Opening a UK bank account as a foreigner

It is maybe a bit late now but HSBC have branches in Oz, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast etc and last time I looked had a branch in every UK High street and most High Streets in between. You could the draw off your Oz account anywhere and I would have thought the Oz end would smooth the way for you to have an account in the UK and wherever else you want in Europe.
 
J Neeves said:
It is maybe a bit late now but HSBC have branches in Oz, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast etc and last time I looked had a branch in every UK High street and most High Streets in between. You could the draw off your Oz account anywhere and I would have thought the Oz end would smooth the way for you to have an account in the UK and wherever else you want in Europe.
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Make sure that HSBC accounts are as seamless as you want. When I enquired about HSBC in Spain, as I have an HSBC UK account, I was told that they don't do personal accounting in Spain.
 
rivonia said:
Go to Gibralter and open an account with NATWEST.
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My Oz bank got back to me and put me onto NatWest, with whom i had a phone conversation about what they need to open an account for me. I have to go to a branch with my Oz bank statement showing my Oz address. I'll give that a try, though i went into a NatWest earlier (before the phone contact) and the spotty reception teenager bloke said no-can-do.
But I'll try again.
Pisses me off about the money laundering thing, i mean i declared the cash on arrival and customs were barely even interested, gave me a form verifying that the cash came in legit, but so far that hasn't been enough for the bureaucrats who follow the letter of their policy, ignoring the spirit...
Many is the time I've fallen foul of rules designed to curtail an activity that I'm not engaged in...
 
Normanby said:
Pisses me off about the money laundering thing
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If you look at the FSA's notice about the requirements for opening an account (see my earlier post), it's pretty clear that the detailed conditions imposed by banks are their own, and not mandated by regulation. The banks may pass them off as money-laundering conditions, but that's not the case. And narrow self-interest always seems to trump legality in banking affairs, anyway. On the other hand any bank can decline any customer, so there's no come-back.

Good luck with NatWest. They used to trade under the slogan 'The bank that likes to say yes'. Fingers crossed.
 
PlanB said:
Apparently, all the banks had more accounts than they could cope with and so were not opening new accounts. Seemed a bit rum to me, but there you go.
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Don't know who told you that but banks are offering money if you open an account with them, typically £100 - £150. Our current account with Santander pays 3% interest up to £20k and they're looking for new customers.
 
macd said:
If you look at the FSA's notice about the requirements for opening an account (see my earlier post), it's pretty clear that the detailed conditions imposed by banks are their own, and not mandated by regulation. The banks may pass them off as money-laundering conditions, but that's not the case. And narrow self-interest always seems to trump legality in banking affairs, anyway. On the other hand any bank can decline any customer, so there's no come-back.

Good luck with NatWest. They used to trade under the slogan 'The bank that likes to say yes'. Fingers crossed.
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We have had the same problem. Here is our story.
I have banked with Natwest since I first had a bank account. Excellent record, always positive balance.
A couple of years ago my wife and I bought another house and for tax minimising:rolleyes: purposes we put it in her name. I decided that she should have a bank account to receive the rent payments, and to pay bills when needed.
I applied (online and on her behalf) for a bank account. The application was rejected on the grounds of insufficient supporting documentation.
I wrote to the bank manager and complained and indicated that I was considering closing my accounts. I received a written reply from the manager, and an offer of an appointment with a senior member of his ‘team’ who would, he assured me, be able to resolve the problem.(he lied).

We flew back to UK and travelled to Plymouth for the appointment, which was indeed with a senior member of the bank staff (actually she was about the same age as me, had been with the bank all her career, and so I thought was a kindred spirit). - wrong

The meeting lasted about 5 mins – again rejected for the same reasons.

The problem is that we do not have utility bills in my wife’s name. Before anyone suggests we arrange that, it is not so easy. There are no utility bills in my name either!
ID – ok
House Registration docs – ok
No Utility Bill – not ok

I asked the lady if my wife owned 1000 houses would they open an account for her to receive the rent. Answer NO.
I pointed out that she has a Natwest credit card (don’t I know it) – Answer – still NO

We went next door to HSBC and asked if we could open an account. Same result, and in fact the lady there actually said to us she would love to open an account but it was more than her job was worth.

It would appear that bank staff generally are not aware or choose to ignore the FSA advice regarding unusual cases, which clearly describe what documents should be acceptable when the normal ones are not all available.

Perhaps we just do not have enough money.:)

Interestingly a few years ago, our niece, who is an EU citizen arrived in Exeter to start Uni and opened a bank account within 1 hour, no utility bills, only i.d. and the appointment letter from the University. We were there. It was Natwest.

At the time of our application I was not aware of the FSA doc., so I am planning another meeting with ‘the bank’ at which I will throw it on the table, and hopefully have a few minutes entertainment while they explain why they cannot accept the recommendations.

Hohum.

M.
 
Some years ago my cousin won a scholarship to study in Germany for a year, with a generous stipend to cover her expenses. She went to the university where she was to study and tried to get into her student room.

Not allowed, until she had paid the rent. No problem - she had a cheque so she went to the bank to open an account.

Not allowed, until she had a residence permit. No problem - she went to the police station to get one.

Not allowed, until she proved she had accommodation by showing a rent receipt.

Which she couldn't get without a bank account, which she couldn't get without a residence permit, which she couldn't get without a receipt for rent, which she couldn't get without a bank account, which she couldn't get without a residence permit, which she couldn't get without a receipt for rent, which she couldn't get without a bank account, which she couldn't get without a residence permit, which she couldn't get without a receipt for rent, which she couldn't get without a bank account, which she couldn't get without a residence permit, which she couldn't get without a receipt for rent, which she couldn't get without a bank account, which she couldn't get without a residence permit, which she couldn't get without a receipt for rent, which ... she'd probably still be queuing up somewhere if a solution had not presented itself.

Things are better now ... five years ago I walked into a German bank with my passport and had my account set up in half an hour.

UK bureaucracy? How about the Building Regs people in my local council who said they would prosecute my neighbours if the window area in the place they were restoring was less than 20% and the Listed Buildings people in the same council (three doors down the same corridor) who said they would prosecute if the window area was more than 15%? Took over a year to sort that one out.
 
I opened a French bank account years ago. They linked it to my Uk address and apart from proof of living at that address, all I needed was my passport etc. The only other thing they needed was a French mobile phone number as you need that to receive payment authorisations. It is a basic account - debit card only, no credit card or cheque book but that's fine. All paperwork comes to my UK address but as I operate the account on line its a formailty.
 
There is one lesson here

If you have any offshore accounts never, ever, let them close - you might need them in the future but if they close it will be almost impossible to re-open.

Jonathan
 
davewarburton said:
I opened a French bank account years ago. They linked it to my Uk address and apart from proof of living at that address, all I needed was my passport etc. The only other thing they needed was a French mobile phone number as you need that to receive payment authorisations. It is a basic account - debit card only, no credit card or cheque book but that's fine. All paperwork comes to my UK address but as I operate the account on line its a formailty.
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What kind of "proof of living at that address" did they accept?
 
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