Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

Just want to double check...
Mobile only banks Monzo, Starling etc specifically say on their website that you have to be a UK tax resident to use their accounts. I am keen on using one like this after the move, as they are far better than the traditional high street banking apps.
I checked in a few places, and the suggestion seems to be... "it's not a problem as long as you have a UK address. "
But by doing this, are you not being fully transparent with the bank? as you;re not a UK tax resident after the move... and could you run into any trouble taking your money out after the move? would love to hear from people who had accounts open after their move with such banks.
Otherwise I could move everything to Natwest and be safe rather than sorry.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

I think the key has always been that you generally need to be UK resident at the time of application and that keeping the account after moving abroad is then okay. There are a number of people who have succeeded with this while being totally upfront about it while other banks have been happy for people to move abroad but still use a UK address.

But being "UK resident" does seem to be a requirement at the time of application, except for the offshore accounts. I note that Monzo hopes to go international in the future.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

Yeah, that's what I thought too. But this reference has confused me
Monzo Help - Moving abroad

Monzo also lists a row called Tax residency under your account details - and I was wondering if I was supposed to change it after the move.
Just thought it would be re-assuring to hear from others who have actually done this, so I don't sweat about keeping significant amount of cash in these banks.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

Hopefully someone with useful experience will be along but I'm reading 'offering an account to uk residents' as still being at the time an account is opened. If you couldn't maintain the account having moved abroad, offer wouldn't be the right word unless it was in the context of offering our (continuing) services to uk residents.
Just a guess but that might relate to (tax free) ISA accounts where you actually need to be UK resident to qualify or maybe potential tax on interest reported to HMRC. The need, therefore, relating to maybe something of tax relevance rather than banking relevance.

Anyway, someone might have actual experience to offer but the question need not be exclusive to Canada so real experiences might be discovered in the other country forums.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

Some banks don’t care about a UK address and will open an account in Britain even if you are no longer a resident.

Google for HSBC international services.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

I still have an account I use with Barclays and changed my correspondance address to my Canadian address, they didn't bat an eyelid,,, so I don't think its an issue. Not with Barclays anyway.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

Currently wondering the same thing eversmannx!

For what it's worth, I will also really miss Monzo. However I was looking around a while back and found a Canadian version called Koho. Looks more or less the same as Monzo ~2-3 years ago. https://www.koho.ca/

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

I've actually reached out to Starling and Monzo today, and as expected... there are no issues maintaining your account from abroad and changing phone number. You may still need to keep a UK address (Natwest on the other hand confirmed a foreign address is fine). My card is valid for a good 2 years, so I will worry about it then.

synaesthesia Thanks for the tip on Koho. Will surely look it up. My plan was to have an account with one of the big 5 + Tangerine for regular banking needs. but recently got a tip about HSBC mortgage rates. so might look that up as well. In the UK, at least as far as I know... there was no advantage to having history with a bank for mortgage purposes... but it seems different in Canada.

p.s. What aspects of Monzo will you miss in Canada? I'm new to Monzo. But i absolutely love Starling - the simplicity of use and some foreign payments without extra charges.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

You might find our wiki of use for information on mortgages - but most people find that brokers can get the best deals... HSBC don't offer the lowest rate necessarily :D
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Mortgages-Canada

Check ratehub for mortgage rates as well as those featured in the wiki :)

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

Thanks. Sure the wiki's are my first point of reference when I start looking into the mortgages.
Here is the experience from another member in one of my other threads:
Revolut for UK to CA transfers (vs Transferwise) - British Expats

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

I maintain accounts with both Halifax and HSBC in the UK, with my Canadian address listed. I have had no problems whatsoever and it is an advantage keeping accounts with high street, well-known banks that are part of separate banking groups.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

My experience was that a broker was able to give me a much better rate than the banks were offering; they were also able to circumvent some of the requirements the banks had, making it easier for me to obtain a mortgage under the 'newcomers to Canada' scheme, using alternative ways to show credit worthiness.. giving me insider information to assist me in qualifying - something to keep in mind. Take into consideration that HSBC may not have a branch close to you... in the City I live in (population 767,000) there is one branch! That could be a pain if you need to use them regularly for anything.

The general consensus on BE is that brokers often offer better rates than banks and have alternative lenders. :) When you approach a bank for a mortgage they will often do a 'hard' credit check, so you can only really approach one without it inpacting your credit rating.. another reason for using a broker, who can use 1 check to investigate many lenders. :) https://www.creditkarma.ca/credit/i/...-soft-inquiry/

Much will depend on the broker you use - there are good brokers and then there are great brokers!
Good luck who ever you use.
:)

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

When we were moving back to Australia in 2015 I asked Halifax if we could keep our UK bank account with them, and was told that account holders must have a UK phone number. We kept the account anyway as a couple of regular UK payments go into it. I can now only use this account to send money to people/businesses that I'd made payments to prior to leaving the UK. Attempts to send money to a new person/account results in a pop-up message saying the bank needs to call me to verify the transaction, and as I don't have a UK phone number that's not possible.

Luckily, I'd sent money from the UK to my Australian account prior to returning to Oz, so I can still do that (at a crap FX rate!). But not being able to use my Halifax account for anything else is a real PITA.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

I have a First Direct account in the UK and they send all correspondence happily to Canada. My Canadian address is attached to the account. No issues transferring money to them from my Canadian credit union.

Re: Keeping UK bank accounts open after moving to Canada
 

We moved to the US 25 years ago, then to Canada 7 years ago. We have kept our Nat West accounts, we notified the, of our new address each time we moved.