Open a U.S. bank account

You can open a bank account in your first week. Federal law requires banks to verify your identity — it does not require you to be a citizen, a permanent resident, or to hold a Social Security number.

Cost

Free at many banks; watch for monthly fees

Time

30–60 minutes in a branch

You need

Photo ID, a tax number or an accepted alternative, an address

Protection

Look for "FDIC insured" — deposits are protected to $250,000

What to bring

• Passport (a foreign passport is accepted photo ID)
• Second form of ID — a foreign driver's licence, a consular ID card, a student ID
• SSN or ITIN if you have one
• Proof of your U.S. address — a lease or a utility bill
• An opening deposit, often $25–$100

Without an SSN

Many large banks will open an account for someone with a passport and an ITIN, or with a passport and proof of address alone. Policy varies not only between banks but between branches, so if one refuses you, ask another.

Credit unions are member-owned non-profits and are frequently the most flexible on documentation, as well as the cheapest. Anyone who lives or works in the right area, or belongs to the right employer or community group, can usually join.

Go in person for the first account. Online applications are usually built around an SSN and a U.S. credit file and will simply fail; a branch officer can follow a different procedure.

The two accounts to open

• A checking account for daily spending, with a debit card
• A savings account for money you are not spending, which pays some interest

Ask whether the bank offers a secured credit card to its own customers. It is the standard first step into a U.S. credit file, and having the account already open makes it easier — see building a credit history.

Fees — the part that costs new arrivals money

American banks charge in ways that are unfamiliar to many people:

• Monthly maintenance fee, typically $5–$15, usually waived if you keep a minimum balance or receive a direct deposit
• Overdraft fee, around $35, charged each time a payment exceeds your balance. Decline overdraft coverage when you open the account: the transaction is refused instead, which is free.
• Out-of-network ATM fees, charged twice — once by the ATM owner, once by your bank
• Wire transfer fees, $15–$50, and poor exchange rates on international transfers

Ask for the fee schedule in writing and ask directly how each fee is avoided. Every one of them has a waiver condition, and staff will tell you what it is if asked.

Set up direct deposit

Have your employer pay wages directly into the account. It usually waives the monthly fee, gets you your money a day or two earlier, and creates the payment record landlords ask for.

It also gets you out of cheque-cashing shops, which take a percentage of every paycheck and are among the most expensive services aimed at people without accounts.

Deposits are protected — check for the label

FDIC insurance at banks, and NCUA at credit unions, protects $250,000 per depositor per institution if it fails. Look for the label. Payment apps and prepaid cards are not banks, and money sitting in them may not be covered at all — move wages out of an app and into an insured account rather than leaving a balance there.

What to be careful of

Cheque fraud is common and falls on the person who deposited the cheque. A deposited cheque may show as available funds days before the bank discovers it is fraudulent, and the money is then taken back out of your account.

Never deposit a cheque for someone else, and never send back part of a payment that was "sent by mistake" — this is the most common scam aimed at newcomers, and the scams that target new immigrants covers the rest of the pattern.