Opening a bank account in the US

[Dayne67]

Hey guys,

 

For those of you that will attending med school is the US, I presume you will be opening bank accounts in the US as well. But don't we need a social security number to do this?

 

I was going to use Sallie Mae Tuition Pay to make monthly tuition payments. But it says that it only accept payments from a US bank account located in the US.

 

So, I was just wondering.....

[Monster]

I know you don't need a social security number 'cause I have a friend who has a bank account there and doesn't have a social security number. Just not sure if you would be allowed a credit card since that would require credit which you won't have in the U.S.

I don't think you need one anyway from the sound of it (and come to think of it, the U.S. has this weird thing where you have a card and they ask you if you want to do credit or debit on it...apparently either way it just comes out of your bank account so I don't really get it...but one you have to sign the slip and the other you have to type in the PIN...I was always very confused by the whole system:confused: so I guess based on that you can get a credit card.)

I think all they require from you is an address..and maybe a passport or something

[Jochi1543]

You'll get a SSN from your school (it'll just be one of those that won't allow you to work).

[a41]

You don't need a SSN. Just go to the bank and open an account. You'll need your passport. I recommend Fifth Third Bank if they have it in your state.

 

You can't get a credit card, but the banks give these Mastercard Debit cards which can be used as Credit or Debit as mentioned. They withdraw directly from your account, but they can be used as a credit card to buy amazingly cheap stuff off of Amazon.com!

 

Alternatively you can also open a Royal Bank US account (not USD account). Most RBC's in Canada should know how to help you out with this. This makes it easy to transfer/convert funds if you already have an RBC account. The only downside is that RBC is only in the low country (Carolinas/Georgia etc) so you might not have access to an ATM.