BANK STORY
When we were done opening the account, he asked me if there was anything else he could do for me.
I asked, do you exchange foreign currency here at this location?
He said yes, but they would have to order it.
I said well, I don’t want to purchase foreign currency, I would like to exchange what I currently have for dollars. I explained to him that I have a hobby, like, people that have coin collections, I collect foreign paper currencies.
I buy them and pick out the most novel by condition and by serial number... 12345 or 121212 or 333333 and the ones I don’t want I would like to exchange back to dollars.
Can you do that here without sending it out?
He thought it was interesting and that was it. He has only been with Chase for 4 months but had been with BOA for 12 years, so I understand he does not know all of the procedures.
He asked what currency I had?
I said Vietnamese Dong.
He went to see someone else for info (the keypad access backroom).
He came back and said yes, they could exchange that on-site, then went back to see if there was a waiting period after opening an account to exchange.
No one “out back” could find any restrictions! Just give him a call to make an appointment and he will take care of me when the time comes (I’ve already put the bug in his ear).
We said goodbye and I said look forward to doing business with you soon. I never said anything about the GCR or the RV or non forex traded currencies. And I didn’t lie or fib, just the truth.
Then I stopped and bought a bunch of takeout Chinese food to celebrate!!
So, now I have an account at a tier 1 bank, a relationship with a private banker who is willing to exchange my foreign currencies on-site, and has wealth advisor services….all for transferring $1600 dollars from one bank account to another!
My takeaway from this: Make an appointment to open an account if you want to get to know your banker. I did not ask this directly but I assume you need to be a customer to exchange currency.
I think you can open a checking account with less than $1500, but they will charge a monthly fee. Chat it up with the person who is opening your account, GET TO KNOW YOUR BANKER!
Now I’m going to send my new banker a nice thank you note.
Oops, gotta go. Chinese food…..