Scotiabank questions

Can you open an account before arriving? If it takes 7 days for a stateside check to clear - It would make sense to want to open an account over the phone, if not online....
This is another catch 22 I guess... not wanting to travel with too much cash, but needing the cash to do things when we arrive.

I hope someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I think you have to have official ID like a passport or other government IDs to open an account & so would have to do it in person due to security.

If your question isn't answered on this site below, there's contact info there:

http://www.scotiabank.com/vi/cda/index/0,,LIDen,00.html

I`ve been a Scotia bank customer since it was Barkley's bank back in 1989.

Lately, I`ve got the impression they are asking for WAY too much personal info!
I was just asked for my 2008 tax forms, I told the banker, you have my drivers license, my birth certificate,my passport, my 1099s, my address, my social security # information.
I told the banker, I`ll just show up next week instead, bring your camera.
I`ll puill down my pants, turn around, then you will know more about me than my wife of 28 years!(she doesn`t know my drivers licence # & EXACTALLY how much I haVE IN THE BANK)

I find this much to much INTRUSIVE!

I hope someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I think you have to have official ID like a passport or other government IDs to open an account & so would have to do it in person due to security.

Correct. Passport, Driver's license & SS card for Scotia and Bank of St. Croix for me.

Can you open an account before arriving? If it takes 7 days for a stateside check to clear - It would make sense to want to open an account over the phone, if not online....
This is another catch 22 I guess... not wanting to travel with too much cash, but needing the cash to do things when we arrive.

You can't open an account online with FirstBank or Scotia unless you are already a customer of theirs. As others have said, you need to do that in person with a couple of forms of ID.

If you decide during your pre-move visit that living here is the life you want, that's a great time to open a local bank account. Then you'll have everything set up for your arrival and can access cash easily. Seven business days is definitely a long time to wait for cash when you need it. I confess to having brought down more cash when I moved than I was comfortable carrying. It's a risk, but the convenience factor was huge. (Note to thieves: honey, it's long gone and there ain't no mo'! :D)

Another option if you need to have quicker access to cash is to setup an online Western Union account for yourself. You'll need to setup an ability to transfer from your mainland bank but after that you can have access to your cash in a matter of an hour or so after you initiate an online transfer to a local pickup point. You'll pay a fee comparable to a bank wire transfer but you'll have access to your cash when you need it without having to carrying it around for too long.

Another option is to just use a debit card from your mainland bank. Scotiabank offers free ATM usage to members of some banking networks (e.g., if you have a Bank of America account you can use your card in Scotiabank ATMs without any fees.)

Can you open an account before arriving? If it takes 7 days for a stateside check to clear - It would make sense to want to open an account over the phone, if not online....
This is another catch 22 I guess... not wanting to travel with too much cash, but needing the cash to do things when we arrive.

Thanks all.
We didn't/won't have time to do a PMV so we appreciate the variety of ideas and options.

Funny how things disappear around here...