Opening UK savings account from Ireland

Tergat

Hi. Just a question.... I'm English, born their and lived and studied til 18 and then went to uni in Ireland and have stayed here 20 years later!

I still have my Bank account in England with Nationwide from when I was a kid which I rarely use but have a couple of thousand pounds in. My question is, can I open a savings account alongside that current account?

grumpy_codger

Check the 'Eligibility criteria' for the account you want to open. I checked this for a random NW savings account and it says 

"You need to ... be a UK resident"

Most likely it's the same for all their accounts.

lr1277

HSBC allows you to open a current account if you are resident in the EU. However I don't know if that means they will also allow you to open a savings account.

And the other factor is does a savings account with HSBC meet your needs. 

wmb194

Tergat said:

Hi. Just a question.... I'm English, born their and lived and studied til 18 and then went to uni in Ireland and have stayed here 20 years later!

I still have my Bank account in England with Nationwide from when I was a kid which I rarely use but have a couple of thousand pounds in. My question is, can I open a savings account alongside that current account?

If you have a UK current account NS&I might be another option.

https://www.nsandi.com/help/join-nsandi/using-nsandi-outside-uk

Mands

wmb194 said:

Tergat said:

Hi. Just a question.... I'm English, born their and lived and studied til 18 and then went to uni in Ireland and have stayed here 20 years later!

I still have my Bank account in England with Nationwide from when I was a kid which I rarely use but have a couple of thousand pounds in. My question is, can I open a savings account alongside that current account?

If you have a UK current account NS&I might be another option.

https://www.nsandi.com/help/join-nsandi/using-nsandi-outside-uk

I did that a few years ago. It took the best part of 6 months to get up and running. So, possible but not speedy if that matters in this case. 

Mands

lr1277 said:

HSBC allows you to open a current account if you are resident in the EU. However I don't know if that means they will also allow you to open a savings account.

And the other factor is does a savings account with HSBC meet your needs. 

In *some* EU countries. Not all by a long way. And I don't think Ireland is on the list. 

lr1277

When I looked at HSBC wrt this matter 12-18 months ago, they were happy to accept applications from residents in the EU. However it seems they have changed their stance. It now seems you have to visit a (local) branch in the UK. There is at least one branch in Northern Ireland. You could call/visit but there is no guarantee an account will be opened.

Edited to add: even if they do open accounts for you now, there is no guarantee they won’t change their mind in future,

gt94sss2

lr1277 said:

When I looked at HSBC wrt this matter 12-18 months ago, they were happy to accept applications from residents in the EU. However it seems they have changed their stance. It now seems you have to visit a (local) branch in the UK. There is at least one branch in Northern Ireland. You could call/visit but there is no guarantee an account will be opened.

HSBC UK still accept applications from overseas in the EU and the rest of the world - but not every country in either grouping.

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