[geomark]

US expat trying to receive money overseas. US banks won't serve you unless you have a US address. Many lie and say it is illegal. The usual work-around is to establish some kind of US address through a relative or friend. Still ends up being costly and slow to do transfers. Some startups have tried to address it but it is still not very good.

Coinbase like to claim they have solved this issue but it is total BS because they won't let you purchase BTC on their platform without a state ID. Useless for an expat who moved overseas long ago.

But if I need to be paid by someone in another country who can buy BTC then that is usually the best solution for me.

It is a small market so not a driver in the crytocurrency space.

[phillc73]

> US expat trying to receive money overseas. US banks won't serve you unless you have a US address.

I admit to knowing almost nothing about the US banking system, but is it really true that one can't make an electronic transfer using an IBAN (International Bank Account Number)?

I live in Austria and just paid a number of invoices, through online banking, to bank account holders in France, Czechia, Slovenia and the UK. All I needed was their IBAN.

[geomark]

Of course you can make an electronic transfer, as long as you can manage to keep a bank account open at a US bank. But don't let them find out you are living overseas or they will close it.

[seanmcdirmid]

As long as you have social security number, some banks will do it at least. I chose HSBC USA because I was living in China and they were super used to that.

[StreamBright]

This is why we have Transferwise, Revolut, N26 and a bunch of others.

[geomark]

I have looked at many alternatives to banks. They are better than banks but not by much. For small amounts Transferwise is ok, but the fee isn't capped and keeps going up with the amount of the transfer. I do substantially better via the bank transfer method I use when I need to transfer larger amounts. Revolut might be ok if you are from the UK (I am not), although paying a monthly fee for an account seems unattractive and they have a high markup on debit card transfers to "exotic" currencies. There are others. None that good.