Keeping US bank accounts from closing when in Spain

Like @howardfishman1 I have a USA mail drop. I put Apt # rather than Box # and usually nobody complains that it's not a residential address. I also have a Skype number in the USA, so I have an American phone number to go with the address. My phone is in California and my address is in Texas, but, again, nobody seems to care. Skype is rather good as SMS messages (from security checking, for example) are received and displayed.

However, banks are the pickiest with the geographic issue, so even this might not work. But if you're an American and the account is already open, then I reckon most will be OK with the above solution.

This kind of solution should work for remote ordering (e.g. Amazon) with onward shipping, but I'd expect it to be OK for brokerage accounts, credit cards, banks, insurance policies... and perhaps even your credit report.

I've been doing this since 2001 when I was living in San Francisco. But apart from a couple of trips I've barely been back to the US in the last 20 years.

howardfishman1 wrote:

We opened an account at a virtual postal service- iPostal1. The bank accepted that. Schwab seems okay with that, as well.  I can't see other responses so not sure what others are saying.

Same here
GM

Thanks everyone, I had heard of iPostal1. Do they do a good job of scanning your mail to you, or do you not use them for that? I am hoping that since I have a US address now (and I'm not selling my house but renting it out) I can just keep it on the record and opt for paperless delivery. So in a sense I actually will have a real US address, just one that I'm currently away from.

Even and still, I'd like it if I knew at least one bank that flat-out doesn't care about my address. I ask BofA each time I've talked to them for other matters -- 3 times they said they didn't care where I lived, 1 time they said they did.

I sold my house and moved to Ténérife. I forwarded mail coming in to Ipostal which is my official address for banks and all official correspondence. I put Unit # instead of box and it works.
They notify you of incoming mail and give you options as to what you want done
They scan or shred or forward or hold for pickup as requested
I love it
Go to their website for plans
Good luck
George