When I moved to NYC from Canada in 1998, I gleefully took my hiring bonus check drawn on a major US custodial bank to local banks in the expectation that I migh

When I moved to NYC from Canada in 1998, I gleefully took my hiring bonus check drawn on a major US custodial bank to local banks in the expectation that I might easily open a bank account and begin integrating myself into the mainstream. And that feeling lasted maybe 10 minutes until I realized that considerable financial bona fides from Canada were considered suspicious or worse in America. I remember with some clarity the moment that Chase Bank suggested that a letter of reference from my bank in Canada might ease matters and they'd just hold my check some extra time for their troubles. And I thought: I don't need to continue at this bank. There is a better than even chance that I can find a bank that treats me better than this. That's what "you're not from around here" looks like.