cyrian

Many UK banks are now enabling their mobile apps to confirm authorisation of a transaction or identify yourself to enable access to your accounts.
This doesn't require a UK mobile phone number just internet access.
However, some still want to send an SMS.

Helen1964

I can still access my Nationwide app in France and it’s very handy for authorising transactions. But that’s because I downloaded and activated the app while in the UK.

When I returned to France, I « shared » the app with my husband (who hasn’t been to the UK for years), simply by long pressing on it.
For a while, he was able to use it too. But this year that stopped. Now the only way for him to access his account is via the website using the card reader. It’s pretty cumbersome (but apparently very secure).
Another friend has had exactly the same issue with the Barclays app. It only works if downloaded in the UK.

Pulaski

Replace UK x 2 with US x 2 and it's exactly the same. The number of transactions that I either get alerted to me, or I have to authorize using a one-time number, via email or SMS, is steadily growing.

Helen1964

Just a little update on my quest to open an NS&I account.
It’s not going very well. I wanted to open a joint account. I’m the primary account holder and they were able to verify my identity and address online. That bit worked very well.
But my husband - as the second account holder - had to submit his proofs of identity and address by post.
We did this early January and the account is still not operational.
I called them last weekend (no problems getting through, by the way) and the guy we spoke to was able to confirm they had received the documents but that they hadn’t been processed.
He said I would know the documents had been accepted because the balance on the account would no longer show as zero (the sum I paid at the time of opening is in some kind of holding account pending approval of my husband’s proofs).
If the proofs are rejected, he said NS&I would write to us.
So basically we’re in limbo and everything is really slow because of this insistence on doing things by snail mail for the second account holder.

EuroTrash

Hopefully they'll backdate your interest calculations to the date you sent them the money, not the date when the account is opened, or what was a good interest rate in December may have been overtaken by events and no longer be competitive.
But at least you seem able to get through on the phone and get sensible answers which is more than we could.

Helen1964

At least with the digital verification, I was able to quickly rectify my mistakes (I went too fast and made several!) very quickly. They notified me by email that I’d done something wrong, I resubmitted the documents, they approved them and notified me straightaway by email.
With this postal nonsense, if I’ve made a mistake it’s going to take weeks to get the documents approved.

Will give it another week or so but I’m already thinking I’ll try HSBC International instead.

EuroTrash

It is a great shame about NP&I. They have some attractive products and one would like to support them but sometimes they make it so flippin' difficult.

bazzer70

Further to this… Hargreaves have confirmed I can keep accounts until maturity but these accounts need not only to be opened before moving but the pledged amount needs to be funded too. This is a problem for me because I will only have that earmarked cash once my house is sold and I am then officially a French resident.

bazzer70

Further news on HSBC international… (particularly for you Helen) …opened very easily with I.d. Confirmed using iPad camera etc. have since been contacted by them to set up a consultation with one of their people to discuss my needs etc.
so - so far very impressed. I haven’t actually funded this account yet but will report further down the line to let you know how it is all going

Helen1964

Thanks for that update Bazzer.
Am feeling a tad jaded at the minute after all this palaver with NS&I. Honestly, by the time I've declared the new account to the Fisc (OK, no big deal really) but also the interest and then paid the prélèvements sociaux on that interest, it is really worth the hassle?
Am seriously starting to think I'll just leave the money to rot for another couple of years until we move to the UK.
At least with both feet in one country, our financial affairs should become much simpler at that point.

bazzer70

Helen I know how you feel - it’s hard work trying to minimise the erosion of inflation. I think my life financially is going to be very complicated in the next few years … moving to France BEFORE I am getting my state pension so therefore paying prélèvements on top of my tax on interest and then a year later when I do get my pension having to update it all and hope things gel properly! I try to make it a “challenge” rather than a chore but I’m not always fooled by myself! Good luck!

Helen1964

Yeah, I've tried the challenge-not-a-chore approach but I find it only works after 3 vodka martinis.

Andyj100

I found they were great...they did have some restrictions on where the account could be funded from....money coming from Brazil (where I live) was not allowed. I didn't ask about the Isle of Man, just routed the money through my HSBC account in the UK.

bazzer70

Mainly for Helen this reply… different banks have different restrictions and charges for transferring cash and it makes a huge difference to the amount of interest earned if there are delays because you can only transfer limited amounts daily or you physically have to go into a branch.
But - my latest “find” is Skipton International - very efficient telephone enquiries and to date they offer very much better rates than similar competitors. HSBC where I was going to put my money has actually drastically REDUCED their rates after latest BOE increase - how does that work?!
Anyway - Skipton are quite happy with me moving to France and for my solicitor to pay the sale proceeds of my house directly to my Skipton account - no third party trickle from my other bank accounts.
I filled in application last night and sent it off - I’ll keep you informed how it all goes.

Helen1964

Thanks for this update Bazzer. I had heard about Skipton International but made the mistake of reading the Trustpilot reviews (which seem to be overwhelmingly negative for pretty much every bank).
I’ll be very interested to hear how you get on with Skipton.
We’re still stuck in limbo with NS&I. Apparently the certified copy of my husband’s passport wasn’t sufficiently clear (even though I used a really high-spec printer) so we’ve posted off another certified copy. Since all communication is by snail mail, though, we’re probably going to miss the deadline for submission of proofs which NS&I themselves set.