I have to travel to.

But I have made arrangements with BOA so that is avoidable now that they have seen my spending history, other than very very large purchases at strange places.

Never had to deal with Chase (have 1 of their CC, but never use) so no idea.


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## lsz0719 (Oct 8, 2013)

Thank you for your replies. I decide to keep the BOA check account and close out the one with Chase. I also applied for a travel rewards credit card because it has no foreign transaction fee or annual fee. They seem to be a good combination for me to use in Dubai. :clap2:


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## INFAMOUS (Apr 19, 2011)

Yea BoA works great for me. They have one of the best Mobile Apps too which is nice.


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## ash_ak (Jan 22, 2011)

Just make sure if you are only keeping a minimum balance in your BOA account, that they don't charge you a monthly fee. They do have options for various accounts and I believe one of them is a checking only account where you don't have to worry about being charged a monthly fee.

As far as a credit card is concerned, I have a Starwood Amex (possible annual charge) which is accepted pretty much around the world and you get SPG points redeemable for that dream vacation in Bali


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## INFAMOUS (Apr 19, 2011)

ash_ak said:


> Just make sure if you are only keeping a minimum balance in your BOA account, that they don't charge you a monthly fee. They do have options for various accounts and I believe one of them is a checking only account where you don't have to worry about being charged a monthly fee.
> 
> As far as a credit card is concerned, I have a Starwood Amex (possible annual charge) which is accepted pretty much around the world and you get SPG points redeemable for that dream vacation in Bali


If you register for Paperless billing BoA waves all monthly charges, considering the OP already had an account with them I am sure this is the case


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## lsz0719 (Oct 8, 2013)

INFAMOUS said:


> If you register for Paperless billing BoA waves all monthly charges, considering the OP already had an account with them I am sure this is the case


Yep, if you only have an online banking checking account with BoA, there is no monthly maintenance fee or whatsoever. However, with Chase, you need to either have a direct deposit or a balance above $1,500 to waive the fees. This is one of the reasons why I chose BoA over Chase.


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## lsz0719 (Oct 8, 2013)

ash_ak said:


> As far as a credit card is concerned, I have a Starwood Amex (possible annual charge) which is accepted pretty much around the world and you get SPG points redeemable for that dream vacation in Bali


I have a SPG Amex card too, but I don't think it would be very useful in Dubai given the 2.7% foreign transaction fee.


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## lsz0719 (Oct 8, 2013)

Have you guys ever transferred money to your BoA account from Dubai? Any idea how much fees would be involved?


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

I transfer regularly and apart from the outgoing ~40 dhs fee here, BoA deducts ~12$ as an incoming wire fee, and ~10$ always disappears during the transfer.


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## indoMLA (Feb 6, 2011)

I have BoA and I find using their ATM cards to be usually accepted all over the world. Chase is not that acceptable and as others have said Chase does tend to shut you down due to sensitive (better?) fraud detections.

My BoA wire transfers are free. If you are still in the US, get a Compass bank account, that way your wires are free and ATM transactions are free.


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## ash_ak (Jan 22, 2011)

INFAMOUS said:


> If you register for Paperless billing BoA waves all monthly charges, considering the OP already had an account with them I am sure this is the case



Not necessarily, i was already on paperless statements, but i was still being charged a fee on my savings account. like the OP mentioned in a subsequent post, there is a specific type of account called the online banking checking account or something to that effect, which has no fee, well atleast that's been my experience with a Texas BOA account.


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