Current accounts for UK citizens who live outside UK

Frodosdad

Does any UK bank or building society offer a current account to UK citizens who are resident outside the UK? 

I realise the likes of HSBC, Lloyds, etc do, but only if you can guarantee to invest a minimum of at least £50k, which is impractical for me.

WillPS

I suspect you're out of luck:

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/which-banks-allow-you-to-keep-your-account-as-an-expat-aIiEs1i49WTf

PRAISETHESUN

Citizenship isn't really an important factor here, it's all about residency (ie. do you live in the UK or not). The usual answer is
people can often continue to manage existing accounts when they move abroad, but are unlikely to be allowed to open new ones. Do you specifically need a UK-based account, or just one denominated in GBP?

wmb194

Frodosdad said:

Does any UK bank or building society offer a current account to UK citizens who are resident outside the UK? 

I realise the likes of HSBC, Lloyds, etc do, but only if you can guarantee to invest a minimum of at least £50k, which is impractical for me.

Yes but it depends on where you are resident. Not a bank but it offers bank-like services: have you tried Wise?

eDicky

There may be a solution to your actual requirements, if you outline what they are, such as UK Direct Debit facilities etc.

friolento

wmb194 said:

Frodosdad said:

Does any UK bank or building society offer a current account to UK citizens who are resident outside the UK? 

I realise the likes of HSBC, Lloyds, etc do, but only if you can guarantee to invest a minimum of at least £50k, which is impractical for me.

Yes but it depends on where you are resident. Not a bank but it offers bank-like services: have you tried Wise?

Wise is not a bank or Building Society, meaning they do not offer FSCS protection. This may or may not be an issue - I regularly use Wise to xfer money between countries but I don’t keep any funds for any length of time with them.

friolento

HSBC offer a free of charge basic current account for people not residing in the UK. Whether they accept your application you can find out by applying https://www.hsbc.co.uk/current-accounts/compare/bank-account/

wmb194

friolento said:

wmb194 said:

Frodosdad said:

Does any UK bank or building society offer a current account to UK citizens who are resident outside the UK? 

I realise the likes of HSBC, Lloyds, etc do, but only if you can guarantee to invest a minimum of at least £50k, which is impractical for me.

Yes but it depends on where you are resident. Not a bank but it offers bank-like services: have you tried Wise?

Wise is not a bank or Building Society, meaning they do not offer FSCS protection. This may or may not be an issue - I regularly use Wise to xfer money between countries but I don’t keep any funds for any length of time with them.

Yes, I realise, and that's why I wrote that it isn't a bank but if the OP is desperate for a UK account number and sort code it might work.

gt94sss2

Frodosdad said:

Does any UK bank or building society offer a current account to UK citizens who are resident outside the UK? 

I realise the likes of HSBC, Lloyds, etc do, but only if you can guarantee to invest a minimum of at least £50k, which is impractical for me.

HSBC does - depending on the country you live in - including options with no £50k requirement.

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/apply-for-a-uk-account/