Opening a UK bank account

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Opening a UK bank account

Shapenz

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#107346 9-Aug-2012 20:05

Hi Geekzoners,

My partner and I are planning on heading to Ireland on a Youth Mobility Visa next year. We currently store all our savings in a Rabodirect but were wanting to transfer it to a UK based account.

However, the only bank I can find that will do a foreign account is HSBC with their Passport account but that doesn't earn interest and costs 8 pounds a month.

I would like to change my money while the kiwi is strong against the pound/euro but don't really want to carry a ton of cash over with me.

Can anyone that has done this before recommend us some options?

Any advice is much appreciated :)

Byrned

455 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#670253 9-Aug-2012 20:12

You'll be hard pushed to find any UK bank account thats paying interest right now what with the rate that the central bank is at.

You could always open a foreign currency account at your local bank here in NZ to take advantage of current forex rates, however I believe they don't offer interest either.

surfisup1000

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#670276 9-Aug-2012 21:30

Shapenz: Hi Geekzoners,

Any advice is much appreciated :)

Some NZ banks used to assist with opening a UK bank account --- ring around.

If you want to take advantage of the current exchange rate you could open a gbp account with your current bank (ASB offers a free gbp account) and convert now. Interest rate is 0% though.

My Lloyds TSB account pays 2% interest so it is possible to earn interest.

Check out lloyds...

http://www.lloydstsb.com/current_accounts/classic_and_classic_plus_accounts.asp?WT.ac=N2UKCAL0909

MikeSkyrme

272 posts

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#670286 9-Aug-2012 21:47

Have a look at a travel card as another option. You could lock in a value on the card in sterling now.

Michael Skyrme - Instrumentation & Controls

floydbloke

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#670370 10-Aug-2012 08:14

Shapenz: Hi Geekzoners,

My partner and I are planning on heading to Ireland on a Youth Mobility Visa next year. We currently store all our savings in a Rabodirect but were wanting to transfer it to a UK based account.

Rather stating the obvious, but you do realise Ireland is not part of the UK? And they use different currencies.

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

timmmay

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#670383 10-Aug-2012 08:46

Opening an Irish bank account's a real pain in the butt. When I lived there the only way I could manage it was to go into a branch with a letter from the financial controller at the place I worked. If you have a permanent residence it's easier, but it's still difficult. I'm not sure it's possible from here.

As Floyd says, a UK bank account won't help you in Ireland. UK = sterling, Ireland = euro.

Shapenz

518 posts

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#672169 14-Aug-2012 11:16

Yup fully aware Ireland is EURO but the plan is to get the UK VISA which is for two years vs one year for the Irish one.

They may find it suspicious if I have all my currency in EURO's so the plan was to bring pounds then change them for EURO's on our way across.

I've rung around a few banks ASB, ANZ, National & BNZ but no one does UK accounts anymore - so it looks like I will just have to go with the HSBC option.

I'm going to wait a few months before changing the currency so hopefully the interest I earn in Raboplus will offset any currency fluctuations/HSBC monthly fees... (and there is no quick resolution to the EU debt crisis)

HP

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jfanning

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#672204 14-Aug-2012 12:22

timmmay: Opening an Irish bank account's a real pain in the butt. When I lived there the only way I could manage it was to go into a branch with a letter from the financial controller at the place I worked. If you have a permanent residence it's easier, but it's still difficult. I'm not sure it's possible from here.
.

All we needed to open an Irish account was ID and proof of address (and PPS number from memory)

sidefx

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#672206 14-Aug-2012 12:31

I opened one through national bank a number of years ago with Lloyds TSB. As you say National bank no longer offers that service, but have you looked at lloyds tsb offshore and applying online?

http://www.lloydstsb-offshore.com/international-current-accounts/

I think that's what National Bank actually opened for me, then when I got to the UK I just walked into a Lloyds and they changed it to a local account for the 2 years I was there. Then after I left I changed it back to an offshore account.

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