Moving money in and out of your US accounts
Funding the account from abroad, paying your cards, paying suppliers and getting paid by US clients, and keeping each transfer easy for a bank to follow.
Which transfers are easy for a US bank to follow?
A bank reads its accounts through the money that moves in and out of them. A transfer from your own company abroad, for an amount you told the banker to expect, confirms the picture the bank already has. The same amount from an account it can’t connect to you, or at a time it didn’t expect, raises a question.
Every transfer tells the bank something.
A bank reads its accounts through the money that moves in and out of them, more than through anything you tell it. A transfer from your own company abroad, for an amount you told the banker to expect, confirms the picture the bank already has. The same amount from an account it can’t connect to you, or at a time it didn’t expect, raises a question it has to answer before it moves on.
Most transfers are never looked at by a person. The ones that are tend to be the ones that don’t fit what the bank was told, whether the account belongs to a company owned from abroad or is an account in your own name.
The ways money moves.
Three methods cover almost everything you will do with a US account. Each has its usual job, and each has one thing worth watching.
| Method | Typical use | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Wire | Funding from abroad | Names must match at both ends |
| ACH transfer | US suppliers, clients, cards | US accounts only, a day or two |
| Card | Everyday spending | Pay each statement in full |
Funding the account from abroad.
The first deposits set the pattern the bank will expect from then on, so they are worth a few minutes of care. Before you send one, check these.
- The sending account is in the same name
- The amount is close to what you told the banker
- The reference says what the money is for
- You keep the statement that shows where it came from
Send from an account in the same name.
The easiest transfer to follow is between accounts in the same name: the company’s account abroad to the company’s US account, or your personal account abroad to your personal US account. A bank can read that without asking anything. Money that crosses between names, from your own account into the company’s or from a relative into yours, may be perfectly legitimate, but it needs an explanation, and the bank may ask for one in writing. If a transfer between names is planned, tell your banker first and keep the papers that explain it.
Paying your US cards.
Pay your US cards from your US account, in full, every month. A card paid from an account at the same bank is the easiest pattern for an issuer to read, and every on-time payment adds to your US credit file. Paying a card straight from abroad is sometimes possible, but it is slower, harder to trace and easy to get wrong close to a due date. Keep enough in the US account to cover each statement, and set the payment to run automatically.
Paying suppliers from the US account.
US suppliers usually expect to be paid by ACH transfer or by card, and paying them from a US account is simpler for both sides. Pay each supplier from the account of the company that owes them, never from a personal account, and keep the invoice with the payment. Regular payments to the same suppliers are what a bank expects to see. A large payment to a new supplier, or to a country the account has never sent money to, is the kind of transfer a bank may hold while it asks what it is for.
Getting paid by US clients.
With a US account, US clients can pay you by ACH transfer, as they would pay any US company. That is usually quicker for them and easier for the bank to follow. A short message to your banker beforehand is easier than an explanation afterwards.
Keep a record of what each transfer was for.
Sooner or later a bank, an issuer or your accountant will ask what a payment was. For every transfer of any size, keep the date, the amount, who sent it, who received it, what it was for and the invoice or statement behind it. Write the purpose in the transfer reference in plain words. The same record answers the bank’s questions, gives your accountant what they need at the year end and shows an issuer that the account is run with care.
We can help you be more efficient.
It reads like a lot from the outside. We take care of the steps, line them up in the right order and tell you what comes next, so you only do the parts that need you.
