mmhendrie

Folks - so Brit here, living in SoCal, I have dual citizenship, lived as a kid in UK, moved to the States age 20 (1997), and been here ever since. Back when i left, Lloyds made me close my only bank account.

Now, I'd like to get a UK bank account - contemplating moving back in the next 2-3yrs, but, possibly buying a house much sooner than that, taking advantage of current exchange rates. I'll be in the UK this xmas if that makes things any easier. Any advice on how I can legit get a bank account over there - any recommendations on places that have good programs for that?

If it makes a difference, here in the States, my main accounts are with Capital One, but I also have accounts with Chase, US Bank, and First Republic.

thanks in advance,
Matt

durham_lad

Depends what you want your bank account for. Our daughter is moving back next month and is planning to open a Chase bank here since she has been with Chase for decades in the USA but I told her I didn’t think it would work until she was resident. She went into her bank in LA this week to see if she could open an account before she traveled but they said no, you have to be resident.

However, on my advice she opened a Wise account denominated in USD and GBP some weeks ago and has a debit card with them. She has been using her Wise account to pay lawyer fees etc as she is buying a house in England. She will be living with us for a few months while the house purchase goes through and I have already added her to our utility bills so that when she arrives she can walk into a bank here and open an account immediately. Our bank here also suggested that she apply for a provisional UK driving licence now since she will be here in 3 weeks. You can do it online and it will be delivered to our house ready for her arrival.

Note that Wise is not covered by the UK bank insurance scheme but is a great way to move money between countries and extremely affordable.

tht

I kept mine with HSBC and had them open my initial US account. Moving away from them now as not sure how long they will be in US, but they can support accounts for non residents, I get mail from them in the US. If she does not already need to do an FBAR, make sure she checks when it’s needed.

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international...count-opening/

MidAtlantic

As others have indicated it is now almost impossible to open a UK account when not resident. This may provide helpful background: https://www.monito.com/en/wiki/open-...roof-residency

durham_lad

Good to note that one of their recommendations is Wise which gives a UK account number and sort code. Just like a regular UK bank account, transferring money to other UK accounts to pay bills and such takes seconds. My daughter has been very impressed with this speed and ease of use. I have a Wise account with US bank details, linked to my Brokerage account for transfer of money from my pension account. It goes to my Wise account using ACH which is free and takes 2 or 3 days, then I move it to my UK bank (HSBC as it happens) and it takes seconds to appear in GBPs in my account.

mmhendrie

yeash, well this doesn't make for pleasant reading. I don't understand - I'm reading about expat mortgage products sold by UK lenders, but how am I supposed to buy a house, and maintain rent payments, improvements, property taxes etc. if I'm not allowed a bank account in the UK?!

I've used wise before to transfer money to family in the UK...but does that help me at all here, if i'm wanting to transfer money essentially to myself, but have it sit in the UK, in UK currency, to act for paying bills, receiving payments etc?

durham_lad

As stated above a Wise account can have a UK bank sort code and routing number. My daughter is using it just like a UK bank, paying the UK solicitor for searches etc as she is in the process of buying a house in England. She can also receive payments in the UK into her Wise account just as she can with a regular bank account.

I am doing similar except in reverse. I live in England but need to receive US payments and pay US taxes. My Wise account includes a US bank routing number and account number so I receive payments directly from my US brokerage to my Wise account in USD just like any regular US bank.

tht

You can do all the with Wise, just no checks, interest or deposit insurance. But you can get a debit card.

durham_lad

Yes.

https://wise.com/gb/card/

If you have the local currency in your account, the Wise card will use it. If not, it will auto-convert your money at the real rate, for a tiny fee. Either way, it’s much cheaper than old-school bank cards, online or in person.

Pulaski

If you qualify for an expat mortage to buy a house then it is likely that the due diligence performed by the bank will enable them to also open a current account for you for all the reasons you listed.

The problem with "just opening a bank account" is that it is never going to be profitable enough (unless you're a high net worth individual looking to invest $/£ millions*) to do the due diligence sufficient for them to mitigate the risk of opening an account for some random individual from another country who has no intuitively obvious reason for wanting an account in the first place. In short, the easiest way for banks to mitigate the risk of having customers from around the world holding an account, is to not allow customers from around the world to hold an account.

The common exception is to allow existing customers to continue to hold an account, which makes sense as the bank already knows that the account holder and there is presumably a history of the customer not using the account for concerning or suspicious.transactions.

* This is not unique to the UK, it is similarly difficult for a foreigner to open an account with most US banks, and also most other countries around the world as these days they all operate under a very similar set of laws and regulations designed to make things difficult for crooks and terrorists.