Advice on opening a bank account when newly arrived in the UK

NH2004

Thanks for the advice.
We are in the process of applying for a national insurance number, so hopefully that will help in the long run.

As it looks like it might be a slow process regarding opening a current account, would it be advantageous if I added her as an additional card holder on one of my credit cards?
I'm thinking that way she would be traceable on a credit search and also show a good credit history.

NH2004

10pence wrote: »

Credit history is not the issue here, please stop going on about it.

The account opening process isn't as simple as it once was, manager's discretion has little to no standing in regards to anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terror (AT) laws and regulations. Banks have a legal obligation to 'get to know their customers' and this is satisfied by the customer providing relevant ID, VA and possibly other supporting information - in your wife's case her visa.

The reason I "keep going on about it" is because that is the reason the banks have told me she can't open an account.
Not because of the country she is from.
Her ID, proof of address and visa are all present and correct, so there should not really be a problem there.

jjlandlord

SeduLOUs wrote: »

I suspect this is unlikely. An employment contract is meaningless unless you are employed by someone very stringent in ID checking. Even so, banks want their own proof of ID and residence.

I didn't say it would replace ID and proof of address. She should already have these.

Obviously, banks prefer customers who can pay money into their accounts, so showing that the account is needed to receive salary from new job is much better.

My first step would be to obtain an NI number if she hasn't already got one (needed if she is going to get a job), and take whatever steps need to get her on the electoral register so that her 'file' can start to build.

A NI number is not needed to get a job. One will be assigned to her once she starts a job.

To be on the electoral register one must be entitled to vote.

Anthorn

I think a lot of people break their backs trying to get a bank account when they don't really need one. For your purposes a prepaid card will work. Go for the Cashplus Freedom prepaid MasterCard through moneysupermarket or money.co.uk which is free to use for POS and ATMs but £4.95 up front or the Pockit which is 99p for just about every action except POS which is free.

anoncol

Anthorn wrote: »

I think a lot of people break their backs trying to get a bank account when they don't really need one. For your purposes a prepaid card will work. Go for the Cashplus Freedom prepaid MasterCard through moneysupermarket or money.co.uk which is free to use for POS and ATMs but £4.95 up front or the Pockit which is 99p for just about every action except POS which is free.

How does a salary get paid onto a prepaid card?

bonjan

Years ago we went through a similar problem, and we found the easiest way was to apply for a Lloyds (back then Lloyds TSB) bank account online.
They will send the details of the new bank account by post to the address specified in the application.
Since she has no credit history they'll request her to produce a proof of id and address in branch, but that was it for us.
The letter we received in the post after applying online already included the bank account number and sort code.
Both Lloyds and TSB state "Please make sure you're aged 18 years or over and you're a UK resident and either an EU national or have permission to stay in the UK for at least 12 months.", but as you can see they don't mention the need to have been in UK for any period of time.
We got the same thing while trying to apply in branch so try applying for a Lloyds or TSB account online rather than in branch.

DCFC79

anoncol wrote: »

How does a salary get paid onto a prepaid card?

Maybe the OP could get the salary paid into his account and he loads up a pre paid card with money for the wife to use.

After reading the cashplus website it says you can get wages paid onto the card.

meer53

With regard to address verification, you can ask the utility company to send out a hard copy of the bill. If she has a passport and an original water bill to verify her address, going into a branch would be the best option.

Archi_Bald

anoncol wrote: »

How does a salary get paid onto a prepaid card?

Cashplus do offer some sort of current account.
http://www.mycashplus.co.uk/top-up-card/wages.aspx

They will, however, also make ID checks, just in the same way as banks do.

JKSandy

I don't get why the UK can't follow some other EU countries in that your employer can give a reference to the bank to confirm employment and they can then open an account.

Although maybe that's only for other EU citizens.