Banking in the United States

Opening an account is straightforward once you have an SSN or ITIN — building the credit history that actually gets you approved for anything is the part nobody warns you about.

Opening your first account

Major banks (Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi, HSBC) will open a checking and savings account for a newly arrived visa holder, but almost all of them want an SSN or ITIN plus a U.S. address and a government photo ID. If you’re arriving on a confirmed job offer, a handful of banks let you get ahead of this: HSBC’s Premier / international arrival program and Chase International both allow certain visa holders (H-1B, L-1, and others with an offer letter) to open an account before landing or within days of arrival, sometimes using an existing relationship with HSBC in your home country. Outside those programs, expect to wait until your SSN/ITIN paperwork clears — typically 2–4 weeks after you apply.

Typical fees

Monthly maintenance fees on standard checking accounts run $0–$25, usually waived if you maintain a minimum balance (often $1,500–$2,500) or set up direct deposit. Out-of-network ATM withdrawals commonly cost $2.50–$5 per transaction (plus a fee from the ATM owner). Overdraft fees, historically $30–$35 per incident, have been shrinking or disappearing at major banks under regulatory pressure, but check your specific account’s terms — they still exist at many banks.

The credit history problem

This is the single most underestimated part of relocating to the U.S.: your credit history does not transfer. Two decades of perfect repayment in Toronto, London or Singapore means nothing to the three U.S. credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) — you start at zero, exactly like an 18-year-old opening their first account. A thin or nonexistent credit file, not bad credit, is what quietly makes life harder: landlords, cell phone carriers and even some employers check your FICO score (a 300–850 scale built from payment history, amounts owed, length of history, new credit and credit mix), and “no history” often gets treated worse than a mediocre score.

Rebuilding from scratch

The standard fix is a secured credit card: you deposit $200–$500 (sometimes more) as collateral, which becomes your credit limit, use it lightly, and pay it off in full every month. After 6–12 months of on-time payments, most issuers either graduate you to an unsecured card or your score is strong enough to qualify for one elsewhere. Some newer fintech products (e.g., cards aimed specifically at newcomers, or ones that factor in bank-account cash flow instead of credit history) can shortcut this, but availability varies. A few large banks will also consider your foreign credit history from certain countries through third-party services, though this is inconsistent and shouldn’t be counted on.