Opening a UK bank account when living abroad

Lotusfan

I have moved to New Zealand permanently and kept my UK bank account and credit card as I use the current account to receive UK occupational pension payments, make regular payments by standing order into grandchildren's Child Savings Accounts, make automatic payments to the credit card and send family cheques for Christmas and birthdays. This all worked fine when my bank account was with the Alliance & Leicester, but since it has been transferred to Santander it's been a nightmare. Santander staff, whether on the phone or via secure messaging, appear unable to cope with the fact that I live overseas and have never been able to give me correct answers to questions or to follow even the simplest of instructions correctly :mad:

Santander have advised me to use their overseas account and I did have an Alliance & Leicester International account but neither of these provide facilities for standing order payments or small value cheques

Is there a UK bank acount that I can open from New Zealand that will allow me to make payments by standing order and issue cheques for amounts from £30 upwards?

Many thanks!

xylophone

http://www.lloydstsb.com/current_accounts/new_to_the_uk.asp
https://www.asb.co.nz/personal/international/travelling-overseas/opening-an-overseas-bank-account

Maybe you could transfer your account to Lloyds?

Lotusfan

Thank you for the suggestions but, unfortunately, none are suitable. The "ordinary" accounts all require a visit to a branch - either to open the account or to confirm one's identity and the Lloyds international account requires an annual income of £50,000 which is far more than my current pension

Dr_Cuckoo3

You can open an account at State Bank of India UK (£500 minimum balance) and this allows payments using internet banking and provides a debit card , it is difficult to obtain a chequebook though



http://www.sbiuk.com/personal/savings-account/how-to-open-an-account

"I am not resident in the UK, can I still open an account or a fixed deposit?

Yes, a person who is not resident in the UK can open an account or a fixed deposit.

Documents to be submitted by a person Not-Resident in the UK for opening an account or a fixed deposit?

If you are visiting a branch personally then you have to provide two types of documents (In Original), one a photo ID document which must establish your identity and Second document which has to be a proof of your residential status.

If you are sending the application form by post you must send at least one "Certified" copy of any one document from those mentioned in list 1(Identification Documents) and at least one Certified copy of any one document from those mentioned the list 2(Address proof Documents). The documents can be certified by a "Banker, Solicitor or Public notary". "

I would recommend East Ham branch (or one of it's new branches) rather than the head office

ICICI UK may open an account for non - residents (£500 minimum balance) debit card / chequebook

http://www.icicibank.co.uk/

Bank of Baroda UK - easy to obtain a cheque book and debit card - but internet banking does not allow payments (£100 minimum balance)
http://www.bankofbarodauk.com/

Bank of Baroda are also present in NZ
http://www.barodanzltd.co.nz/

Bank of India UK - are also present in NZ (I have no experience of them)(£250 minimum balance)cheque book available

http://www.bankofindia.uk.com/aboutus/overview.aspx
http://www.bankofindia.co.nz/#

ICICI may be the only bank in this list to offer standing orders

gt94sss2

Is there a UK bank acount that I can open from New Zealand that will allow me to make payments by standing order and issue cheques for amounts from £30 upwards?

HSBC can do this and operate both in New Zealand and the UK.

HSBC New Zealand can arrange for an account for you to be opened with HSBC UK. You might need to contact their International Banking Centre.

You may find they try and charge you a small one-off fee unless you become a HSBC Premier customer (when you need to keep around £50,000 with HSBC or earn a certain amount).

However, you can often open a Premier account without meeting the qualification criteria for 6 months, open the overseas accounts you need and convert them back to a normal account..

Having HSBC accounts in more than one country also often entitles to to free/discounted transfers between your accounts.

Regards
Sunil

xylophone

http://moneyfacts.co.uk/compare/offshore/current/

Lotusfan

Thanks very much for all the helpful suggestions. I've looked them up on the web and I think the Bank of Baroda offers everything I need. I'll send off an application straight away!

Dr_Cuckoo3

Someone else on the forum applied for this account by post and the bank contacted them by phone on the same day to confirm the account had been opened

airbusa330 wrote: »

Hello.
... their UK savings account comes with a Visa Classic Debit Card and Chequebook, so after reading it on another post somewhere here I went to their website yesterday, downloaded the forms, sent them back with a certified copy of my passport.

Alas....2pm today, the phone rang. A representative telling me my new account and sort code

The savings account comes with a cheque book and debit card (the current account has more fees)

http://www.bankofbarodauk.com/retail-banking/deposit-products/savings-accounts/


Co-op Bank also offer accounts to British Citizens living / working abroad and have a low balance /income requirement and no fees for usual transactions

http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/servlet/Satellite/1193206370390,CFSweb/Page/Bank?WT

Nat West / RBS open UK branch based accounts for foreign residents according to this thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3268248

chambta wrote: »

I know that RBS/Natwest can do it as I've personally opened accounts for foreign residents.

theonethatgotaway

Hadn't thought of offshore, some good leads thanks