Opening a UK Bank Account for HSMP visa holders

SY · Post by SY » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:10 pm

http://uk-bank-account.blogspot.com/

apeterso925 · Post by **apeterso925** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:53 pm

SY wrote:http://blog.myspace.com/yerra

Thanks for this! The bank account saga is an item on my to do list I am dreading, so it's nice to know there's at least one reasonable bank in the UK

Especially for us poor American fools and the ever-increasing exchange rate...the sooner I can stop paying in USD once I'm east of the Atlantic, the better!

Amy

SYH · Post by **SYH** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:13 pm

a friend of mine put me on his electricity bill and it was a snap after the next one generated with both our names on it

Oxican · Post by **Oxican** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:59 am

Ah, yes, the joys of moving to the UK. The conundrum of not being able to get a lease on a flat without a bank account; and not being able to get a bank account without an address!

Certainly helps if you have a friend to live with for a while. Also really helps if your employer is willing to write letters on your behalf.

Most banks will give anybody a savings account without too much hassle, but in the UK (as compared to the USA) they view cheque accounts as credit accounts (because you can usually over-draw) and that is why they make so many checks (pardon the pun!). A savings account, though, wouldn't be too bad, because you can set up direct debits against it, and pay in shops with a debit card - so for normal life its not a big deal.

Normally, after a few months with 'good behaviour' on your savings account, you can convert to current account.

In my case, I got the MD of my company to write a simple letter of introduction/recommendation, and I went to open a current account at the bank *he* uses, which also was the bank the company uses. The bank manager knew of him and of the company, so on that basis he gave me a current account straightaway without much hassle.

mayana · Post by **mayana** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:25 am

Try HSBC, this bank has a saving account for first timers in the U.K, its easy and straight forward, just visit any of the high street branch with ur passport(stamped with your permit,visa, etc except visitors' visa.

Be wise

Mayana

apeterso925 · Post by **apeterso925** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:35 am

mayana wrote:Try HSBC, this bank has a saving account for first timers in the U.K, its easy and straight forward, just visit any of the high street branch with ur passport(stamped with your permit,visa, etc except visitors' visa.

Be wise

Mayana

Yes, HSBC has an account type called a Passport Account, which can actually be opened online before you even arrive in the UK. It's a savings account and looks to be geared toward immigrants.

As I creep up to the 2 week mark of my arrival, I may just cave and go that route, but they want 6 GBP a month (or a one off 60 GBP fee) and it just bothers me on mere principle to pay for a bank account!

I'll arrive without a job or a flat and the one person I knew in the UK will have moved to yet another continent before I arrive

So I guess I (and others in similar situations) have limited options!

But it sounds like I'll at the very least be able to open a savings account the day I arrive (hopefully sans a fee)...which is at least a decent start.

sweetpea35 · Post by **sweetpea35** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 12:58 pm

When I arrived, I found that it was hit and miss with banks. I had to try 3 different ones until Barclays said yes. I just had to bring my passport, my proof of employment (offer letter), and a bank statement from home and it was fine. Unfortunately, I really think it depends on who you get at the bank.

ball1333 · Post by **ball1333** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:35 pm

Adding to the general pool of experiences here....

I opened my Barclays current account in the summer of 2000. I was on a 6-month BUNAC work abroad visa, with a 3-month work contract at the Bodleian Library (Oxford University library). The Bodleian needed to pay me by direct deposit. Barclays said I could not have an account if my employment contract was only 3 months long. After a week of back-and-forth between the management of the Bodleian and the branch manager of Barclays in Oxford, the matter was escalated to a senior figure in the University Chest and a Barclays officer in London.

I was so happy to get my bank account that I have kept it open ever since - with only GBP 40 in it most of the time! I never want to go through such hassle again. It's been convenient to have the GBP account for a lot of reasons, even when I've not visited the UK for an extended period.

wanna_bee · Post by **wanna_bee** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:18 am

Just curious , why is it convenient to have a UK bank account when not in UK ? what are the advantages ?

ball1333 · Post by **ball1333** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:16 am

wanna_bee wrote:Just curious , why is it convenient to have a UK bank account when not in UK ? what are the advantages ?

It's been convenient for me because:
*Sometimes friends in the UK want me to send them something from the US, and they can pay me back by putting pounds in my bank account (on-line transfer)
*I unfortunately had a balance on my Barclaycard visa when I left the UK. I've been able to keep up regular payments by having friends make GBP deposits to my account after I sent them GBP by PayPal. Then I could log in to the Barclays website to make my payment
*It may be easier for me someday to buy a house in the UK with a longer credit history in the UK, compared to not having much credit history there
*If it looks like the dollar is sliding against the GBP when I am in the UK for a visit, I can throw GBP into my UK bank account before the dollar loses more value rather than take the hit from the exchange rate with each transaction OR carry a lot of GBP in cash (I am nervous about ever carrying more than 50 GBP cash as it's a lot of money if I were to get mugged)

ssvgopal · Post by **ssvgopal** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:41 am

Hi Everyone,

I have also heard about the HSBC passport account. Is it justified to pay the 60GBP fee, or any other alternative exists?

I am coming to UK on 25th Aug, and need search for a job. So, any advice resulting in some savings for me is really really appreciated.

Thanks,
Sai

apeterso925 · Post by **apeterso925** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:29 am

ssvgopal wrote:Hi Everyone,

I have also heard about the HSBC passport account. Is it justified to pay the 60GBP fee, or any other alternative exists?

I am coming to UK on 25th Aug, and need search for a job. So, any advice resulting in some savings for me is really really appreciated.

Thanks,
Sai

I arrive on the 10th and my plan is to try all the other banks first and then if all else fails, give HSBC their 60 GBP.

vinay shanthi · Post by **vinay shanthi** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:07 pm

i had problems getting bank accounts, getting credit cards etc when i first started working in uk.

infact was borrowing money from friends as didnt have cards even though had basic account in lloyds with all my salary in it. bank used to close before i finished work, so didnt have access to my money in bank as they refused to give me a card when i first opened account. even though i had my entire pay in the account with no outgoings. none of the bloody banks gave me card in stirling as my nhs hospital accomodation postcode (correct postcode) did not come up in bank address searches!!! even banks in edinburg refused me when i travelled there just to open account. later travelled all the way from stirling in scotland to darlington to visit a friend and casually enetered hsbc there around closing time and they agreed to give me account, debit card and credit card!!! unluckily for me there was power failure !!!! and all bank lights dissappeared in the darkness of winter. but the people at the bank were friendly enough to do everything manually in candlelight for me even though computers didnt work !!! maybe that is why i got it as their computers were down and they couldnt do the address check or might have been refused there as well.

my another friend in london, had same problem, no one was opening bank account for him. it got so bad that he still didnt have account when he got his pay and payroll gave him cheque as he didnt have account. but he didnt have an account to credit his cheque into !!!! and he was borrowing money as well from others as he didnt have access to his cheque money !!!

to avoid such situations to others new to uk. i recently came across these facilities for newcomers to uk on another post on this website. for a fee they apparently arrange bank account and give other such facilities. i have NOT tried them. but just thought it will be useful for other newcomers who have trouble getting bank accounts.

see the links
http://www.1stcontact.com/live/index.ph ... ry_ID=1036

http://www.quickstartuk.co.uk/

kck9 · Post by **kck9** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:05 am

IMPORTANT and another easy way to open an account.

If you got a friend in UK who is staying there for morethan 3 years, he can actually recommend you to open the bank account in Lloyds TSB.

They got a policy that they wont ask you for any other details except passport.

Hope this helps

ashishashah · Post by **ashishashah** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 11:17 am

I think Bank Account and residence proof is chicken and egg situation..

I believe that if u have a job, HSBC is more then happy to give account,Cheque bok,Debit card and Credit card..

One of my friends came to UK , went to HSBC, opened a Account, next day he had 5 posts from HSBC which had Cheque book,Slip book, Debit care(temp), Debit card(Permanent with Chip), Credit card etc..

So i dont know what went wrong ??So if u have JOB , HSBC shd. be simple..

Ashish

UKbound · Post by **UKbound** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:40 pm

I opened my Barclays account in the US before I moved to the UK. They have an international programme that allows you do have the current account before you get to the UK, based upon your info at home. I had to send proof of my address (non-UK), and a copy of my passport as well as a bank statement from my existing bank. It wasn't all that complicated and it was good to have it out of the way.

Now that I'm in the UK and earning pounds, it's also important to me to be able to move funds back to the US.. Barclays is very expensive for this, so I'm switching to Citibank. They have options to have accounts in pounds, but also to have an account in several other foreign currencies as well, dollars, yen, euros, etc. It's helpful if you need to write cheques or have funds in your home currency too.

jagacharaja · Post by **jagacharaja** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:00 pm

greetings, ukbound! i believe our paths have crossed before on this forum but my memory evades me.

could you tell me how you opened the barclays checking account from the us? on barclays.com when i choose the country as united states it takes me to http://www.quietlyconquering.com/ and i don't think that's the relevant website. do you get checks and atm card w/this account? is there any fees for it?

just a couple of days back i applied for the hsbc passport account but looks like they take two weeks to make a decision. and either way i don't think the account becomes active until i go there, show my non-uk credentials and pay them the 60gbp. so if i can open barclays checking account w/out paying anything and the same requirements as hsbc passport, i'd obviously prefer that!

pls lemme know how you went about the barclays checking accnt from the us... thanks in advance!

UKbound wrote:I opened my Barclays account in the US before I moved to the UK. They have an international programme that allows you do have the current account before you get to the UK, based upon your info at home. I had to send proof of my address (non-UK), and a copy of my passport as well as a bank statement from my existing bank. It wasn't all that complicated and it was good to have it out of the way.

Now that I'm in the UK and earning pounds, it's also important to me to be able to move funds back to the US.. Barclays is very expensive for this, so I'm switching to Citibank. They have options to have accounts in pounds, but also to have an account in several other foreign currencies as well, dollars, yen, euros, etc. It's helpful if you need to write cheques or have funds in your home currency too.

vinay shanthi · Post by **vinay shanthi** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:07 pm

just found this useful link on www.moneysavingexpert.com about bank accounts

it is possible to get basic accounts in most banks. but banks deliberately dont tell you about those types of accounts as they dont make much money on them, they just tell you about the current account and savings account and give the forms for those accounts only and reject people especially if they dont fit the criteria for those accounts.

if you dont get a current account with debit card. then try some of these basic accounts. two of the banks which give basic accounts give debit cards as routine with them as per the link http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/basic_bank_accounts.pdf
ask for cooperative bank cash minder account or natwest step account both are supposedly basic accounts with debit cards as per this link. basic accounts were launched on govt initiative to help people with poor credit scores get access to banking accounts.

jagacharaja · Post by **jagacharaja** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:31 pm

ok, i stumbled upon barclays "moving to uk" page, and after cliking on "managing your finances" i got this: http://www.barclays.com/internationalpe ... lution.htm

the flowchart is really cool and i got referred to barclays.co.uk

after prodding some more (and thanks to vinay's post above, not knowing that current account and basic account are two different beasts), came across barclays "cash card account", which seems to be their version of the "basic account". this does not come with a debit card, checks or online banking - essentially this looks like the hsbc passport account, w/out the 60gbp.

i'll keep looking some more, but if anyone thinks i'm completely off of a tangent here, pls stop me! but for now looks like barclays cash card is the free version of hsbc passport.

avjones · Post by **avjones** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:04 pm

Hi jagacharaja - just a couple of points you might find handy. We have "cheques" here (rather than "checks", which means making sure of something, confirming it is correct, etc). And we have current accounts, which I think are the same as checking accounts in the US.

UKbound · Post by **UKbound** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:07 pm

I opened my Barclays account as part of their International Premier program. It's opened in Knightsbridge, but I did it from the US.

The website is http://www.barclays.com/internationalpersonal/

Unfortunately, it looks like the minimum to open now is 10k GBP. If you're bringing that much with you, then it's not a big deal, but it's quite steep.

It includes a Visa debit card, cheques, etc. And I have used it since I got here, although as I mentioned I'm in the process of switching to Citibank because of the multiple currency options.

Hope that helps. :-/

jagacharaja · Post by **jagacharaja** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:41 pm

thanks, amanda - i guess i'm holding off as long as i can until i "have" to speak "british" - i shouldn't complain really because i am from india and we also have cheques and not checks there. but spending almost a decade in the us has made it difficult for me to get back to old ways - i guess i can start the transition beginning right now. let's see how far i get

avjones wrote:Hi jagacharaja - just a couple of points you might find handy. We have "cheques" here (rather than "checks", which means making sure of something, confirming it is correct, etc). And we have current accounts, which I think are the same as checking accounts in the US.

jagacharaja · Post by **jagacharaja** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:45 pm

yeap i read this option on their website. 10k gbp is a bit much. seems like their (free) cash card account is the way to go as opposed to hsbc (60gbp) passport account as of now...

UKbound wrote:I opened my Barclays account as part of their International Premier program. It's opened in Knightsbridge, but I did it from the US.

The website is http://www.barclays.com/internationalpersonal/

Unfortunately, it looks like the minimum to open now is 10k GBP. If you're bringing that much with you, then it's not a big deal, but it's quite steep.

It includes a Visa debit card, cheques, etc. And I have used it since I got here, although as I mentioned I'm in the process of switching to Citibank because of the multiple currency options.

Hope that helps. :-/

vinay shanthi · Post by **vinay shanthi** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:55 pm

by the way some step accounts come only with a solo debit card and not a proper debit card. and apart from your passport you will need address proof in the form of utility bills.

the solocard wont be accepted in many places especially when trying to buy travel tickets online etc.

important to note is that even in the same bank (in some banks) all branches of the bank will not have the same requirements for documents required. bigger branches in city centres have more stringent document requirements as they are more targetted for fraud. smaller branches have official policies for more lenient requirements. also step accounts have the most lenient requirements but most banks dont tell you as the employees dont get any points for sales for opening those accounts. hence they dont want to waste time opening those accounts as they dont have sales targets for those accounts. so people finding it difficult to open accounts can try their luck in smaller branches outside city centres and if dont get regular accounts can specifically ask for step accounts

apeterso925 · Post by **apeterso925** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:57 pm

Hmm, I feel like an idiot then...I went to Barclays just yesterday in South Ken and the guy was really nice, but wouldn't let me open an account without a UK address...I was hoping to open the account to pay the deposit on the flat I found! Lol.

But I'm also wondering how I overlooked this when I was doing all my research...oh well.

I'm wiring the money from my US bank and on Monday, hopefully I'll have the prized address to get a bank account!

I was told I just needed my tenancy agreement to open an account, we'll see how it goes.

Amy

jagacharaja wrote:yeap i read this option on their website. 10k gbp is a bit much. seems like their (free) cash card account is the way to go as opposed to hsbc (60gbp) passport account as of now...

UKbound wrote:I opened my Barclays account as part of their International Premier program. It's opened in Knightsbridge, but I did it from the US.

The website is http://www.barclays.com/internationalpersonal/

Unfortunately, it looks like the minimum to open now is 10k GBP. If you're bringing that much with you, then it's not a big deal, but it's quite steep.

It includes a Visa debit card, cheques, etc. And I have used it since I got here, although as I mentioned I'm in the process of switching to Citibank because of the multiple currency options.

Hope that helps. :-/

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Opening a UK Bank Account for HSMP visa holders

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