DavidS

It wasn't an issue prior to the Patriot Act. They are conducting more screening to ensure banks aren't used for funding terrorism. I have one bank that I have used my PMB address with for years and have 3 CDs with them. I wanted to open another one and even went into my online account, where one should be able to open new accounts immediately. Ended up getting flagged, had to call Customer Service. I told them the truth, that I was overseas most of the time and that this address was my only US address. First they told me they couldn't open the account, then they even told me that I wasn't going to be able to keep an account with them, then three weeks later the account was open! Go figure.

My guess would be though that you had a valid US address or bank accounts already open. When I try to open new bank accounts online today, they want a DL, then usually want either pay stubs or a utility bill to verify the address that I have listed.

Thanks all, just now seeing all these replies. To answer your questions, I have resided in Thailand most of the past decade. Kept a mail service in Washington, my former domicile, throughout the years. In the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult to do anything online or in terms of financial, as most places don't accept international addresses, and when you put a mailing address, the financial institution almost immediately knows it's a PMB or PO Box and rejects it. Kind of too late to ask a friend to use their address, as most of these institutions run checks to see if you have ever lived at that address and also ask for utility bills in your name with the current registered address on it. The Escapees TX address seems to resolve some of that as not being automatically recognized as a PMB. Was just wondering what most of you do, even being US based, if you are moving around in an RV. If you use Escapees for mail, you are covered with the address, but when you try to open a financial account and they ask for a utility bill, what do you do? I guess I should add that at present, I don't have a US driver's license (planning to get one via South Dakota next year, currently in Mexico now), which further complicates things, as the automated banking online systems don't accept a passport as automatic when it comes to approving applications. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Hi, I have a mailbox with Escapees that satisfies the physical address, but banks today are asking for more than this before they let you open an online account. They require a utility bill or renters agreement. I don't have an RV/vehicle, so I can't use the vehicle registration option. Anyone have any suggestions or tricks they've used to get around/through this? Thanks!