Australian trying to get a UK bank account

dronid

A friend of mine, from Australia, is currently with Barclays paying £6 per month for having the privilege of no interest on the current account. I suggested the Alliance and Leicester but that requires you to be a permanent UK resident.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a bank that would be a) non-fee paying, b) Allow non permanent residents to join and c) have the most benefits possible – including, ideally, interest on the current account.

She’s got a 5 year visa and is working full time in a good job.

Thanks for any help!

nzseries1

I have an account with Alliance and Leicester and I got it after being here 2 years (despite one of the requirements being a 5 year history). Might be worth a try.

I think that almost all bank accounts require you be a current UK resident, not a permanent UK resident.

Halifax, from my friends' experiences, seem to be a bit easier to get an account with. Try their [STRIKE]Ultimate Reward Current Account[/STRIKE] High Interest Current Account. The longer she has been living here the more likely she is to get it. This offers 5% interest (I think) on a credit balance.

But if she has had no credit products in the past (and therefore has no credit history) she should try Halifax's Easycash account. This has no fee, allows non-permanent residents to join, but does not pay interest on a credit balance (however a separate Halifax savings account could be opened for that).

JayZed

My understanding is that the policy of most banks is to allow a current account to be opened only by nationals of countries that have won at least 15 gold medals...

When she came to the UK my missus (who did have permanent leave to remain) initially had some problems opening a bank account, she ended up opening one with RBS.

occamsrazor

I think the previous poster is correct - you do not need to have permanent residency, you only need to be a UK resident, which if she has a 5-year UK working visa and an address in the UK, implies to me that she is.

nzseries1

Sorry, that should have been High Interest Current Account !

The Ultimate Reward one has a fee, the "High Interest" one doesn't! Check them out here:

http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/bankaccountsweoffer.asp

Kavanne

Natwest STEP account? I know they do welcome accounts for Poles so maybe they will help Aussies too? (Different visa reqs. blah blah blah I know but might be worth a try)

System

Could she not convert her account to a Cash Account?
She would lose internet banking (if she uses it),
However, it comes with a Visa Debit card & no £6 per month fee.
Given that she's got the account, it might be easier than making a fresh application.

dronid wrote: »

A friend of mine, from Australia, is currently with Barclays paying £6 per month for having the privilege of no interest on the current account. I suggested the Alliance and Leicester but that requires you to be a permanent UK resident.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a bank that would be a) non-fee paying, b) Allow non permanent residents to join and c) have the most benefits possible – including, ideally, interest on the current account.

She’s got a 5 year visa and is working full time in a good job.

Thanks for any help!

callow

I am Australian (although I live permanently in the UK). I was able to set up a Halifax account and more recently a Nationwide account. Both times I showed my Australian passport for identification, but they didn't look at my visa status.

As long as she has a utility bill of some kind to prove her address that should be fine.

I know when I first came to the UK 17 years ago, I had great difficulty getting a current account. My boss had a word at his bank and they were able to get me a current account. I am afraid that 17 years ago the banking system in the UK was archaic compared to Australia at the time, mainly because it wasn't computerised.

Scousebird_2

HSBC Passport will give you a number of features and although it is a subscription account for the first year-it converts to a free account after 12months.

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/passport

If your friend banks with HSBC in Austraila-they will open her an international account here in the UK-this has to be initiated by HSBC in Australia though. I believe this is free.

The ''world's local bank''-it certainly is for this reason!