What's the best UK bank account for USD , i.e. with a chequebook and preferbly on-line access.

Thanks

Dave

Ive got a citibank USD account

They also give you a cheque book and you can access the accounts online, only thing is you need to keep a minimum of £2k across all your accounts with citibank else they will start charging monthly !

Thanks, I'll look into citibank

Also their bid / offer spread is a lot better than other banks / ways of exchanging money ! i.e. its typically 1.5%, when the spreads likely to be between 2.5% to as high as 5% with other instiutions.

On the citibank accounts, you can get £50 cashback from Rpoints

With the £ at 1.90, I'm thinking of buying some dollars in an online account, been to the citibank site since its mentioned here a lot .

It looks good but says they will charge $20 if your $ value falls below $2000 ! Which means a permanent balance of 2k

other stuff says -

Considering our American background, it’s no surprise that Citibank makes managing your finances across the Atlantic as straightforward and hassle-free as possible.

So if you travel regularly to the USA, have personal or financial interests there, or make regular transactions in US Dollars, we offer a Citibank US Dollar Account that could save you time, money and effort. A US Dollar cheque book, with cheques that clear through Citibank New York in 3 working days, is just one of the Account’s many benefits.

The US Dollar Current Account key features and benefits include:

• Write or deposit US Dollar cheques free of charge. Because we clear through Citibank in New York we save you time and money.
• Receive and make payments directly in US Dollar. There’s no need to change between currencies - the amount, in US Dollars, is simply debited from your account held here in the UK.
• Withdraw US Dollars from any Citibank cash machine in the US free of charge.
• Transfer US Dollars instantly across the world to other Citibank accounts, with no fee charged1.
• Switch between your Citibank US Dollar, Sterling or Euro Current Accounts to take advantage of favourable conditions.
• Flexibility at your disposal with negotiated overdrafts2.


The US Dollar Current Account also gives you Citibank Online Banking, plus around-the-clock telephone banking with CitiPhone. And to ensure you're making the most of your money, Citibank offers a US Dollar Savings Account.

Important Information

Charges

A monthly service charge of $20 on each US$ Current Account will be levied where the credit balance, across your UK Citibank relationship, falls below the currency equivalent of £2000. This will be calculated, at the end of the monthly period, by applying the currency exchange rate on that day to the average balances in your UK Citibank accounts.

"Sole" and "joint" accounts are viewed as different relationships.

US Dollar payments into a US Dollar Account are free.

1. Citibank Global Transfers have no transaction fee. However, a spread may be applied if the transfer is made across currencies. Also, transactions can only be made to selected Citibank branches.

2. IMPORTANT CREDIT INFORMATION
Written quotations available on request. Credit is only available to persons aged 18 or over and is subject to status and conditions. Overdraft is repayable on demand. Interest rates are variable.

I think HSBC bank is the best when it comes to that.