British Expat Forum

We moved here (Republic of Ireland) from London 15 years ago, closing all UK accounts. I'd now like to open a UK bank account(s) if possible (ideally a current account and a deposit one), for lots of reasons, including convenience, exchange charges & deposit rates (I visit the UK quite often, do most non-everyday shopping there, etc; also UK deposit interest looks higher than here).

I questioned my bank, which says it's possible with UK banks in general.
I've only just started searching, but found this site and it seems a good place to check if that's correct.
I'd be grateful for any experiences about this (doing it or being unable to, pointers etc).

An initial web foray for UK deposit accounts came up with lots terms & conditions like 'open only to UK residents and expatriates, which sounded hopeful.
I'd guess the principles are the same with any country of residence (I'm with Ulster Bank, which has branches on both sides of the border, but the only difference that makes is that it recognises its own bank statements on the other side as valid - big deal!)
I expect all bank accounts have to be opened in person these days, but that aspect doesn't bother me, especially if I could then conduct things by post/online. (I enjoy trips to the UK mainland anyway, and am quite near the Northern Ireland border in case of any branches there.

Any thoughts?

Hilary.

Hi Hilary

Welcome to BE

Hmm. Tricky question.

(I'm no expert on this, so these are just a few thoughts.)

If you're British, and still have a British passport, and you live "overseas", albeit in Eire, do you not qualify as an expatriate?

Perhaps not, if you don't spend enough days a year out of the UK.

If you do qualify as an expatriate, then an offshore bank might be a good option for you. You have to jump through quite a few hoops to get the right paperwork, but it might be worth it in the end.

Most offshore accounts offer a variety of different currencies, including sterling, and debit cards on certain types of accounts.

Hope this helps even though it's only ideas rather than advice.

Kay

Thanks, Kay.
Yes, I am an expatriate - Briish passport, & living here 15 yrs.
I'm all too aware that I'm as much an expatriate as those in Australia, as far as the banks are concerned!

I did ask my local bank about opening accounts with a UK bank, and they said (knowing I'm an expatriate Brit) that it is possible. I just thought I'd ask here for any experience of it, in case there's anything more I should know - the bank may have assumed I knew stuff I don't. For instance, (not that it's for borrowing that I want a UK account) I wasn't warned when moving here that I'd lose my credit history (a common experience it seems).

My bank did say it involved quite a lot of red tape (I'm up for that, I guess). They (Ulster Bank) have branches both sides of the border, but said I could go for any bank. The only concession Ulster Bank makes to being all the same crowd, is that it'll recognise its own bank statements across the border as valid! (Do banks not trust each other?) It doesn't recognise its own cross-border credit histories (that border causes people as much financial frustration as any move to the other side of the world).

What is it with banks? I can at least understand the reason for some of their systems (profit), but I don't see why credit histories can't cross borders.
Sorry - those hobby-horses will keep bolting off-topic!
Hilary.

Yeah, I know. They try to screw you every way they can.

But for your purposes - if you're wanting accounts in sterling, and you qualify as an expatriate, then why not go for the offshore option?

In many cases you can do most of it online although, as I said, there are some paperwork hoops to jump through. (In our case, a letter from the Embassy here to verify who we are, and where we are living, etc, etc. Also a letter from our previous bank to say where the money came from. ) You'll need to fax all this red tape stuff through to the bank, with your signatures, and whatever else, before they'll open an offshore account for you.

We're currently with AIB, but I have to say that the very poor rate of interest we're getting from them is leading us to look elsewhere. ASAP.

It's a difficult process to open new bank accounts or to change banks. Some of this is "a good thing" to stop money laundering, but a lot of it (in my opinion) is to make it so tedious and difficult that you just can't be bothered and stay with your own bank who is ripping you off.

I don't have the answer. I'm not happy with what we're getting, so I'm not going to recommend anything to you. I can only discuss the process of this hassle.

Thanks for your advice Kay.
I'll start looking at individual banks now. I'll probably just ask the favourite one about what's involved. I'm expecting lots of red tape anyway - I don't suppose the ampunt of it differs a lot from bank to bank. At least proving where the money's from will be simple in this case.

I hadn't quite got my head round the jargon, and had thought of offshore accounts as rich people's tax havens in places they never go. But mine will be an offshore account too of course.
Sounds like the Jet Set (though lots of us riff-raff are already, thanks to Ryanair etc)!.

LOL!

Offshore accounts aren't just for the rich or the Jet Set. They're useful to anyone with expatriate status for a couple of reasons.

1. You don't pay any tax on the interest.

Wow! In our case we're getting a lot less interest than we probably would in a UK High Street bank. In any case, if you do your tax return correctly, you can probably claim back this tax on unearned income. (I'm only guessing at this.) But what a hassle. Best not to pay it in the first place, I think.

2. Most UK banks - as far as I'm aware - insist on UK residency, so an offshore bank may be your only option.

Most British people use offshore banks in the Isle of Man, Jersey, and similar. Americans tend to use places like the Caymans and so on. Many British High Street banks have offshore branches or alliances with IoM banks. I've had a few different accounts over the years and all have been IoM.

These are tax havens, as you say, and I guess they have their uses for the rich and famous, but we have relatively modest savings and have used offshore banking for years.

I would definitely recommend that if you do open such an account (or accounts) that you get Internet banking as it's a real hassle to wait for paper statements to reach you. It's much better to log on and check your balance immediately if you need or want to.

Good luck!

Wow! What a lot of info, Kay. Many thanks for taking the trouble.

I'm still a bit confused about the term 'offshore banks' - maybe it means one that's neither where you live nor where your nationality is? But I expect any remaining mysteries will be soon be solved once I get on the web looking at accounts.
The reason I thought I could open at least a deposit account in the UK, is I searched on 'expats deposit account in UK' or some such, and got some results in the small print about deposit accounts in the UK, saying 'available only to UK residents and expatriates'.
I'm not sure if having an account elsewhere in the world would be the answer - more convenient shopping in the UK (on visits or on the web) would be almost as important as higher interest.

Anyway, thanks again for all your help!
Hilary.