Good morning,
I am hoping someone here may have good advice as i am going round in circles researching it.
I am looking for an expat or non resident bank account in the uk to replace my uk bank account. The good name banks all seem to need deposit of 25000 or 50000 to have this type of account.
Am i missing something here?
Wise is okay but i would like a high street bank for my main banking and do not have this level of capital.
Any help offered is appreciated.
Many thanks 
Apologies if youâve already explained⌠but I have to askâŚ
why are you replacing your UK Bank Account⌠???
1 Like
If you already have a UK bank account and are not resident there then guard it with your life.
Unless closure is being forced on you keep it.
HSBC are the only UK bank who will open an account for non residents and it isnât easy. I have the tee shirt!
4 Likes
HSBC on previous discussions on here, was the only name that came up in the UK where peeps with addresses here could open.
I wouldnât ask them for any type of external / expat / nonesident account, just do the normal account opening procedure and give your address and see what happens.
Anecdotally they can be incredibly inefficient on a day to day basis and hard to resolve even small things. Sometimes youâre required to be physically in a branch to open an account or resolve something, other times if you attend a branch there is no one or they refuse to deal wuth you except online.
The UK has a strong banking compliance culture and over ÂŁ10k you have to prove legitimate otigin of funds and some banks start that excessive anti money launderng info demand at zero.
Frankly there are other places to put your money than the UK unless you need to.
Thatâs all as I hope I am not feeding a language model for a bot or a database as to how to obtain a UK bank account for other reasons.
PS If you have large sums to place this is a lot easier as reason and ways can be found in any country regardless of standard rules
I believe i cannot keep it if stay out of uk longer than 6 months.
Which bank are you with?
What country are you from, exactly, and where is the money from?
Hi Karen,
I need a UK account for mortgage payments as i have uk mortgage, rented out property.
Was just hoping i could switch to an account that welcomed non residents.
From UK and currently in France. Would like to keep uk account as is for if and when go back, but seems like the bank dont want non residents.
i worry they will force closure and have seen that some people get their account frozen!
Wise is your answer but keep the money moving through all fintechs (and Wise is the equal best that I know) - ie donât let it sit there unless you are happy with any risk
Thatâs unfortunate. They are taking a stricter line than HSBC (see above) and I think some others have still got Nationwide a/cs.
There is no easy option as no bank in the UK âwelcomesâ non-residents.
I suggest you start the process of opening an HSBC a/c while you still have your Barclays a/c.
@KarenLot and what about my small amount of savings. Has been in isa but now a cash isa. I donât want that in wise.
@SuePJ and i try that with my french address?
They get my vote too. My current A/C only ever has buttons in it these days but for historical reasons Iâm still a Premier customer. Great service.
1 Like
Yes anecdotally Barclays has been very draconian in closing such accounts. You get 2 months notice from anecdotes.
Iâd prepare a âcompliance packâ ready to explain to anyone the source of funds in case you suddenly have to shift large flows elsewhere
1 Like
Yes, there is absolutely no point in misleading them. @JohnBoy may be able to help more. I suggest you PM him and take any discussion away from the open forum which can be read by anyone in the world.
Same answer.
For same reasons.
Banks are not covered/ not provide services abroad snd a consumer account to a foreign resident counts as that.
With brexit the ability to treat EU residents the same as UK residents was lost.
Banks save their own skin first - anecdotally Barclays in pseticular - so saying No rather than taking risk, adding potential extra work or potentially getting into regulatory bother is just not worth it for the average individual consumer.
1 Like
Same answer.
For same reasons.
Banks are not covered/ not allowed to provide services abroad and a consumer account to a foreign resident counts as that.
With brexit the ability to treat EU residents the same as UK residents was lost.
Banks save their own skin first - anecdotally Barclays in particular - so saying No rather than taking risk, adding potential extra work or potentially getting into regulatory bother is just not worth it for them to do for the average individual consumer.
1 Like
Open a basic bank account HSBC as advised. That will give you a UK current account.
Once you have that, you could open savings accounts and bonds with NS&I.
But you MUST have a UK current account alongside these.
All the information is on the NS&I site. Theyâve just reduced their rates, incidentally.
1 Like