dougal03

I am hoping to complete the sale of my home in Spain soon I will change to being resident in UK so doing the reverse of that which I did some 30+ years ago.This last weeks many British Nationals who retained a UK based Bank account were told it was being closed.Before they had been "passporting" instead of having a proper licence to operate which ceases after Brexit.Not my situation but I shall have a euro cheque from the sale which normally I would place in my Spanish Bank to use.As I shall want this money to have available in Scotland to buy a new home,I need to open a Bank account in that country.I did contact Santander Bank which has branches in both countries but they say I cannot simply transfer into Scotland but first must establish residency.Therefore I might as well stay with the Bank I have.It looks like that I shall have to do just that & return to Scotland in a rental for the required 3 months & produce something like electricity bills to show I am genuine.How quaint & outdated is that.Any suggestions folks?

mikelincs

Just one thing, Santander in Spain and Santander in the UK are two totally different entities, they just use the same name, this is why Santander would not be able to do the transfer.. This problem with Bank accounts is one of the 'benefits' of Brexit.

dougal03

I think we are finding out"benefits" of Brexit for real now.Always hung on to the crazy idea that Brexit would be cancelled.

Jamesy5008

Would be if we were independent. Saor Alba!

Pulaski

Banks are a law unto themselves, and most "problems" have nothing to do with Brexit. To open an account in the UK, as elsewhere, it isn't a matter of proving "residency", it's about proving your identity go the satisfaction of the bank, and the country where the bank is operating. In most cases this means proving your name, date of birth, that your existence is recognized by a (reputable) country, and your address. The first three of these will usually be satisfied by presenting a passport, birth certificate, driving licence, etc, and the last by something such as a utility bill. You should check with the bank you're interested in to see what they require for someone newly arrived in the country as there is some flexibility in how the rules are interpreted, especially on proof of your address, and exactly what they need to proved if you have just arrived in the country.

dougal03

Pulaski,perhaps you are not aware of some of the conditions we,British Nationals living in an EU country ,are finding at this late stage of Brexit,even those who are remaining.When I first came to Spain in the mid 80´s,I had to close my Bank account in UK,no family allowance paid from that date as was fair I believe,& all I needed to open a Bank account here was my NIE number.That was obtained by providing details,too long ago to remember just what but obviously was a local address.This is an Identity document that serves from that time on for everything,you just record that number whenever asked,even each time when requesting money from the bank cashier for a small amount.Your number is more important than your name.My passport number does not appear on my "residencia" certificate,but comically perhaps,the names of my parents also.The UK had an identity card for each citizen issued during WW2 for even a very young kid as I was at that time but nowadays Britain is a European country that does not follow that path which,in my opinion,is daft logic.Which is why you need to provide at least 3 months utility bills to prove you are residing at an address in UK.You can get round this by simply telling a lie & using the address of a compliant family member there.We all know many people who for years have been living under the radar in EU countries,not contributing to the economy & getting a tan in the sunshine while waiting for their benefits cheque since they are untraceable by the British tax authorities for this reason.And why the system in my province is at a standstill with these folks & innocent new arrivals clambering for an appointment before January.So far,I have found no UK based Bank to have any degree of flexibility.You would imagine that having a British State pension for some years would be an indication at least.For many years I had an account in Gibraltar with a Building Society because of this difficulty.I had a sterling cheque from a sale of property owned by myself & sisters & had to put it offshore thereby adding to the Gibraltarian economy & as a business owner,found that crazy when I couldn´t use it for the good of my birth country.Then 2 years ago I was suddenly contacted & told my account was being closed & a sterling cheque was being sent to my Spanish address.Fortunately my Spanish Bank were pleased to have the amount.This last few days that is happening to all ex-pats ,although at present some Banks are restricting it to credit cards not current accounts.This may well change shortly as most Banks have been operating pre-Brexit on a "passporting" scheme.As a final comment.I do not have birth certificate which again I am grateful for having an ID (NIE) card.It was a long time ago that mine was lost but I have never thought I should blame the Luftwaffe who bombed our home,for this discrepancy.Try explaining that to a Bank.

scot47

As a "travelling scholar" I had work in many different jurisdictions. Without a doubt the MOST difficult country in which to open a bank account was The UK post 2001. lots of hot air about "The Market" and "Free Trade" from Boris and the rest. Not reflected in the reality of doing business with banks.

Pulaski

I am more aware than you imagine. See my previous post - almost all of what you describe has nothing to do with Brexit, or the European Onion. The changes in identification requirements for opening a bank account are near to universally consistent around the world, and have become progressively more difficult over the past thirty years, as a response to legislation and the progressively larger fines levied against banks for providing banking services to drug dealers, terrorists, and sanctions busters.

At least some of the problems you describe are the result of the lowest level customer service staff not understanding their own bank's rules on permissible variations on identification documentation.

Helen1964

Why don’t you just open a Transferwise Borderless account as a stopgap until you’re settled in the UK?
Denominated in sterling. For paying utility bills etc.

durham_lad

This will work. Unless it has changed in the last year or 2 there is no 3 month requirement to be resident. When our son returned in 2017 he stayed with us for the first few weeks while he bought a house so no utility bills etc in his name. Our bank, HSBC, accepted his UK passport plus a letter from us stating that he was staying with us.

For his interview at the Job Centre to get a NI number they also accepted a letter from us.

dougal03

Yes I had thought about the Transferwise Borderless account.It seems the best option.I shall not be staying with a relative but renting until I find a new home to buy.That is why I want to have funds on hand in a local Bank & also be able to have transferred my British pension back into the UK.Since there has been quite an uproar among ex-pats over the Bank closure notices which include numerous UK based major Banks,& this has been stated that it IS because of Brexit,I cannot think that it is because there are so many low level customer service Bank employees who do not understand their own Bank regulations.Also I know we all are aware that for many years every Bank globally has had to follow Data protection regulations.I have bought 3 new build properties in the last 15 years & it´s like being on Mastermind without a clue.The abrupt message I received from my Gibraltar Bank stated quite clearly that the closure was because I had a Spanish address only.But then perhaps the customer service person had only just realised that I had had an account there for all those years,who knows.

durham_lad

If you are renting then it is even easier to prove you are resident since you will have a lease agreement which was accepted by our UK bank in 2016 plus you’ll have utility and council letters within a couple of weeks. Which UK banks are telling you that you have to be resident for 3 months before you can open an account?

When we returned in 2016 we had a signed lease agreement from the start since we organized it all from the USA.

Pulaski

Which has nothing to do with opening accounts upon return to the UK, which is (was? ) the purpose for this thread.
And the issues you are dealing with have little, if anything (my money is on "nothing") to do with data protection/ privacy laws. Certainly such laws have increased in recent years, but they have nothing to do with proving identity for the purpose of opening a bank account. Identity laws and regulations fall under anti-money laundering laws and anti-terrorism laws, and while such laws in the UK predate tightening of such laws in many countries, including the US, it was Title III of the US's "USA PATRIOT Act" that really drove the tightening of identification laws around the world.

Helen1964

It doesn’t sound to me like the UK banks are asking for anything more in the way of documentation than would be required by, say, a French bank. See the “Opening a French bank account” in the French forum.

Pulaski

Thank you! .... Or American banks, or almost everywhere else, as banks are all working under more or less the same set of rules to ensure that the banks all "know their customers".