HADENOUGHPIZZA

Transferwise has moved its EU business to Belgium while Revolut is in Lithuania , they may be great ways to transfer cash and manage currencies but they a re not a UK bank account .

Geordieborn

Important point and one you should consider even if they are covered by the FSCS. But I’m pretty sure most here are looking for an additional service not a main bank and would therefore not risk their life savings. I'm sure these companies will all say they have some cover for what it is worth.

PSG2014

Hear hear Geordieborn, Does anyone have a list of UK banks who have actually said in writing that they will be closing 'foreign' held accounts? I know Nationwide have but not aware of others ? There has been the odd mention in the media, but that's all I've seen?

philat98

I dont think I would use Transferwise to store much money. I am just keeping enough cash to service the debit card.
As far as I see it just facilitates moving money around and that is mainly why I used Nationwide.
When Nationwide close my account in January I will probably discover some issues that I havent thought about. If somebody sent a cheque for example I am not sure how that would work.
There dont seem to be any phone numbers to call in case of a problem.

Listen Very Carefully

What is the obsession with keeping a UK bank account if you live in the EU? All Eu banks are covered by their respective governments up to €100 000 per account and the financial system will be far better regulated in the EU than in the UK (one of the reasons rich UK tax dodgers want Brexit)

jiminalpago

I want to have a bank account in UK because my "earnings" arise in UK and I, from experience, want to have a clear pathway from payer to my bank; as I have explained above, a bank in Italy does not offer that assurance - there is no obsession about it. If that makes me a B list expat, so be it.
Incidentally, I am perfectly satisfied with the service I receive from my Italian bank, Unicredit. That said, having been here some years I remember the period when Antonveneto, Monte Paschi di Siena, the various Casse di Risparmio, et al were in the headlines day after day with no one very sure who owned what and why.

philat98

The bank charges on Unicredit are high. You pay to withdraw money, have a credit card, move money to another Unicredit account and there is a quarterly charge too . It is surprising the UK banks are not doing the same.

heritagestanley

They probably will before too much longer!

Listen Very Carefully

I used Fineco in Italy no charges other than the usual bollo and money arrived from the UK without a problem

Lynn R

Two reasons, in my case:
1) My largest pension provider (a former employer's final salary scheme) will only make payments into a UK bank account - as will my SIPP provider, thus I need a UK bank account to have them paid into. My husband has a small annuity pension from a former employer with Legal & General, and they wrote to him recently to say that they too will only make payments into a UK account.
2) In the event of my death, any assets I hold in Spain will be subject to Spanish inheritance tax. Any assets I hold elsewhere, if inherited by someone who is not tax resident in Spain, will not be liable for Spanish inheritance tax. Therefore if my husband had died before me, and my brother who is resident in the UK inherits my estate, it would save him thousands in IHT if my savings are in UK accounts rather than Spanish ones. The Spanish tax free allowance for inheritance which apply to siblings is just under €17k (although for spouses or children they are much more generous).

Listen Very Carefully

Both revolut and transferwise provide a UK bank sort code and account number for regular payments courtesy of their multi currency accounts/card and of course there are offshore savings and current accounts eg IOM and Gib which provide UK accounts A lot of expats are going to have be creative in how they get their uk funds into their pockets now

ameliapond

My problem, Barclays sent me this email saying they may close my account, I have 2 accounts with them, one in my name and one in my son's name, they're both savings accounts not ISAs unfortunately, I would really like (I need in fact) to keep at least my son's UK account, with which bank I couldn't care less, my son is 17. Any suggestion?

Geordieborn

You and/or your son are not resident in the UK?

ameliapond

Not anymore, no. We are both residents in Italy now, although to Barclays we gave a friend's address ages ago, who's forwarding us some correspondence.

HADENOUGHPIZZA

I believe that this email is an up date to their terms and conditions which specifies that they do not offer services to people living outside the UK . From the bit you've posted it doesn't look like its about closing your specific accounts . By providing a UK address you may possibly have avoided the account being clsoed imediately but the email ensures you are aware of the changes . It is not clear what would happen if Barclays found out that you'd provided a false address but it is now clear that the address is not just somewhere for them to send post but a self declaration of residency.