If you have an iPhone and a debit account linked to Apple Pay, it's as simple as using your thumbprint to authorize a transfer. The fees are minimal and the money, converted at close to the market rate, sans a tiny fee, shows up in your account in less than an hour. really a revolutionary system when you compare it to opaque wire and bank transfers that I had to use 3-4 years ago when last traveling abroad

My card is now a full UK bank account and you can set up standing orders to pay into it in the normal manner. Unusually the account is multi currency and you can have linked accounts in like 23 currencies - I now have an Australian account number and sort code so aussies can make normal domestic transfers or standing orders to that in AUD. I'm not sure of any other banks that do that. Certainly not the regular banks, and my Interactive Brokers account is multi currency but AUD would go to the IB account for further credit to me rather than me having my own regular Australian account.

In fact if you want say a US bank account and don't live there Transferwise may be the easiest way to have one.