Offshore Bank Account

Barking_Dogs

I've jus been informed by Barclays that they are going to close my bank account as I am overseas (bit of background here - my intention was to keep using my uk contact address and keep the account open but I've cancelled my uk mobile contract & when I enquired about setting up the app on an overseas mobile, it raised a red flag.  I never used to get these kind of issues in the past when overseas for an extended period :-( )

I'll be able to open a local account but the visa I need is notoriously slow to process in this country so I need an interim solution.

Most importantly, I need to be able to maintain a couple of direct debits to uk companies and I need at least some guarantee of security.  Low fees also an important consideration.  I'll probably be depositing around £15k.

Any advice or recommendations would be most useful.

pecunianonolet

I think HSBC is rather good for that purpose letting you keep a UK bank account. Depending on country, Santander might be another option as they operate in many other countries. Someone mentioned Lloyds at some point but can't fully remember. Definitely some options out there and Barclays has been known for a while now to close accounts. There might be even some info on the MSE website about this topic so worth to have a look.

Barking_Dogs

pecunianonolet said:

I think HSBC is rather good for that purpose letting you keep a UK bank account. Depending on country, Santander might be another option as they operate in many other countries. Someone mentioned Lloyds at some point but can't fully remember. Definitely some options out there and Barclays has been known for a while now to close accounts. There might be even some info on the MSE website about this topic so worth to have a look.

Ah yes, Santander could well be an option as they operate out of here as well.

eDicky

Was

Barking_Dogs said:

pecunianonolet said:

I think HSBC is rather good for that purpose letting you keep a UK bank account. Depending on country, Santander might be another option as they operate in many other countries. Someone mentioned Lloyds at some point but can't fully remember. Definitely some options out there and Barclays has been known for a while now to close accounts. There might be even some info on the MSE website about this topic so worth to have a look.

Ah yes, Santander could well be an option as they operate out of here as well.

That will not affect your ability to open an account with Santander UK as a non UK resident, which I doubt you'll find possible. You can have accounts with Santander Jersey and other major UK banks in CI or IoM, with facility for UK direct debits, but you'll need to deposit much more than 15k to avoid fees.

It's not at all clear to me what the issue was with Barclays banking app and 'overseas mobile' use.

wmb194

Barking_Dogs said:

I've jus been informed by Barclays that they are going to close my bank account as I am overseas (bit of background here - my intention was to keep using my uk contact address and keep the account open but I've cancelled my uk mobile contract & when I enquired about setting up the app on an overseas mobile, it raised a red flag.  I never used to get these kind of issues in the past when overseas for an extended period :-( )

I'll be able to open a local account but the visa I need is notoriously slow to process in this country so I need an interim solution.

Most importantly, I need to be able to maintain a couple of direct debits to uk companies and I need at least some guarantee of security.  Low fees also an important consideration.  I'll probably be depositing around £15k.

Any advice or recommendations would be most useful.

It's really going to depend on where you're living now. Not a bank but bank-like and offers DDs: could you try Wise? It isn't covered by the FSCS but you can have your deposits placed in a low risk Blackrock money market type fund.

Barking_Dogs

It's not at all clear to me what the issue was with Barclays banking app and 'overseas mobile' use.

When you install the app, it sends a code to the registered mobile number.  I had somewhat rushed into cancelling my uk mobile contract as I couldn’t see the point in continuing to pay for something I wasn’t going to use.

Furthermore, even if I’d kept the uk number, I wouldn’t have received the code anyhow.  The network I’m on here blocks these free SMS messages.

So, I tried to register an overseas no via the app I still have on my old uk phone but found that I couldn’t.

I went into the chat on the app and the guy told me my account would be closed if I’m non uk resident. As I’ve left my old uk address as my contact address (with mail redirection set up) hopefully I’ll be ok but I may be being naive here.

Anyway I can carry on using the app over WiFi on my old phone for now, even though the app is associated with an invalid uk number. Just can’t help feeling that this is going to bite me down the line though.

Barking_Dogs

wmb194 said:

It's really going to depend on where you're living now. Not a bank but bank-like and offers DDs: could you try Wise? It isn't covered by the FSCS but you can have your deposits placed in a low risk Blackrock money market type fund.

Yes, Wise or Revolut seem to be good options so long as I can get my letting agent to pay into it.

gt94sss2

Barking_Dogs said:

Any advice or recommendations would be most useful.

Which country are you now living in? The answer depends on that.

enterprising2016

Does anyone have experiences with HSBC Expat? Most comments on other platforms (Reddit, Facebook, Trustpilot) have been terribly negative. Thank you