Banking has been frustrating from Day One -- and the U.S. side is only slightly better than the Indian side.
U.S. banks have trouble letting us use debit cards in India -- it's a "fraud zone", and we have a U.S. mailing address. The bank says if we're living in India, we need an India address. But we want our statements, etc. sent to Richmond, not Vapi -- where we may never get them. (Actually, we do it all online, but still....) The local branch of the U.S. bank won't accept anything from a U.S. account -- no check cashing or deposits. All this with an account that is supposedly set up specifically for expats (and has no branches in Virginia). Hmmm.... Fortunately we have a "travel" VISA card, which works (for a fee) pretty much any where.
Our Indian bank account has proved even more frustrating. Lon has written 12 checks, only one of which has been accepted by the bank. One time he wrote, "and NO/100" at the end of the amount. No go. In India you must write "ONLY" to show an exact amount. Another time the date wasn't clear enough. Most of the time they didn't like his signature -- said it didn't match what was on file. We've mostly given up and now pay bills with cash withdrawn from our U.S. account. It's taken three months to get a debit card. Now we are trying to add me to the account, which may or may not be possible. It's likely to take months and multiple trips to see the branch manager.
The real issue is that sooner or later (each month it gets delayed by another month), all of Lon's paycheck will be deposited in the India account, and we'll have to figure out how to make a monthly wire transfer to a U.S. account to pay all our U.S. expenses -- which are considerable, since we're maintaining a residence there, and we have to write a monthly check for all of the U.S. payroll deductions such as 401k and United Way contributions. We won't even get into exchange rates....
Enough venting for one day! After two days of continuous rain, I can see a shadow! Of course, that doesn't mean it won't be raining in 10 minutes!
U.S. banks have trouble letting us use debit cards in India -- it's a "fraud zone", and we have a U.S. mailing address. The bank says if we're living in India, we need an India address. But we want our statements, etc. sent to Richmond, not Vapi -- where we may never get them. (Actually, we do it all online, but still....) The local branch of the U.S. bank won't accept anything from a U.S. account -- no check cashing or deposits. All this with an account that is supposedly set up specifically for expats (and has no branches in Virginia). Hmmm.... Fortunately we have a "travel" VISA card, which works (for a fee) pretty much any where.
Our Indian bank account has proved even more frustrating. Lon has written 12 checks, only one of which has been accepted by the bank. One time he wrote, "and NO/100" at the end of the amount. No go. In India you must write "ONLY" to show an exact amount. Another time the date wasn't clear enough. Most of the time they didn't like his signature -- said it didn't match what was on file. We've mostly given up and now pay bills with cash withdrawn from our U.S. account. It's taken three months to get a debit card. Now we are trying to add me to the account, which may or may not be possible. It's likely to take months and multiple trips to see the branch manager.
The real issue is that sooner or later (each month it gets delayed by another month), all of Lon's paycheck will be deposited in the India account, and we'll have to figure out how to make a monthly wire transfer to a U.S. account to pay all our U.S. expenses -- which are considerable, since we're maintaining a residence there, and we have to write a monthly check for all of the U.S. payroll deductions such as 401k and United Way contributions. We won't even get into exchange rates....
Enough venting for one day! After two days of continuous rain, I can see a shadow! Of course, that doesn't mean it won't be raining in 10 minutes!
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