Can a UK citizen open a UK bank account while abroad?

NoBob

Hi,

Are there any banks or building societies that allow you to open an account with them even though you're outside the UK, travelling say, like me...?

Thanks.

seven-day-weekend

You can open a new bank account with a bank you are already with whilst you are non-resident, I have done this.

Most new banks would require you to be resident in the UK before opening an account , afaik.

benbranson

You would be able to but you would need to have a good reason for doing so. i.e. you have some income paid in the UK (share dividends or pension income for example), or that you are intending on moving back to the uk in the very near future.

You would also need to provide proof of ID & proof address for whichever address you want the account opened on. If you're travelling then this could prove a problem though, as you may not have a fixed address.

If however your permanent address is in the UK and you are (effectively) on an extended holiday then I would expect you could open it as if you were still living in the UK.

NoBob

Yeah, asking because my dad went into Halifax and they said I needed to do it in person...

Am on an extended holiday and have a permanent address in the UK.

Baldur

NoBob wrote: »

Am on an extended holiday and have a permanent address in the UK.

Are you on the electoral roll at that address?

glider3560

HSBC will open UK accounts from abroad if you are an existing customer of HSBC in another country. They charge for this service (depends on which country you are in) unless you are a Premier customer.

NoBob

> Are you on the electoral roll at that address? I am, yes.

Thanks for the HSBC tip.

AmTheMan87

With HSBC, the charge is normaily £100 to open an account in another country (£50 for Advance customers and Free to Premier).

Worth looking into as it easliy set up as the majority of details from your main account (say UK) will be passed between the UK centre and Overseas and generally quite smooth as well.