Expats living in Spain opening Sterling Current Accounts

Whibbs24

Hi all,
I find myself in the position of being unable to update my wife's or my UK bank accounts to joint accounts because we do not have a UK address although our separate current account's are tolerated despite us living in Spain.
Due to our ages we need to put all our financial affairs together, for obvious reasons.
We are not high rollers, and find the charges offered by offshore accounts very high.
Many people must have experienced the same situation we now find ourselves in.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for reading my post. 

eskbanker

I don't know if any UK bank offers new joint accounts for non-residents, but in general this sort of thing will be getting harder rather than easier (Brexit, tighter financial regulations, etc) so have you considered relocating your financial affairs to the same country you now live in, or are you planning to return?  You presumably spend in Euros rather than sterling....

wmb194

Whibbs24 said:

Hi all,
I find myself in the position of being unable to update my wife's or my UK bank accounts to joint accounts because we do not have a UK address although our separate current account's are tolerated despite us living in Spain.
Due to our ages we need to put all our financial affairs together, for obvious reasons.
We are not high rollers, and find the charges offered by offshore accounts very high.
Many people must have experienced the same situation we now find ourselves in.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for reading my post. 

Based in Jersey, HSBC's offering for Spanish residents doesn't look insanely expensive. The fee tables are in the "important documents" section:

https://www.expat.hsbc.com/international-services/spain-expats/

ScarletBea

Yes, immigrants benefit from having accounts in the country/currency where they live, otherwise the exchange rate impact can be quite harsh.
Any amount you have in the UK (in those "tolerated" accounts) should be relatively small.
We don't even have to bring Brexit into it, my experience of living in different countries is that 'normal' bank accounts are only for residents.

dunstonh

I find myself in the position of being unable to update my wife's or my UK bank accounts to joint accounts because we do not have a UK address although our separate current account's are tolerated despite us living in Spain.

The EU does not allow firms in the UK to offer financial products to those living in the EU unless you come to the UK in person or the firm has an office in the country you are resident.    You are allowed to retain accounts set up pre-Brexit.

Band7

dunstonh said:

  You are allowed to retain accounts set up pre-Brexit.

Provided your bank allows you to keep the accounts, that is. LBG and Barclays closed lots of accounts of people living in the EU, Starling and Monzo T&Cs and some others now say you cannot keep your account if you are no longer a UK resident (i.e. doesn't only affect EU residents). Accounts with others such as Nationwide, Santander and HSBC are less difficult to keep. HSBC even accept new applications from EU residents of any nationality.

Rheumatoid

Whibbs24 said:

Hi all,
I find myself in the position of being unable to update my wife's or my UK bank accounts to joint accounts because we do not have a UK address although our separate current account's are tolerated despite us living in Spain.
Due to our ages we need to put all our financial affairs together, for obvious reasons.
We are not high rollers, and find the charges offered by offshore accounts very high.
Many people must have experienced the same situation we now find ourselves in.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you for reading my post. 

Why as immigrants to another country do you need to retain UK bank accounts? As mentioned above, you are probably better to open Spanish accounts. Pensions, etc can be paid into them in € at decent exchange rates. You could open a Wise account or similar for any payments/income in GBP that you wish to convert to € before paying into your Spanish accounts.

ispookie666

You could look into having a forwarding address.  They are often used by companies, people who live off the grid, canal boats, abroad etc. 
I have only had the experience of using this to prevent clients from knowing my home address.  I cannot see why this cannot be used for banks.  I use the capital office 

eskbanker

ispookie666 said:

You could look into having a forwarding address.  They are often used by companies, people who live off the grid, canal boats, abroad etc. 
I have only had the experience of using this to prevent clients from knowing my home address.  I cannot see why this cannot be used for banks.  I use the capital office 

Because they'll ask where you live, not where you'd like correspondence to be addressed?  Masking actual addresses may be viable in some scenarios but when applying for products in a regulated industry that has onerous Know Your Customer obligations, and seeks formal customer declarations about the accuracy of information supplied, this approach isn't recommended, especially when OP's main bank already has the actual address on record, i.e. declaring a different address would be visible when National Hunter searches are carried out....

Brie

If it's merely to access each others account to do online banking etc legitimately maybe you could simply give each other third party authority?  Having this with my MiL's account meant the bank gave me a debit card and I could manage the account on her behalf.  Granted we both lived in the UK.

eskbanker

Brie said:

If it's merely to access each others account to do online banking etc legitimately maybe you could simply give each other third party authority?  Having this with my MiL's account meant the bank gave me a debit card and I could manage the account on her behalf.  Granted we both lived in the UK.

OP doesn't actually clarify what they're trying to achieve, believing it to be obvious:

Whibbs24 said:

Due to our ages we need to put all our financial affairs together, for obvious reasons.

but perhaps worth pointing out that power of attorney (and presumably third party mandate) rights cease as soon as the donor dies, so if the intention is to allow easy access to the other's money after death (which was my interpretation), a joint account would really be the way to do that.  Maybe OP will come back and confirm what the 'obvious' reasons are....