 Depositing euros in a U.S. bank
|
 Dear
Dr. Don,
I wanted to know if you can recommend a good bank in the U.S. that
handles euros. That is, I'd like to establish an account here in
the United States where I am able to open with euros from Portugal,
using the euros without converting to dollars. Thank you.
-- Ana Abroad
 Dear
Ana,
I wasn't sure whether you'd be able to accomplish your goal of depositing
euros with a U.S.-based bank as euros.
The big player in this space for retail accounts is
EverBank, so I got in touch with them to see if they could do it.
Here's the reply I received from Mike Meyer, assistant
vice president at EverBank World Markets:
EverBank does offer World Currency Access accounts, which are liquid deposit accounts denominated in foreign currencies, including the euro. Funding can be accomplished by sending U.S. dollars or a given foreign currency. In this case, a client would be able to fund the account with euros and then at some point in the future, withdraw the funds as euros without conversion. Funding and withdrawal can be accomplished by a check or wire.
You can find out more from the bank through its Guide
to Services and Guide to Currency Investing. These guides are available
as PDF files from the "service" tab on EverBank's home
page by choosing the "printing center" tab. You'll
find the guides in the drop-down menus for information under personal
banking and EverBank World Markets, respectively.
You haven't explained why you want to deposit your
euros in the United States without converting them to dollars, so
I can't comment on whether I think it's a good idea. But, EverBank
gives these three reasons for holding foreign currencies: significant
yields can be earned if the U.S. dollar depreciates, select foreign
currencies may offer a higher level of interest than available in
short-term investments denominated in U.S. dollars and broadening
your portfolio's asset allocation to include foreign currencies
can help reduce overall portfolio risk and volatility. Regardless
of your reason, it can be done.
To ask a question of Dr. Don, go to the "Ask
the Experts" page and select one of these topics: "financing
a home," "saving & investing" or "money."
|
