US BANK PACK. A Justin Hunt Guide February, C Justin Hunt

Transcription

1 US BANK PACK A Justin Hunt Guide February, C Justin Hunt

2 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 About this Document 3 Introduction 4 Opening the Account 6 Avoiding Fees 8 Contact Information 9 C Justin Hunt

3 About this Document Firstly, every effort has gone into making this document, accurate, thorough and easy to follow. However we take no legal or financial responsibility for problems that may arise due to the use of the techniques and the information described herein. Secondly any correspondence or enquiries related to the financial institutions referred to in this document should be directed directly to those institutions. We are not able to give authoritative answers on the detailed working of those institutions. Thirdly, for better or worse, things change. The information in this document was current at the time of writing, but may not still be current. The application forms may be different, the procedures, laws and requirements may also be different. Please exercise reasonable prudence when making your application. Fourthly, none of the financial institutions referred to in this document, were involved in the authoring of this document. No claim is made, nor should any assumption be made, that this document is sanctioned by any individual or institution other than Justin Hunt and his representatives. Finally, purchase of this document, does not give the buyer rights to redistribute it. Only authorised resellers may distribute this book. C Justin Hunt

4 Introduction Thank you for purchasing the US Bank Pack. You are one step closer to owning your own bank account in the United States. Please be assured that all of the information in this document at the current time, February 2007, is legal, true and can be used effectively to open an account at one of the most successful financial institutions in the United States. That institution is E*Trade. Even through most normal channels. E*Trade will not open bank accounts for non US residents. I regularly speak with people who say that they called E*Trade and were told that they could not open an account there. They are told that because they are asking the wrong question. In fact I suspect that E*Trade staff are instructed not to publicize that foreign nationals can open US bank accounts with them. I myself called and was told the same thing. But then I discovered the loophole on which this document is based. And I am going to let you in on it. And once I have, you will understand why search as you might, this information is not readily available on the internet. Here it is You need to open, with E*Trade, not a bank account, but a Brokerage Account. That s right, a Brokerage Account. For buying mutual funds, stocks, bonds etc. Even if you don t intend to use it, you have to open a Brokerage Account. When you open the Brokerage Account, it will come with a bank account that E*Trade uses for financial transactions with you. But there is no restriction to using your account just with E*Trade, because this is a 100% legitimate US bank account. It has all the standard features of a bank account, and some more. These include: Online Banking Ability to send and receive ACH transfers A Visa Debit Card A Check Book So you can use this account to transfer money in and out of paypal, keep US dollars in the US until you need them, receive money from US clients, pay money to US companies or individuals, or just to work the benefits of an offshore bank account. And it is all legal. I don t know how long this will all last. If this information becomes too readily available, then it will be open season on US accounts, and probably they will close the loophole. So open your account soon. There is no reason why you shouldn t C Justin Hunt

5 do it today. And please, pretty please, don t go and tell everyone on your blog how to do it. Or it will be game over for all of us. If you really want to spread the word, then see the affiliates section of our website. Now I promised you a step by step quide, so here are those steps. I m keeping it short, because really the process is simple. C Justin Hunt

6 Opening Your Account 1. PRINT OUT ALL THE PDF DOCUMENTS SUPPLIED. 2. FILL OUT THE FIRST THREE PAGES OF THE BROKERAGE ACCOUNT KIT (Use the Sample Application provided to help you) OR GOTO: ) Fill out the online application form, print it out and send with the requested forms. NOTE: YOU CANNOT APPLY ONLINE, YOU HAVE TO MAIL IT IN (They don t make it that easy to do this!) 3. FILL OUT PAGE 1 OF THE ETB W8 WITHHOLDING TAX FORM Use the guidance notes provided with the form when filling this in. This form just lets E*Trade and the US Tax Dept know that you are not eligible for US taxes. That s a good thing, it means you have a tax free bank account. 4. MAKE ONE PHOTOCOPY OR SCAN OF YOUR PASSPORT Only the Identity page is needed. Note: the copy must be very clear. 5. THE ETB INCOMING WIRE FORM IS NEEDED WHEN YOU TRANSFER MONEY FROM YOUR LOCAL BANK TO YOUR E*TRADE ACCOUNT. Strictly speaking, this is not necessary. You can use a PAYPAL account, if you have one, to transfer money from Paypal to your account for free. Or you can direct other payments from Adsense or affiliate programs or US clients to your account. However if you just want to wire money over, then fill in this form. TO GET A VISA DEBIT CARD, OFFICIALLY, YOU NEED TO DEPOSIT USD1000 TO YOUR E*TRADE ACCOUNT I was able to do it with US$5, so you will probably be ok with a nominal amount. But you will need a balance above 0 dollars. 6. THE TOTAL PAGES YOU NEED TO SUBMIT ARE: (check) FIRST THREE PAGES FROM BROKERAGE_ACCOUNT_KIT FIRST PAGE FROM ETB_W8 WITHHOLDING TAX FORM ONE COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT. (continued on next page) C Justin Hunt

7 7. MAIL THE ABOVE DOCUMENTS TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: E*TRADE Securities LLC P.O. Box 1542 Merrifield VA USA 8. WAIT ABOUT 10 DAYS FOR YOUR ACCOUNT TO BE OPENED. You will receive an e mail from E*Trade when your account has been opened, and shortly after will receive a welcome pack in your regular mail. In my case the welcome pack was very slow to arrive. My Japanese address was too long for their system and I think it got truncated, and had to be sent manually. After I phoned them, they were able to give my login id and password by phone, and I was able to get started before my welcome pack had arrived. C Justin Hunt

8 Brokerage Fees There are no account fees charged during the first 12 months that your bank account is open. However after that you can be charged US$10 per month for your bank account if the account contains less than US$1000. To avoid this you need simply to keep a total of more than one thousand dollars in your account. However the full brokerage account, that you set up in order to open your US bank account, carries an account fee of US$40 per quarter (after the first 12 months). This can be avoided by satisfying one of the requirements listed below: You are a qualified Power E*TRADE or Priority E*TRADE customer at the end of the quarter. Have an account balance of at least $10,000. Have a combined balance of at least $20,000 in your linked E*TRADE Securities and E*TRADE Bank accounts. Executed one or more stock or options trades during the quarter. Have an outstanding balance on an E*TRADE Bank Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) or on an E*TRADE Bank VISA card. Have obtained an E*TRADE Mortgage loan within 12 months prior. Have obtained an E*TRADE Consumer Finance Corporation RV or Boat loan 12 months prior. Have an E*TRADE Bank Money Market account. Have made a minimum of 2 on-line bill payments using Online Bill Pay during the quarter. Have made at least three ACH deposits of at least $1000 each during the quarter. Additionally, IRA and custodial accounts are not subject to this fee. If you can avoid these fees, then it is a free ride. Let me know how you get on. From here you are on your own. Thanks again for purchasing my US Bank Pack, and I hope that you find it useful. Justin Hunt Web Guy C Justin Hunt

9 E*Trade Contact Information Website Mail E*TRADE Securities LLC P.O. Box 1542 Merrifield VA USA Phone E*Trade-1 ( ) From outside the U.S From 7 a.m. to midnight ET tellmemore@etrade.com Paypal Contact Information Website Phone :00 PST to 22:00 PST every day. support available after logging into your paypal account. C Justin Hunt