Savings account for non resident UK citizen

Murdina

I can see this has come up before but just in case anything more up to date. I have a non UK resident British citizen relative who wishes to open an savings (or a current) account in the UK. Are there any options for doing this? So far I have got nowhere in trying to identify any. The savings are of an order of £10k. They do not have a UK current account any more which may be another stumbling block (all my own savings accounts seem to mandate payment to a prenominated UK current account in the same name).

Are there any realistic other options that feed into the UK banking system eg an account in Channel Islands or Isle of Man (please can I stress NO TAX AVOIDANCE aspect to wanting to have this account).

xylophone

Would Skipton International suit?

https://www.skiptoninternational.com/offshore-savings-accounts/intl-direct-access

Murdina

Thank you. This looks very promising and will look into it further.

Worried_fool

Most of the major banks have an 'international' branch, based in a territory like the Isle of Man; Gibraltar or the Channel Islands. I know that Nationwide and NatWest do, and am sure there are others. Details on their web pages.

A more fundamental question is why such an account would be valuable for your relative. For instance, deposits in these accounts do not have FSCS protection, while interest rates are far from spectacular.

wmb194

Worried_fool said:

Most of the major banks have an 'international' branch, based in a territory like the Isle of Man; Gibraltar or the Channel Islands. I know that Nationwide and NatWest do, and am sure there are others. Details on their web pages.

A more fundamental question is why such an account would be valuable for your relative. For instance, deposits in these accounts do not have FSCS protection, while interest rates are far from spectacular.

Nationwide International closed in 2017.

IanManc

Worried_fool said:

Most of the major banks have an 'international' branch, based in a territory like the Isle of Man; Gibraltar or the Channel Islands. I know that Nationwide and NatWest do, and am sure there are others. Details on their web pages.

A more fundamental question is why such an account would be valuable for your relative. For instance, deposits in these accounts do not have FSCS protection, while interest rates are far from spectacular.

Deposits in the Isle of Man are covered protected up to £50000 per institution under the Isle of Man Depositors' Compensation Scheme.

Murdina

IanManc said:

Worried_fool said:

Most of the major banks have an 'international' branch, based in a territory like the Isle of Man; Gibraltar or the Channel Islands. I know that Nationwide and NatWest do, and am sure there are others. Details on their web pages.

A more fundamental question is why such an account would be valuable for your relative. For instance, deposits in these accounts do not have FSCS protection, while interest rates are far from spectacular.

Deposits in the Isle of Man are covered protected up to £50000 per institution under the Isle of Man Depositors' Compensation Scheme.

Thank you for alerting me to the lack of protection. In posing the question, I was ideally looking for a UK sterling account which they would be able to use whilst in the UK for UK purposes - rather than transfer funds overseas into a different currency and then transfer it back again when in the UK - since this may end up with losses on exchange movements as well as costs. I am exploring options. I mentioned off shore because it seems that a UK based account can in most instances only be opened by someone with a UK address for which they can provide requisite evidence.

Maybe I am on completely the wrong tack in thinking such an account whether in UK or "offshore" would be "valuable" to them - further comments on this aspect would be appreciated. (as an aside, you are assuming that, if the funds are transferred to their country of residence, which is the alternative, they would enjoy the same level of protection there we take for granted in the UK - this may not be the case).

Thrugelmir

Murdina said:

IanManc said:

Worried_fool said:

Most of the major banks have an 'international' branch, based in a territory like the Isle of Man; Gibraltar or the Channel Islands. I know that Nationwide and NatWest do, and am sure there are others. Details on their web pages.

A more fundamental question is why such an account would be valuable for your relative. For instance, deposits in these accounts do not have FSCS protection, while interest rates are far from spectacular.

Deposits in the Isle of Man are covered protected up to £50000 per institution under the Isle of Man Depositors' Compensation Scheme.

I mentioned off shore because it seems that a UK based account can in most instances only be opened by someone with a UK address for which they can provide requisite evidence.

Be open doors to money launderers if accounts were easy to open by non residents. The obvious question would be why an account is required. What's the nature of the transactions that are going to be processed through it.  The origin of the funds deposited. 

eskbanker

Murdina said:
as an aside, you are assuming that, if the funds are transferred to their country of residence, which is the alternative, they would enjoy the same level of protection there we take for granted in the UK - this may not be the case

Who do you believe is assuming that?  The prior posts make no such assumption and, on the contrary, make it clear that protection varies by country.

Going back to your main question, what is their country of residence?  Some global (or even regional) banks allow multi-currency/territory facilities, which may be a more elegant solution, if applicable....

Daliah

You might be able to hold Premium Bonds as a non-resident. Worth exploring. https://www.nsandi.com/help/join-nsandi/using-nsandi-outside-uk

eskbanker

Daliah said:

You might be able to hold Premium Bonds as a non-resident. Worth exploring. https://www.nsandi.com/help/join-nsandi/using-nsandi-outside-uk

Always worth exploring all possibilities but NS&I's requirement for a linked UK account is a bit of a Catch 22 here:

Murdina said:

They do not have a UK current account any more which may be another stumbling block (all my own savings accounts seem to mandate payment to a prenominated UK current account in the same name).

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