I don't have any experience with US banks, but I'll throw in a couple of observations about your questions 2 and 3.

2. Look carefully to see if there are any options in the 2FA process, e.g. using a 2FA application on your phone, or using the bank's mobile app, or even using a hardware key such as Yubikey. (In any case the 2FA or banking apps are more secure than sending a code by SMS.) The options might be buried somewhere in the settings, usually under the heading "Privacy and Security" or some such . We have one that insists on using a UK phone number, so we have the cheapest PAYG UK SIM in a dual SIM phone. The SIM allows roaming and the cost of receiving an SMS while abroad is small. That works OK, as long as we use it from time to time to keep the live.

3. It's very easy to detect a VPN being used (the number of times captchas or "are you a human?" tests come up when I'm using a VPN is testament to that). But you can always try it out with your bank while you're still in the States, see if they object.

But there are VPNs and VPNs, and some might be more acceptable to your bank than others: I would do some deep research into specific VPNs before using one for serious things like banking. This, for example, is a recent study on the ownership of VPN companies. It's not definitive and maybe the TTP has its own agenda, but it is at least thought provoking. Waving a red flag, as it were.

HTH

 

Thank you so much for your input - the PAYG SIM with roaming in a dual SIM phone sounds great - that is a nifty way to address this issue. Let me also check on the @FA options which my banks allow. Good 'red flag' on the VPN question - yes, always thought that VPNs would be the perfect vehicle getting access to name/s. So staying mobile might be the best option.

I also found that sometimes a biometric/fingerprint within a banking app does not require 2FA in some cases.

 

1. We use physicaladdress.com . The basic level works for us, includes a fair number of envelopes and scans, and their mail forwarding rates are very low.

2. We use Google Voice. It works for everything we have, and has for about 13 years now. Your institutions may not like it, but ours don't care. A lot of people seem to use Tello at about $5/mo, but we haven't needed it. Ultra PAYGO also works for about $3/mo.

3. We use a VPN to log onto our banks/brokerages.

 

Thanks for the many tips and the recommendation for mail forwarding. I checked the site and I didn't see much info about 'physical mail forwarding abroad'. May I ask what they charge for mail forwarding for example for a 'new credit/renewed card' envelope - just in case you have a case like this.

Yes, I also though about Google voice option - is this with a free personal or business ?

 

There are solutions to all of the problems identified by the OP that work today, but they may no longer work at some point in the future.

1. Get an with a mail forwarder located in a state without an income tax. I use and recommend sbimailservice.com located in Florida. The address you get will look like a US street address, but the bank or broker can easily determine that the address is a Commercial Mail Receiver . They seldom or never make that check however.
2. Immediately change your address of record with all your banks and brokerages to CMRA's address, before you move. That way if the address change provokes a question you can still provide a utility bill, but the institutions are not likely to raise any questions.
3. While still in the US get a (free) Google Voice using your US cell phone. Most banks are willing to send OTP messages via GV's SMS service, but some are not. It's possible to open a GV after you have moved abroad, but easier while you are still there. Change your phone number of record at your financial institutions to your new GV number.
4. Open an at State Department Federal Credit Union, sdfcu.org. They are the only bank/credit union that I know of that is willing to open an for a US citizen expat. You are not an expat yet, so it will be a little easier to open it as a US resident, but in the future you need not fear that if they discover you live abroad they will close your .
5. Forget about VPNs, they do not conceal your real location to any bank that is really interested in knowing where you are. The effective solution to simulating a digital presence in the US is to use a Virtual Private Server of your own that runs in one of the cloud services, e.g. Google Cloud Services, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, or others. This will provide you with your own Windows or Linux server with a genuine US ip address. To access your bank or brokerage you to your VPS and from there open a browser and to the financial institution. With our level of usage we usually pay about $25 per month. After each use we shutdown the VPS to keep costs down. We use Google Cloud Services. There are cheaper alternatives, but I wouldn't trust them with our data.
6. If you are withdrawing money from a brokerage, for example, have the money delivered to one of your US banks and then do a Wise transfer from that bank to your foreign bank.

The only US entity that requires your physical address is the Social Security istration. Not even the IRS requires it.

You should have a few banks/credit unions and credit card providers. We have four US credit cards that don't charge foreign transaction fees or annual fees.

Since you will be logging to your financial s from your VPS located in some server farm, be sure to install a manager there to protect your s and follow best practices for use. We use and recommend 1.com.

By scrupulously using these methods to access our US banks and brokers we have been able to manage our resources from abroad without a problem for the past ten years.

Good luck.

 

Thank you so very much for this extensive list of tips! I checked on the State Department Federal Credit Union, sdfcu.org but unfortunately it looks like I am not eligible to following their criteria but I think some of my your US based Banks, credit cards with no foreign transaction fees and also Wise could fill that gap.

Good to know about the VPS/VPN distinction - I was not aware of that so this is also helpful.

You mention that the only US entity requiring a physical mailing address would be the Social Security istration. Would they be OK with a foreign address or could this lead to some issues down the road? Another question in this line would be: Is there any difference in having the social security benefits go to a US bank or having directly sent to a foreign bank ?

 

You didn't mention brokerage s, but if you're on Reddit you can ask questions anonymously on the company's official there. Mine apparently has more restrictions for U.S. citizens in than for some other European countries. At least you will know what to expect if you get caught up.

Also, as a data point, I have never had any problem getting a new or replacement credit card sent to a U.S. P.O. box. That said, I plan to use a mail-scanning service with a street address.

And to avoid having to move French and U.S. sims in and out of a phone for 2FA, I bought a cheapish flip phone that has wifi calling, where I'll keep my U.S. number using Tello, as others have recommended.

 

Thank you very much for another perspective on this and the Reddit tip - it is good to know that there are so many different paths that lead to the top of the mountain.

One question about the 'cheapish flip phone that has Wifi calling' using a US phone number. In case of the Wifi calling - would one need to request a phone call then to the flip phone for the 2FA or would 2FA text/sms to this number also work reliably?

 

Another suggestion on 2FA is to look into if the banks/services you use allow authentication via an Authenticator app (Microsoft has one that I use, as its required for where I work, and I've added a couple other things to it, like .gov and Booking.com)

 

Thank you for another great tip - I saw that there is a Google Authenticator app, one from Microsoft and many others. Would the info for banks for example which Authenticator app they accept be under the 'Security' settings?

 

There are two Costco stores in (both metro Paris), so a Costco Citi Visa should be obtainable.

 

Thanks so much for the tip - yes, this is another option: 'COSTCO ANYWHERE VISA' with no foreign transaction fees.

 

Very good advices, all throughout, so just to add my $0.02, for a thread that looks useful now, and maybe in the future:

- there are financial institutions that may not, indeed, SMS to GV numbers, but you can use the call back function for that (voice calls to get the PIN, if anyone re what those are 😁), if an own mobile app is not available as 2FA.

- a VPN solution may not work with SOME exit points in the US, but for VPN providers of large scale footprint there will always be exit points not excluded in totality. Just need to try diff exit points, and something will work. Also: under some scenarios a so-called obfuscation config in the VPN (only works with OpenVPN protocol, not wireguard - make sure you choose that) offers another "hop" (a proxy), which could further help hiding the VPN use

- a VPS (as someone suggested earlier) is a great solution, but if you go to the length of configuring one, you may as well set it up with your own tunnel/VPN, so you could use it for all your devices, as US exit point, instead of just logging into it to use a locally installed browser. ESPECIALLY as use of a mobile app will still require a US connection, not only the browser access. Note on this one: some cloud exit points (AWS, Google, Azure, etc.) may still be banned by some financial institutions - YMMV

 

- a VPS (as someone suggested earlier) is a great solution, but if you go to the length of configuring one, you may as well set it up with your own tunnel/VPN, so you could use it for all your devices, as US exit point, instead of just logging into it to use a locally installed browser. ESPECIALLY as use of a mobile app will still require a US connection, not only the browser access. Note on this one: some cloud exit points (AWS, Google, Azure, etc.) may still be banned by some financial institutions - YMMV

Some VPS charge by the minute of uptime e.g. Google Cloud Service, while some of the other, cheaper service charge a flat rate to run 24/7. For GCS the way to keep costs down is only to boot it when needed. In that case the VPS would not be well-suited for your own VPN server. On the other hand, if you don't need a Windows environment you can set up a VPN server on a cheap linux server even at the higher end providers like Google and Amazon. I run such a VPN server 24/7 on Amazon Web Services for about $5 per month. The VPS is especially useful if you need to run Windows apps.

 

You mention that the only US entity requiring a physical mailing address would be the Social Security istration. Would they be OK with a foreign address or could this lead to some issues down the road? Another question in this line would be: Is there any difference in having the social security benefits go to a US bank or having directly sent to a foreign bank ?

There is a slightly different procedure for doing foreign direct deposits for US SS. The money goes to an FBU (Federal Benefits Unit) at the appropriate US Consulate (Paris, here in ), where the lump sum is exchanged for the appropriate local currency amount (i.e. euros) and deposits are made into your local bank directly. You don't get a statement about the exchange rate or transfer fees involved, but the direct deposit is done without the receiving bank taking any sort of transfer charge (as would be the case for international bank transfers or wires). It's a little inconvenient since you don't always get the same euro amount each month, but it is a nice way to track the exchange rate fluctuations.

There are two Costco stores in (both metro Paris), so a Costco Citi Visa should be obtainable.

I don't believe Costco offers a credit card. Banking law here is very different from the US, and here pretty much all the "bank cards" are tied to a specific bank and function as debit cards. But on the other hand, a Costco hip only costs 36€ here (and I hear Costco in the US is going to raise the annual hip fee). I suppose you could sign up for the US Costco card before you move - but then I guess you would have to pay your charges on it in US$ and thus would constantly have to mind the exchange rate.

 

I don't believe Costco offers a credit card. Banking law here is very different from the US, and here pretty much all the "bank cards" are tied to a specific bank and function as debit cards.

Interesting; I was unaware that Costco hip was specific to the country. My visits to Costcos in the UK and have felt very like those in the US.

 

Oh, as I understand it, your Costco card is valid anywhere in the world where there is a Costco. It's just that the Costcos in different countries may not offer the same services. Biggest example is that you can't order Costco products online here in . (I guess that's called "Costco direct" over there.) Also, the auditory and vision services may differ, due to the different regulations in each country.

 

Quickly back to the VPN question when accessing US banks from abroad. Would using the VPN service provided by Norton 360 be any safer or more 'compatible'?

 

As I pointed out before, if the bank is using Deep Packet Inspection, which unless they are negligent they probably are, they can detect that you are using a VPN and block the connection on that basis. That's why you need a VPS.

 

My income derives from a non-EU country, but not the US, and my French bank has NEVER charged a fee for Wise transfers.

 

Are you sure that they would report it? I have done bank wire transfers from a US bank and Wise transfers to my CA . It never shows a charge, but they told me initially that receipt of foreign transfers would cost me 10 euros a pop.

 

I'm with Credit Agricole and they have always respected it. I previously used XE.com, that was primarily for larger transfers, and again CA did not charge fees. I don't believe any French bank charges fees for such transfers, I certainly have never heard of anyone having problems.

 

They would have been talking about bank to bank transfers.

 

Bank transfers within the EU are, for the most part, free of charges for sending or receiving. Bank transfers from outside the EU usually are charged 10 or 20 euros for reception at your French bank, plus whatever exchange fees there might be. Wise transfers from their "local" bank (i.e. in Belgium) to your French bank (usually as a SEPA transfer) and is considered an EU compliant SEPA transaction.

 

Unless you are transferring very large sums of money internationally, you may just want to look into Wise (formerly Transferwise) for international banking services. They don't "do" checks at all (issuing or receiving) but for international transfers and exchange they work really well - and you can get "local" bank documentation ( numbers, IBAN and ACH codes) for US$, Euros, GBP and other currencies as needed.

 

No. Packets routed through a proxy server can be detected as such by Deep Packet Inspection. A VPS that is hosted on a US server is the same as having a laptop in the US, except that the ip address for the VPS will be a commercial, not a residential, ip. The only equivalent to a VPS would be to have your laptop hosted by a friend in the US while you are in , but a VPS is cheaper and more manageable.

 

Thanks for the clarification and notes - much appreciated.

The VPS solution you are describing - is this equivalent to 'Windows Desktop VPS' offered for example by vps-mart where you can access a Windows desktop instance remotely via Remote Desktop Connection?

 

Yes, but, of course, make sure that it is hosted in the US. Also, keep in mind that you don't need this VPS up and running 24/7 like an e-commerce website. You can just boot it up when you need it and shut it down afterward. Some of the cheaper cloud servers will charge a flat rate per month, so leaving it running 24/7 would not run up your bill. Others, including Google Cloud Service, which I use, charge you by the minute. I chose GCS, because I trust Google's security management standards more than the cheap suppliers'. After all, you will be entering s into financial s on your new VPS, some underpaid and disgruntled sys could conceivably install malware without your knowledge to capture your credentials, which is why you should be running a manager. vps-mart.com offers packages as low as less than $5 per month, so they are definitely in the cheap provider category. Other than that supposition, I don't have any negative information about vps-mart.com's security standards.

For comparison sake, I use my GCS VPS about half an hour a day. At all other times the VPS is powered down. Usually costs me about $28 per month. Microsoft Azure offers fixed price VPS service and Microsoft does have good security standards. I wasn't able to open an Azure , because I was already living abroad, but using a US credit, which was a red flag for MS. If you were to open an Azure before moving away, you might be able to keep it open thereafter.

Add the cost of a CMRA, for instance, and there is definitely a cost to simulating a US presence.