Best UK bank to receive international transfers

dont_use_vistaprint

Can anyone advise good banks to use to pay in money from UAE, low or zero free and competitive FX rates. 

Thanks 

Futuristic

None - use Wise.com then send to your bank in GBP

WastedWords

Are you transferring AED? 
If regular large transfers, probably HSBC AED currency account to receive then move to HSBC global money account to convert. 

Even better if coming from an HSBC in UAE

If a one off Wise might be easier. 

dont_use_vistaprint

Thanks yes in AED monthly around £3K for uk mortgage / bills etc , have applied for global money today in the uk and planning to open HSBC in Dubai shortly 

dont_use_vistaprint

WastedWords said:

Are you transferring AED? 
If regular large transfers, probably HSBC AED currency account to receive then move to HSBC global money account to convert. 

Even better if coming from an HSBC in UAE

If a one off Wise might be easier. 

I just got refused advice account . They gave me a basic bank account which is no good as I only wanted global money and you need advance account for that. You can’t reapply for advance either if you have another account with them!  

Service at HSBC is pretty awful , the whole onboarding a new account was all over the place & staff cannot answer questions they can only read text from screens which often doesn’t answer the question  , so if you can’t find the answer yourself  online, the answer likely doesn’t exist and they cannot help either.

I could use an elite account but would need to put in 75K annually 

Marchitiello

dont_use_vistaprint said:

WastedWords said:

Are you transferring AED? 
If regular large transfers, probably HSBC AED currency account to receive then move to HSBC global money account to convert. 

Even better if coming from an HSBC in UAE

If a one off Wise might be easier. 

I just got refused advice account . They gave me a basic bank account which is no good as I only wanted global money and you need advance account for that. You can’t reapply for advance either if you have another account with them!  

Service at HSBC is pretty awful , the whole onboarding a new account was all over the place & staff cannot answer questions they can only read text from screens which often doesn’t answer the question  , so if you can’t find the answer yourself  online, the answer likely doesn’t exist and they cannot help either.

I could use an elite account but would need to put in 75K annually 

(Assuming you really mean Basic Bank Account and not Current Account) Have you checked you credit file? Do you have some recent UK address history? A basic account is normally initially offered due to poor credit file (could be simply not enough information). You could upgrade to a full account later, including Advance, once you build some history.

as an Advance first and Premier customer later, I have personally experienced great service, both on the phone and in branch

wmb194

Marchitiello said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

WastedWords said:

Are you transferring AED? 
If regular large transfers, probably HSBC AED currency account to receive then move to HSBC global money account to convert. 

Even better if coming from an HSBC in UAE

If a one off Wise might be easier. 

I just got refused advice account . They gave me a basic bank account which is no good as I only wanted global money and you need advance account for that. You can’t reapply for advance either if you have another account with them!  

Service at HSBC is pretty awful , the whole onboarding a new account was all over the place & staff cannot answer questions they can only read text from screens which often doesn’t answer the question  , so if you can’t find the answer yourself  online, the answer likely doesn’t exist and they cannot help either.

I could use an elite account but would need to put in 75K annually 

(Assuming you really mean Basic Bank Account and not Current Account) Have you checked you credit file? Do you have some recent UK address history? A basic account is normally initially offered due to poor credit file (could be simply not enough information). You could upgrade to a full account later, including Advance, once you build some history.

as an Advance first and Premier customer later, I have personally experienced great service, both on the phone and in branch

In another thread @dont_use_vistaprint says he lives in the UAE so he's probably lucky to have been able to open anything.

trient

Cue in "HSBC are notoriously picky" however in this case likely for the right reason.

Premier in HSBC UAE then status match would be the only way to get a non-basic HSBC account in the UK without decent credit history (and probably income too). 

Band7

If you live abroad, perhaps you should be looking at an HSBC expat account. I believe this would give you access to an expat version of Global Money.

https://www.expat.hsbc.com/international-banking/products/bank-account/

Alternatively, just use Wise to move your money to the UK. Much simpler.

dont_use_vistaprint

Marchitiello said:

dont_use_vistaprint said:

WastedWords said:

Are you transferring AED? 
If regular large transfers, probably HSBC AED currency account to receive then move to HSBC global money account to convert. 

Even better if coming from an HSBC in UAE

If a one off Wise might be easier. 

I just got refused advice account . They gave me a basic bank account which is no good as I only wanted global money and you need advance account for that. You can’t reapply for advance either if you have another account with them!  

Service at HSBC is pretty awful , the whole onboarding a new account was all over the place & staff cannot answer questions they can only read text from screens which often doesn’t answer the question  , so if you can’t find the answer yourself  online, the answer likely doesn’t exist and they cannot help either.

I could use an elite account but would need to put in 75K annually 

(Assuming you really mean Basic Bank Account and not Current Account) Have you checked you credit file? Do you have some recent UK address history? A basic account is normally initially offered due to poor credit file (could be simply not enough information). You could upgrade to a full account later, including Advance, once you build some history.

as an Advance first and Premier customer later, I have personally experienced great service, both on the phone and in branch

I have Premier now, service in UAE is far better than UK

But I have discovered the globally money adds a 1.99% margin on FX , it’s better than 3% that Barclays Premier charge but still significant.

Revolt is practically fee free  but won’t accept deposits from HSBC UAE, only Barclays, Chase etc 

dont_use_vistaprint

trient said:

Cue in "HSBC are notoriously picky" however in this case likely for the right reason.

Premier in HSBC UAE then status match would be the only way to get a non-basic HSBC account in the UK without decent credit history (and probably income too). 

It wasn’t credit history or income related , it was because I didn’t click the switch account from Barclays premier , unless you agree to deposit around 75K a year they won’t give it you.

Turns  out a UK HSBC relationship isn’t required and doesn’t add any value anyway, and global money is t that good :-). It’s a nice little feature to have money in multiple currencies  and a single global debit card but you pay 1.99%  for it