What to do when your U.S. bank tosses you to the curb.

So, what I did I do? I transferred my account balance to by backup bank, Ally Bank, which uses the same address in Texas. Meanwhile I am working on getting a new backup for my backup.

I recommend three plastic cards for Expats who

like to travel.

When Wells Fargo in USA canceled my Visa debit card

last year, I replaced it with plastic from an Ecuador

co-op.

Chase Bank in USA has been steady and, unlike

Wells Fargo, doesn't seem to care that my sole

permanent address is in Quito.

My Ecuador-based Banco card is my other card.

cccmedia in Quito

Three is the magic number.

The reason I like at least three (debit) cards is

that over the years things can go wrong.

A card can be lost, stolen or damaged. Or, for

security reasons, the issuer may invalidate the

card and require an international phone call

to reactivate it.

When traveling, a charge my be declined because

it is higher than normal in an unexpected place,

for example, for a hotel stay or a medical procedure.

Also, in some countries in South America,

mail delivery service is so unreliable (looking at you,

República de Ecuador) that it can

take a while to get a replacement card, for instance,

when a card reaches the expiration date.

cccmedia

During my suspension, I opened an  "International Schwab brokerage account" and a checking and savings account with the State Department Federal Credit Union, by becoming a member of the non-profit American Citizens Abroad for $70.

Both have limitations for me, but I am still digging into the details. I think the combination of the two will serve as an adequate backup to my Ally checking/savings  accounts.

We call your attention to the fact that Americans living overseas suffer from exclusion from the financial system, and particularly have difficulty in accessing and retaining savings vehicles and retirement plans. -November 29, 2022

AARO is a non-profit organization advocating for Americans abroad. Apparently, they are based in Europe, unlike American Citizens Abroad which is based in Washington D.C:

XXX:https://www.aaro.org/images/Banking/Letter_to_Americans_Abroad_Caucus.pdf

To open my international Schwab brokerage account, I have my Texas mailbox address specified as my "mailing address," and my Cuenca address as my residential address. So, Schwab has been sending some me documents to my Texas mailbox as part of the opening process.  Interestingly, I was reviewing my shipping options and addresses, and there was an address in my address book titled "Office of Authentications (U.S. Department of State)".  I emailed client support of my mail service asking, "what was that address?" since I didn't add it, and this was their response.

I do see the Office of Authentications address in your account, and we are not allowed to add addresses to customer accounts unless they specifically ask us to. As such, you are welcome to delete it by hovering over the address and clicking "Delete."

The Office of Authentications does apostille and authentication certificates for the U.S, so I interpreted that entry in my address book as a message from big brother warning I better not do anything illegal with my new State Department credit union account, because they are watching.

My question to the mailbox service:

Hello, Thank you for your reply, Out of curiosity, has the Office of Authentications explained in general terms in the past for other clients, or specifically as it relates to my mailbox, why they would want to add an entry to my address book?

Reply from Mailbox service:

May 22, 2023, 11:49 AM CST

"Hi Mr. Barley,

So nobody has the authority to add to your address book without your permission so it really is a case of the address being added by someone who has access to your account.

Our servers are highly secure so nobody beyond the customer (and us) would have access to customer account details to amend them.

Customer confidentiality is of utmost importance to us so we would never grant any governing body access to just add an address to a customer account.

I hope this brings your reassurance. If you need to remove the address, you are welcome to do so at any time."

My paranoia runs deep these days, I guess (early stage dementia?)  The employee of the mailbox service told me that the address book entry was created in year 2015, which probably means I probably created it to get a document apostilled related to becoming a citizen of Ecuador.  What I find so weird, is when I selected the option for my address book earlier, there were three choices, and one of them was for the State Department Office of Authentication. I now expand the entire address book and I see my Cuenca address. It seems the sort order of the addresses got changed.

A couple points about getting an account with the State Department Federal Credit Union.

As "proof of residency" they give you a few options. Like all renters in Ecuador, I did not have a utility bill with my own name and address, and they would not accept my Celerity internet bill.  However, they did accept a copy of my lease agreement, but you to need to translate it to English which I did myself.

The State Department Credit Union doesn't allow a separate mailing address, so it appears that if I want an ATM card and checks, I will have to have them mailed direct to my Cuenca address using an international courier. If there are any complications, I will comment on it.

On Friday, I went to Bank of America's website to setup an automatic withdrawal for the minimum payment required and on Sunday BOFA made the initial small deposits for verification purposes into my new account and the Credit Union immediately put a hold on my balances and I thought I was screwed, since my Bank of America credit card is technically only for U.S. residents; BOFA has never threated to cancel my card although they have asked me a few times over the years when online whether I was a resident of the U.S.  However, I got an email back from the credit Union today saying,

"Dear Mr. Barley,

Thank you for your email. We appreciate this opportunity to assist you.

We show a hold was placed on the funds deposited into your account.  However, we show the hold is set to expire on 5/23/2023 and your funds will become available."

A major difference between a U.S. based Schwab Account and an International Schwab account appears to be the fact you can have a distinct and separate checking account with the U.S. account while with the international Schwab you can't. Everything is apparently comingled into your brokerage account and when you use your ATM card or checks, it comes out directly from the brokerage account.  From a security perspective, I am not too thrilled about this for security reasons, but they do insure the accounts, so my meager crumbs should be protected:

The combined total of our SIPC coverage and our "excess SIPC" coverage means Schwab provides protection up to an aggregate of US$600 million, limited to a combined return of US$150 million per customer, up to US$1.15 million of which may be in cash. This protection becomes available in the event SIPC limits are exhausted.

To any Interactive Brokers clients, is that how it works for you

Since I have mail in my mailbox in Houston from Schwab that I need to send to Cuenca, I was checking out the prices from my mailing service for sending less than a pound. Here are the prices. While my intention is to use Laarbox out of Miami since I should be able to send it for < $15, my most recent Amazon purchases are held up in Customs or worse. I say worse because i received a phone call from a Laarbox representative asking me if I received one of my packages making me wonder if it is lost.

• DHL Express Worldwide  1-3 days  $ 142.06
• DHL Express Easy  1-3 days  $ 226.31
• UPS Worldwide Expedited®  4-7 days  $ 162.65
• UPS Worldwide Saver®  1-3 days  $ 173.18
• USPS First Class Mail International  7-21 days  $ 14.10 (Not Trackable)
• USPS Priority Mail International  6-10 days  $ 78.09
• USPS Priority Mail Express International  3-5 days  $ 92.79

By the way, If I use Laarbox, I will have to first mail the letters to them in Miami for around $10-$13

Mr Barley, Have you looked into Traveling Mailbox.com? Their rates are reasonable and services very comprehensive. Also, recently I ordered a few items from Canada; the company is set up to ship to Ecuador. The DHL Worldwide Express rate was $10 or $15 US; Ecuadorian customs fees cost far more at almost 40% of the items total cost.

Mr Barley, Have you looked into Traveling Mailbox.com?

I think I tried switching to them or another service years back because at the time I thought they included a certain number of free scans that made them a better deal. However, Bank of America, who is the provider of my beloved credit cards, won't allow me to change my primary address to any address that is considered a commercial address by their system. Although my current address doesn't qualify either, I have been using it as my primary address for over 11 years with them, so they are probably giving me a break. As long as I respond to the pop-up dialog each year online in the affirmative that I am a resident of the United States, I haven't had any problems. If Ally Bank and Bank of America kicks me to the curb in the future, I may consider alternative mailboxes.

Someone elsewhere in Colombia, claims to have called Chase bank and was told it would be no problem for a non-resident to open a bank account with them.

Here is what Chase's "How to open a U.S. bank account for non-residents" web page says:

Proof of address

Proof of U.S. address must be provided in the form of a document that shows both your name and address to ensure you're associated with the property. This can include:

•     Employer's pay stub or paycheck
•     Letter with name and address
•     Utility bills dated 60 days or sooner

I guess a letter created in notepad with your name and virtual mailbox address in the state seems doable. I still remain skeptical.

I heard live streamer Loren Lowe recently say that in Colombia, his utility bills are in the landlord's name except for his internet bill.  So, besides Ecuador, we have Colombia and Paraguay confirmed as countries where your name and address won't be appearing on your electric/gas/ or water bills unless you own the property. I wonder how many other countries in Latin American we can put on that list.

I have started to think about submitting travel notices in preparation of migrating north for any of my financial institutions which issue debit cards.  Bank of America did away with travel notices for their credit cards a few years ago, since they said they have other ways of detecting fraudulent credit card usage. 

I am particularly concerned about my federal credit union since I only recently acquired an international account with them by using my lease agreement for my apartment, and I don't want them asking me for another lease  in the near future. So, I sent them an email:

Hello, I have an international account with you. I am thinking of giving up my apartment in the next months and heading up to Quito, Ecuador from Cuenca, Ecuador. My question is, if I am staying in Airbnbs, before deciding whether I want a long-term lease, do I need to submit a travel notice to you, and will you be asking me for a new lease agreement after a certain amount of time?

Here is their reply, informing me that i don't need to submit a travel notice to travel to Quito. Clearly, if I go to Colombia it would be necessary to submit a travel notice, although I would imagine they will get suspicious that i may be living there if I use it too much.

Thank you for your email. We truly appreciate this opportunity to assist you. Thank you for allowing us to serve you since May 2023. As you will be in Ecuador a travel notification would not need to be submitted.