Less than 3 years in the country, reason for an account application to be rejected

chanz4

WeB wrote: »

Why is that?

money laundering checks

bozo007

Have been lurking for a while, registered to share my experience with the OP.

My wife & I moved to the UK last March. Our first bank account and credit card was opened with HSBC thanks to the business relationship my employer has with them. Amex also quickly gave us the Cashback card thanks to our prior relationship outside UK. We also registered on the electoral roll within a few weeks of moving into our home. Tried opening a Santander account a couple of months later but was rejected - the local branch manager told me to give it 6 months. Starting November, we have been very successful in opening bank accounts everywhere - got Santander, TSB, Lloyds, Tesco, Nationwide etc. done quite quickly. The key was to not apply online as most bank systems aren't geared to handle an applicant who has lived less than 3 years in UK. In each case, we made an appointment at our local branch to get document verification done. In a couple of cases, the system still said No but the branch manager could then legitimately intervene saying he/she has verified everything in person. Tesco required us to send certified copies of proof of identity and address but other than that, there were no hiccups.

Hope this helps.

colsten

I think it might help if you are not trying to justify your application with wanting to deposit £85K (or other large amount). The accounts are current accounts, not savings accounts. The fact that many people do use them as savings accounts is not relevant.

If you want to impress with how much money you have to put into a bank, you could try Harrods or Coutts or some other private bank. They won't pay you much interest though, and you can't avoid ML checks.

CKhalvashi

bozo007 wrote: »

In a couple of cases, the system still said No but the branch manager could then legitimately intervene saying he/she has verified everything in person. Tesco required us to send certified copies of proof of identity and address but other than that, there were no hiccups.

Hope this helps.

I was in similar situation 10 years ago when I returned to the UK after 4 years abroad with no previous UK bank account.

Proof of Russian address and Russian accounts very quickly sorted the problem in branch (HSBC)

jonesMUFCforever

bozo007 wrote: »

Have been lurking for a while, registered to share my experience with the OP.

My wife & I moved to the UK last March. Our first bank account and credit card was opened with HSBC thanks to the business relationship my employer has with them. Amex also quickly gave us the Cashback card thanks to our prior relationship outside UK. We also registered on the electoral roll within a few weeks of moving into our home. Tried opening a Santander account a couple of months later but was rejected - the local branch manager told me to give it 6 months. Starting November, we have been very successful in opening bank accounts everywhere - got Santander, TSB, Lloyds, Tesco, Nationwide etc. done quite quickly. The key was to not apply online as most bank systems aren't geared to handle an applicant who has lived less than 3 years in UK. In each case, we made an appointment at our local branch to get document verification done. In a couple of cases, the system still said No but the branch manager could then legitimately intervene saying he/she has verified everything in person. Tesco required us to send certified copies of proof of identity and address but other than that, there were no hiccups.

Hope this helps.

I only have one question?
Why open all those accounts - is it a hobby?

mgdavid

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

I only have one question?
Why open all those accounts - is it a hobby?

fairly obviously for the 3% - 4% - 5% - 6% * interest.

* - select as appropriate to the account

bozo007

mgdavid wrote: »

fairly obviously for the 3% - 4% - 5% - 6% * interest.

* - select as appropriate to the account

Fairly obvious reason