Retiring in Romania

Hi Dan,

I couldn't find anything online to help regarding US branches in Romania; Citi seems to be the only possibility and they only do corporate here.

Perhaps you'll just have to open a bank account with a local bank and transfer the money via online banking and swallow the commission.

I have to agree with Maykal's suggestion.  I've maintained my bank account in the US for receiving my retirement pay, and I use Transferwise to transfer it to my Romanian bank account.  For me, it's been the most cost effective and convenient option.

Looks better than most.  Under $10 for $1000 transferred.  Cool.

GenJerDan wrote:

Looks better than most.  Under $10 for $1000 transferred.  Cool.

Yes, their 1% commission is rather good compared to my banks 3.5% intl transaction fee's, and their exchange rates are also quite good usually.

Hi Dan,

I moved to Romania after retiring and faced the same problem. When I moved here a year and half ago there were no U.S. banks with branches in Romania. I suspect there still are none. I have my retirement money deposited into my bank in the U.S., then I transfer it to my Romanian bank account using Transferwise. The fee is significantly less than what a U.S. bank charges for an international transfer.

Good luck and if you have any other questions, feel free to message me.

Ken

I have recently moved to RO. I have my money direct deposited into my customary US credit union and simply withdraw money from an ATM here. If you open a Schwab account all withdrawal fees are reimbursed. I'm sure long-term I will make some changes, but until I am stabilized it's good enough to begin. I did bring several thousand dollars cash to open a euro account to have as back-up and I have a RON account that I am slowly building from my unspent cash withdrawals.

HI!

Please tell me where you established a Euro account in RO?  Also you can use Paypal to transfer money from the US.

jmpaaso wrote:

HI!

Please tell me where you established a Euro account in RO?  Also you can use Paypal to transfer money from the US.

Any major bank in Romania offers Euro accounts.  Yes, you can use Paypal to transfer, but it can take days to do so.  There's other low cost options that do it in hours with great exchange rates.

Romaniac
Expat.com Experts Team

Dollar accounts, too.   At least Transilvania does.  (I'm assuming that's still true.  My wife's statements list all three currencies, with the different IBANs.)

The thing is, if you move here long-term you'll deal with euros, not dollars. Any large purchase is ALWAYS quoted in euros, not RON. -
I would think to try to time the market and make your transfers when the dollar is a bit stronger against the euro. I don't have the patience to squeeze a few pennies so I'll just transfer funds when needed.