EU citizens, student accounts, savings, joint accounts and credit building (a mess!)

gomes

Hello!

I've been searching the forums for a couple of days now, but I seem to have a pretty (let's call it) interesting set of requirements and could not find a parallel in the existing threads. I'll try to keep the explanation short:

I moved here from another EU country in late 2010 and opened the only account they would let me - an international student one (with Santander, which appears to have pretty bad rep...). I finished my degree and stuck around and now I managed to secure a funded PhD offer, so I would be keen to change to a regular student account - that no-fees overdraft sounds pretty good. Still, because of my EU status (and not having resided here for 3 years), is that something I might be able to pull off?

In addition, my partner will be moving here in the next few months and we have a small sum saved up we are keen on keeping in a savings account. I reckon it should not prove impossible for me to open one, but as you might expect we would like it to be a joint account. Now here is where things get tricky. From reading the legalese of the account conditions, I got the impression that given she has no UK address or credit history in the UK it will be a hurdle to open anything in her name (even if in a joint account). Is that correct? If so, are there any steps you might be aware of to work around the limitation?

Any tips (and account suggestions!) will be much appreciated

innovate

First thing you both should do is to get yourself onto the Electoral Register - - one of the first check banks will make is against that.

Opening a savings account will be a great deal easier than a current account. An EU passport and a current entry on the Electoral Register should give you pretty good chances to get a savings account.

Current accounts and credit cards or loans will be harder to get. You could ask your PhD sponsor / your Uni for some help. I know that it is pretty for EU nationals to get a UK current account if their UK employer gives them an appropriate reference / recommendation - so it should be similar for a PhD student, hopefully.

Sorry, don't have any further suggestions, hope this is of some help.

EDIT: As always, Google is your friend, too! This link looks pretty useful.
It's even got a link to the BBA's (british banking association) very own guide for student accounts.

BTW, Santander are not any worse than other UK banks IMO.

gomes

Thank you for the insight and the tips - got on the electoral roll this morning already!

As for the accounts, I think I may have explained the situation poorly: I already have an international student account, but would be keen to change to a regular student account because they are miles better than the international ones. On the other hand, my partner will not be studying and, although she will be linked to a university, they will not be the ones footing the bill, which I imagine makes things harder.

gomes

Can I get away with a cheeky little bump? Any tips appreciated!