Moving abroad - bank account help

Leigh_Williams

Hello
I wanted some advice on the best bank accounts to hold when moving abroad.
I am moving to Australia at the end of the month and will have a bank account there which will be my main account.
However I do want to keep an account in the UK for the time being for my current direct debits and savings.
I currently have a current account, ISA and savings account with Natwest which I want to leave due to the high account fee i pay monthly.
What bank would be good to switch too? i know most new accounts require you to pay in a set amount each month which I won't be doing. (I am freelance so get paid sporadically anyway.)
Does anyone know if there is an account out there which I can switch too that doesnt charge me monthly and won't ask me to pay into it each month?
Any advice would be greatly received.
Thank you

barak

Leigh_Williams wrote: »

Hello
I wanted some advice on the best bank accounts to hold when moving abroad.
I am moving to Australia at the end of the month and will have a bank account there which will be my main account.
However I do want to keep an account in the UK for the time being for my current direct debits and savings.
I currently have a current account, ISA and savings account with Natwest which I want to leave due to the high account fee i pay monthly.
What bank would be good to switch too? i know most new accounts require you to pay in a set amount each month which I won't be doing. (I am freelance so get paid sporadically anyway.)
Does anyone know if there is an account out there which I can switch too that doesnt charge me monthly and won't ask me to pay into it each month?
Any advice would be greatly received.
Thank you

This might better have been posted in Budgeting and Banking.

You've left it too late! I wouldn't advise closing an existing UK current account when going abroad as you will find it impossible to open another until and unless you return to the UK .

I do wonder what the monthly charges you are paying are for, but if you need a UK account for the time being, don't close your NatWest account!.

eskbanker

Ask NatWest to downgrade your fee-paying packaged current account to one of their free current accounts, such as Select (https://beta.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/select_account.html)?

mummytummy

We did that when we moved to Australia, we're with the Co-operative Bank and downgraded our current account, makes things so much easier especially when making trips back and transferring money over and should you ever return in the future you're already up and running with a bank account.