Kollel Couple Moving to Israel. What BANK to use?

Capital One has Credit Cards that don’t charge foreign transaction fees. I heard TD Bank has good rates when using an Israeli ATM.

The key is to have a US credit card that gives good rewards and has no international fees, along with am Israeli bank that is easy to work with (not easy to find, and its a lot of paperwork. I’ve heard mercantile is good. Israeli banks are notorious for poor customer service, help lines only in Hebrew with long wait times and crazy fees. That’s why so many people like to use cash, but they are making that illegal top now. Don’t forget to file an annual IRS disclosure form if any israel accounts have over $10k because there are substantial penalties.foreign bank and financial accounts (FBAR)

Most U.S. banks maintain correspondent relationships with Israel’s top 3 banks, Bank Leumi, Bank Hapoalim, and IDB. Likewise, several Israeli banks have their own subsidiaries in major U.S. cities (e.g. Bank Hapoalim has branches in NYC and Miami; Bank Leumi has a U.S. domiciled subsidiary, Leumi USA, with offices in New York, Chicago, California, and Florida. You can have a separate credit card (e.g. Chase) that doesn’t charge foreign fees and allows you to earn miles for air travel (e.g. UAL) to and from EY.
Most importantly, kol hakovod and much hatzlacha for making Aliyah at this difficult time.

The First bank of Mommy and Daddy – after all, they’re the ones that will be financing you 🙂

Seriously, though – find a US bank that allows you to make ATM withdrawals abroad without fees – First Republic, A”H, used to do this, but I think TD or Capital One may also have this; you should check them out. This will enable you to have cash transferred to you in Israel by having someone in the US (rich Shver?) deposit USD and you can then withdraw as NIS.

In Israel, the services are relatively similar – so it will really be more a matter of convenience. Note that as a non-Israeli, you may have restrictions on having your account go negative – so you should check that out.

As to credit cards – I completely agree with the suggestions above on having a US credit card that does not charge foreign fees. This can be the best way of converting funds, and certain features of US cards that are not standard on Israeli ones can be very helpful – though you need to check if there’s a country exclusion for Israel. You should also try to get an Israeli card in Israel (it’s generally the same card as the one you use at an ATM), since certain vendors either don’t take or have issues with non-Israeli cards.

an Israeli Yid

I wish them well.
Many or most Israeli banks won’t deal with U.S. citizens at all because of the paperwork the banks have to file with the IRS. The banks charge an arm and a leg for every transaction. If the couple does manage to open an account, tell them always to deposit cash via a machine, as the banks charge for depositing with the tellers.

@Gadolhatorah they’re not making aliyah – the OP clearly states the couple is going for a few years, R”L.

Definitely the one your mommy and daddy use to make the deposits in furtherance of the cult mores

Capital One will not allow an account with a foreign address or foreign phone number (which is needed for online access).

Takamamash: It is a huge commitment and mesiras nefesh for anyone relocating to EY now, whether for 1 year, 5 years or making aliyah permanently. My belief that such a couple are worthy of my initial wishes of kol hakovod and much hatzlacha stands, to them and all those who work on behalf of protecting the medinah, whether through their service in the IDF or limud torah.