Need A Bank Account

krystof

Hello to the good people of MSE.

I have a query today. I'm from Poland and I need a UK bank account (arrived a week ago). However, as you may already be guessing I can't open one because I do not have the address documents needed. I'm living with my brother and his family in Derby and their landlord refused to register me on that address as he knows I'll only be here for maximum a month. What are the ways to open a UK bank account (not a prepaid) outside of the UK? I need a personal debit account, not a business one, don't need overdrafts or anything. I don't have a registered address in England but I've been advised some of the following options which I know nothing about:
1. Virtual Address?
2. Temporary Address?
3. Using the letters/bank statements from no-proof-of-address banks like Monzo/Revolut/Monese as proof of address for a high street bank?

Can somebody more in-the-know shed some light on my possibilities. Seen a company with a good reputation who can open an account for me without proof of address with their partners HSBC or Barclays.... but it costs 1.2k. Is there a place where I can be registered and receive some paper statement showing my address and my name, PO Box or special company or something? Counting on your great advice

yrnm

You sound like you've been living here for many years. A newcomer wouldn't use the language you are using (e.g., high street bank, overdraft, prepaid, 1.2k instead of 1200, etc.). Congrats for your English and knowledge of the UK banking terms.

Why do you need a high street bank? Can't you use the likes of Monzo, n26, etc with your temporary address? Then once you have a stable address get on the electoral roll and get the account you want.

colsten

krystof wrote: »

I know nothing about:
1. Virtual Address?
2. Temporary Address?
3. Using the letters/bank statements from no-proof-of-address banks like Monzo/Revolut/Monese as proof of address for a high street bank?

There's no such thing as a virtual address for private individuals. A temporary address is where you live at at the moment.

krystof wrote: »

.....landlord refused to register me on that address as he knows I'll only be here for maximum a month

I don't blame them. You are simply a visitor, and visitors from other EU countries don't need to register in the UK whilst the UK is still in the EU.

It is rather unclear why you want a UK bank account if you are only here for 1 month. Further, it is unclear why it has to be high street bank. If you already have a Monzo / Revolut / Monese account, why do you need another one, for a 1-month stay?

krystof wrote: »

Seen a company with a good reputation who can open an account for me without proof of address with their partners HSBC or Barclays.... but it costs 1.2k.

What is the name of the company with the good reputation?

krystof wrote: »

Is there a place where I can be registered and receive some paper statement showing my address and my name, PO Box or special company or something?

You appear to be asking for something that bypasses the law. You won't get any help with that on MSE. In fact, someone might report your post.

tryin

You can open an international bank account with a British bank. These are bank accounts specifically for non-residents.

Zanderman

yrnm wrote: »

You sound like you've been living here for many years. A newcomer wouldn't use the language you are using (e.g., high street bank, overdraft, prepaid, 1.2k instead of 1200, etc.). Congrats for your English and knowledge of the UK banking terms..

A strange reply! OP may have lived here before, or may just be very fluent.

And why do you think those terms are so impressive, or even so English? 1.2k for example is a very very international term surely? Or Greek if you want to be precise over origins..

agrinnall

colsten wrote: »

It is rather unclear why you want a UK bank account if you are only here for 1 month.

I read it as living with the brother for a maximum of 1 month.

xylophone

https://www.lloydsbank.com/banking-with-us/joining-lloyds/new-to-the-uk.asp

PRAISETHESUN

I'd recommend Monzo/Starling to get you started - these are full UK current accounts that have all the protections of a high street bank. These banks only require a UK postal address in order to send your card, they don't require a formal proof of address like a lot of banks do.

If you have your heart set on a high street bank, it might be worth checking out what ID/address requirements the banks local to you will accept. For example, some will accept tenancy agreements, HMRC (tax) or Home Office (visa) documents, utility bills, etc, so you might actually have some documents a bank would accept. Keep in mind though that you are unlikely to get access to any credit for a while since your credit history will be non-existent, so you will probably only be eligible for a basic current account and sub-prime credit cards.

Flobberchops

Monzo/Revolut/Monese are good places to start. Be aware though that their statements will still have to pass your "real" bank's criteria.


If you have a bank in Poland that is willing to amend its files to show your UK address, and send you a statement, you should be able to open an account as tryin mentioned.



Do NOT, repeat NOT, use a company offering to open you an account for money. It's almost certainly illegal and you will almost certainly lose your money or get yourself blacklisted.

Migster

PRAISETHESUN wrote: »

I'd recommend Monzo/Starling to get you started - these are full UK current accounts that have all the protections of a high street bank. These banks only require a UK postal address in order to send your card, they don't require a formal proof of address like a lot of banks do.

I don't think this is correct. They still need to put you through KYC as per regulatory requirements, but they do this by checking you against various online databases such as the electoral role. As long as they find sufficient matching data they will pass you, but if you fail they'll still require physical documents to manually approve you.

EarthBoy

Migster wrote: »

I don't think this is correct. They still need to put you through KYC as per regulatory requirements, but they do this by checking you against various online databases such as the electoral role. As long as they find sufficient matching data they will pass you, but if you fail they'll still require physical documents to manually approve you.

According to Monzo's website you can use any old address:

https://monzo.com/blog/2018/06/01/getting-bank-account-no-fixed-address/