moneypenny20

Hi, I've had a search and not found what I'm looking for (I know it's there, I just haven't found it). Daughter planning on going to the UK for six months (please god make her come home again and not stay). Do any of the UK banks allow you to open a bog standard account from overseas, Aus in this case?

I looked at HSBC but it looked like it was only for someone earning almost 2 grand a month and she won't be.

It was very easy to do it in the opposite direction 11 years ago, I can't imagine it can't be done this way as well.

quiltman

It's now very difficult to do it from overseas mainly because of the money laundering rules. Once your daughter is in Uk and has an address etc then it is straightforward.
yes, the HSBC Premier account will let you do it but you've found the problem! Initially you may have to send her money via Western Union etc until she gets sorted.

penguinsix

Pain - in - the - butt.

Basically no. Bog standard high street account wants a UK resident before them so they can do verification. I tried for a couple of years even getting some "friends of friends" in a bank who came back and said they tried but it couldn't be done.

Not sure how long it would take her once there to get an account. Is she going as a student? Perhaps some student accounts are easier to set up in university towns.

I eventually did it via HSBC Premier but even that took a couple years to set up. Had to sign in front of HSBC people here in Hong Kong and have my HSBC rep in the USA vouch for me. Fedexes and phone calls and paper. Royal pain.

moneypenny20

Ok thanks, that's kind of what I thought. She's using a company who find her work accommodation etc (for backpackers) and they offer an extra package whereby for $100 they will 'help' sort some things out, one of which was helping with a bank account. I think it's a rip off and was hoping she could set it up from here but it's no bother doing it when she arrives and she'll have access to her bank account here via her debit card so it's all good.

Benson55

Open a HSBC account where you are and they can after a short while transfer the account to a branch in the UK.

BuckinghamshireBoy

I revisited this subject about 10 days ago. Barclays and HSBC will, but ...

One needs to deposit an obscene amount of money with one, and the other wants an equally obscene amount of money in on a monthly basis.

Benson55's suggestion would seem a good way to go if you could pull that off.

Benson55

NO only for the higher tiered accounts do they want an amount of funds deposited.
HSBC will open a checking account for $7.50 a month and will transfer it to the UK after a while of having it open, I think 6 months.
Best to call into a branch and get the latest advise properly.

mrken30

It may be easier to try and find cheaper ways of sending money to the UK. Using credit cards without foreign transaction fees and maybe there are some banks that allow you to withdraw without ATM fees. Looks like Westpac is a member in Aus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_ATM_Alliance

BuckinghamshireBoy

Thanks for that, admittedly I went to the UK websites. I'll see if I can get a local HSBC account here... I could go with Santander here, not sure about HSBC though.

moneypenny20

I wouldn't give Santander the time of day, let alone my money to look after.

Benson55

have to agree with the Santander comments from what I have heard they are not good at all.

BuckinghamshireBoy

Thanks for the notes of caution. The only reason I mentioned Santander is that they have a foothold in high street banking here, which is quite rare for a non-Swiss bank.

prospect

I wouldn't give HSBC the time either but I agree it appears to offer on paper the best option - just don't be surprised if it is all ends up being rather complicated, time consuming and mistakes are made by the bank. Think we looked at it the other day and it's rating was something 0.2 out of 5. We have just moved here and it's been tough, even with a fixed address and job. The 28 degrees card is excellent, fee free etc and was all we used until we could finally get things sorted.

Benson55

Very limited in what to do without the HSBC as no one else is offering anything like it.

Lion in Winter

They are currently offering a basic checking account for 3.0 USD per month. It seems you can apply online, even though there appear to be no branches whatsoever in my area.Might be a good deal.