Ask HN: As a digital nomad how do you manage your bank accounts?

I'm a customer of a local bank in the village where I grew up (in Germany). They offer of course online banking etc like any decent bank, but the really good thing is: they know me and my familiy quite well and vice versa. So, when travelling, and when Internet and everything fails, it's easy to get the right people on the phone to find a solution. Also, it's easier to negotiate with them if you know them on a personal level (e.g. for reductions on all kind of fees etc). It's funny, but I found my village's bank a reliable fallback, no matter in which country or city I had lived.

limit your use of cash altogether. find a credit card deal that won't charge you extra fees or give you non-market rates when making transactions in other currencies.

This is an increasingly important issue, especially for US citizens. Many foreign banks will not open accounts for US citizens (or residents) because of FATCA reporting requirements. This means that opening up a local account for local payments is problematic.

Additionally, if you truly are a digital nomad, you may find that your bank inexplicably cancels or suspends your ATM or credit card because it is being:

--used for the first time on an 'unknown' computer (i.e., at an Internet café) --is being used from a country that you have previously not traveled to.

The bank security procedures usually require an automated telephone call to the SIM number in the US that you haven't used in months during US business hours (it doesn't matter to them if you are on the other side of the world) and if you do not answer they will reverse the charges if you were lucky to complete the transaction in the first place. There is, of course, no number to call because the lost and stolen card section is different from the funds authorization section. Worse, if you have a small community bank in the US, they may outsource card services and that company has no relationship with you at all.

The only banks I am aware of that are not flummoxed by international transactions (and whose debit cards may routinely be processed as credit cards, greatly facilitating US car rentals) are Swiss banks. But good luck trying to open a Swiss bank account as an American.

In SE Asia, to apply for certain types of visas you must show financial stability and this means cash in local currency in a local bank. Not being able to open a local account means further discrimination.

One would think that in this day and age a bank would set up an expat desk to handle these things. I've heard that Channel Islands banks are good at this, but I really don't know.

Law enforcement assumes that foreign banks=criminal activity. You would think that the US hadn't joined the WTO.

The Swiss Post Bank allows me to withdraw from ATM all over the world without any fees. But I have to have an overall minimal balance of 25K USD or I have to pay a monthly fee of 12 USD. I can actually have an infinite number of different accounts with different currencies. But these conditions are only available for Swiss citizens. For foreigner additional fees apply per account (5-10 USD). And yeah, Americans have a hard time getting an account here. Actually a friend told me, that you even have a hard time keeping your Swiss accounts if you move as a Swiss citizen to the United States.

I'm a US citizen and I've had this issue in the past. There are banks that issue debit and credit cards that refund ATM and do not charge foreign exchange fees. IIRC Charles Schwab checking, USAA, Citibank, Chase, HSBC offer these services with a large enough balance. If I could, I would set up a USAA account.

reddit.com/r/churning or r/personalfinance might be better places to ask.

There are some other considerations though. If there's an emergency and you need to get in touch with someone, you will be bound to US operating hours. If your ATM card gets fraud charges while you're out of the country, you won't get a replacement card for weeks. There might be access problems to online accounts in suspicious countries or unknown devices. Certain banks like to proactively suspend your card and call your old phone number for suspicious activity, even when you have already listed out the trip ahead of time.

I now carry multiple debit and credit cards, and cash for international trips.

Half of my money in Ally, the other half in Barclays Online. (Both offer around 1% savings accounts, among the highest in the business.) Schwab is my go-to ATM account, since it offers reimbursements on all ATM fees, including the 1% VISA tax, even abroad. Moreover, they're very good with not blocking your card: I called them once, they put my card in "training mode", and it's worked flawlessly in about 10 countries since. Ally also has an ATM card that works abroad, but it has the VISA 1% and only offers reimbursements in the US. Both Ally and Barclays offer free ACH transfers. I also use Vanguard for a few investments.

None of my banks have physical branches abroad, but this does not bother me. I also don't have to cash foreign checks or accept deposits from foreign banks, which may be a problem for you. I don't believe that Ally accepts international wire transfers, for example.

I've been using this system in Europe for about half a year.

I've been living abroad in a dozen different countries for years, and I use credit card for most daily transactions, since I'm not charged a fee, and the exchange rates are competitive.

When it comes to cash, I just pay the $5 ATM fee. When I visit an ATM, I pull out at least a few hundred dollars in cash, leave the majority at home, and carry what I need.

Groceries are by credit card, rent is online, so my only cash expenses are street food, going out to pubs, and other minor things. Therefore, let's say I take out a few hundred dollars a month. That's a $5 fee per month, or $60 per year. In my opinion, that's incredibly cheap, and I get the freedom to use any ATM for my cash withdrawals on my travels.