Novocastrian

Like I said, in Canada alone, it's not important.

Also, you could flog your duplex.

JamesM

I have my Barclays account.

It's free and I have the occasional moneys from some dividends paid into it which I use for beer money when I return.

Barclays is a terrible bank. Scotia is terrible too.

Banks are a necessary evil. You have someone to blame and refund your money if your cards are used fraudulently.

JonboyE

If there is any possibility of moving back it is wise to keep at least one account in the UK. It is harder for a returning expat to open an account in the UK than it is for a new immigrant in Canada.

R I C H

I closed our Barclays account when I left the UK (visited the branch, signed paperwork, handed in cards/cheque book). 6 months later they appointed debt collectors in Canada, claiming I owed them hundreds of pounds in account fees and overdraft fees as the account hadn't been officially closed. We had to appoint a power of attorney in the UK to re-visit the branch and sign more paperwork. Barclays withdrew their claim for money owed, but it was a shower of s*** for weeks.

HGerchikov

Very few posts on here qualify as a one size fits all. The numerous posts about which car to buy and car insurance are useless to those who can't drive. All the stuff about IEC, useless to me as I am 52. A lot of people move here later in life when they have considerable savings or equity from home ownership. As Novo stated for those people the qualification requirements may not be that onerous and it's a useful piece of info. For those that are in a position to get the HSBC premier account, then provided there is a branch near you (it's true they don't have many branches and their opening hours are shorter than most banks) then it's a great product.

Novocastrian

I moved from the UK when I was 27 yrs old. I think I had a small overdraft which I paid off at the time.

So, no I didn't keep a UK account.

Novocastrian

Which is the great advantage of using HSBC,

BristolUK

Lots have kept them.

It seems a lot easier to get them with the bells and whistles and credit cards with high limits these days.

Even when I came over it was supposed to be no problem keeping them but in reality some people found all sorts of problems with accounts being closed the moment they reported residency in Canada.

I played safe and reported an address to change to my mum's house and it's been that way ever since.

My UK credit card limits came in very handy.

About to try just that.

ann m

We kept our Lloyds account open which has been useful (and necessary for a couple of policy premium standing orders). And when back in the U.K. in 2013 we opened up 2 more accounts for the girls. It was easy enough but had to make an appointment, bring passports and use father in law's address. We've since registered all accounts for electronic transfers which was a bit of a pain because they mail out access codes (to the uk address), but with help of Skype and father in law entering codes on a phone, we got it sorted! Girls can now go to uk and spend uk funds independently. And we can move money back and forth if need be.

We use Scotia here and I can't ever fault the service we have received from our local branch. Many staff do turnover but several are long timers and we've met up with them many times over the past nine years for various new requirements. A decent local branch can be super useful.

I think, as others have indicated, it can be quite branch specific here. Other than Scotia, I suspect my other choice would be RBC - but again, just through local knowledge