Originally Posted by circasurvive

I just want to add that it is possible to open a bank account with this number. However, the only issue I ran into was that they would not give me a debit card. I assume it's because it's tied to your credit history as well, since you can take a line of credit out on it.

Didn't seem like much of an issue at first, but I quickly realized how convenient a debit card would be. Luckily, I found a way to get one that's tied to your account (plus some). PayPal offers a debit card for people with verified accounts. Apply, scan your passport and ITIN documents and your good to go. I have my checking account as my primary backup source, my savings as a secondary, and then my credit card as a third option. Finally, my parents' checking account is also tied to my PayPal account, so I have that added protection as well. It's highly unlikely it gets denied because of all this added protection.

It works mint -- it's accepted everywhere as it's a Mastercard and it makes you look cool because he says "business debit" on it. Pretty badass.


EDIT:
I also forgot that I get cash back for being enrolled in Green$ense (Citizen's Bank) and PayPal's 1% cash back opportunity on select purchases. I actually turned out better than most of my friends with bank issued debit cards!