Expat in China, Fixed-term savings account in UK

miniismycat

Hello, I have been living in China for 3 years and will probably be here for a few more years before coming back to the UK to hopefully buy a house and settle down. I have been able to save some money in China but currently it is just sitting in a Chinese bank account not earning anything. 

I want to put the money in a fixed-term savings account in the UK but most of the accounts I have found say that you have to be a resident of the UK to open an account.

Where can I find a savings account that will accept me? or any alternative suggestions on what I can do with my savings as an expat?

cardriver98

as you say, you need to be a uk resident.  if you have a very trusted relative you may be able to get them to jointly open an account with you.  

masonic

Are there no interest-bearing savings options available locally? An alternative option would be to open an investment account if available in China and use a money market fund or equivalent.

wmb194

miniismycat said:

Hello, I have been living in China for 3 years and will probably be here for a few more years before coming back to the UK to hopefully buy a house and settle down. I have been able to save some money in China but currently it is just sitting in a Chinese bank account not earning anything. 

I want to put the money in a fixed-term savings account in the UK but most of the accounts I have found say that you have to be a resident of the UK to open an account.

Where can I find a savings account that will accept me? or any alternative suggestions on what I can do with my savings as an expat?

NS&I sometimes offers accounts to expats but you'll need to have retained a UK current account.

Singapore is sometimes suggested for people in that part of the world e.g., try Standard Chartered there.

Voyager2002

Most of the major British banks, as well as Nationwide, have international branches (usually based in Gibraltar or the Isle of Man) that can accept customers living anywhere in the world. These accounts do not have FSCS protection and interest rates are generally poor, but they might be better than nothing.

Otherwise, I am sure that you would find something in Hong Kong.

What do your Chinese friends do with their savings? (And no, buying property in China is not a good idea at the moment!)

lyic

If you hold pound sterling a Chinese bank, you will only receiving a trivial amount of interest, slightly better than nothing if you put them in to a high street UK current account. However, if you deposit in US dollars, it is different. Many banks offer competitive US dollar fixed saving, structured deposit, and low-risk (aka money market) wealth management products.

I have seen some sterling wealth management products with decent expected returns, but they are not offered on a regular basis.

If you hold Chinese Yuan (Renminbi), since the current interest rate level of the renminbi is much lower than sterling, the return will be low but not zero.

If you meet the HSBC Premier requirement, HSBC may open an HSBC UK account for you. This is part of HSBC's Global Banking offering.

iFAST Global Bank might be another choose if you want a UK current account. They don't require UK resident and offers acceptable interest rates.