Who to bank with?

MrsCakes

My husband is from the USA and has been over here for a little over a year now. His VISA allows him to work here, however at the moment his wages are going in to my account as we have found it difficult to open him an account over here. He has now been at his current job for 4 months, doesn't have any debts over here or in America.

Which banks would you suggest to go with?

We have tried Santander and Lloyds so far.

planteria

you've tried but been turned away? if so, why?

i choose to bank with HSBC and Barclays for 'main' accounts, but use most of the others too.

Justice13075

No competition First Direct top rated in all aspects.

Kim_13

HSBC, First Direct, M&S are known for being quite picky, so I would avoid those. I would also avoid Bank of Scotland and Halifax, as these are also part of the Lloyds Banking Group and may have similar acceptance criteria. TSB is a great account, but running off ex-Lloyds systems so perhaps not the easiest to get having been rejected by Lloyds.

He may need a basic account as a credit search on him in the UK may not reveal anything, however banks are supposed to automatically offer a basic account if you pass ID checks but fail the credit one. The Nationwide FlexBasic is such an account. Barclays are I believe good at giving out the basic account if customers aren't eligible for the standard one. See more on basic accounts here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/basic-bank-accounts#what

Where is your husband from? Banks blacklist certain countries due to money laundering and fraud concerns, so you should check before applying that he won't be automatically blacklisted by the chosen bank.

agrinnall

Kim_13 wrote: »

Where is your husband from?

Read the very first sentence in the OP, I doubt if country blacklisting is an issue.

Kim_13

agrinnall wrote: »

Read the very first sentence in the OP, I doubt if country blacklisting is an issue.

Missed that - sorry.

bigadaj

agrinnall wrote: »

Read the very first sentence in the OP, I doubt if country blacklisting is an issue.

Not so sure, as well as confirming I'm only tax resident in the uk when opening new current accounts recently I've also been asked to confirm I have no us connections, I think this is becoming a risk considered by some banks that they want to try and avoid.

System

Some UK financial institutions may not want to do business with anyone deemed as a US person (e.g. your husband) due to FATCA requirements.

agrinnall

Heng Leng and bigadaj may well be right, it's a bit different to blacklisting a country because of dodgy dealings but the FACTA requirements could well be putting UK banks off dealing with US citizens.

benjus

Has he got a proof of address? That's often the tricky part for a foreigner in this country. Is he on any utility bills? Is the address on his employment contract or pay slips? What about getting him a provisional driving licence (if he plans to drive here long term he's going to have to take a UK driving test anyway)?

My wife's cousin came over from Argentina about 3 years ago and stayed with us for the first couple of weeks until she found her own place. She popped into the local branch of Barclays and opened a basic current account with no issues.

The FACTA thing may be an issue with some banks, but I'd expect the big banks to be OK with it.

System

The admin involved & risk of US fines make it's almost a no brainer to not deal with US persons unless you are someone like Citibank.

US persons will be a miniscule part of their customer base.

benjus wrote: »

The FACTA thing may be an issue with some banks, but I'd expect the big banks to be OK with it.