UK banks closing accounts for expats

[Dannie Boy]

In the UK, with opening a bank account you need to go through the hoops and rightly so. A current account cannot be opened online whether you are new to the bank or an existing account holder without being present and Face-Face. With existing account holders in most banks, a "Saver/Bonus Saver Online Account" is the way to go without doubt - interest is paid monthly (+/- 4%), you have complete access to your money but if you make a withdrawal that interest drops to 2% ish BUT ONLY FOR THAT MONTH!

If a UK Expat, sorry but if you can't prove 50K in assets/pension/savings there's an issue in why retire to Thailand (where your pension may be reduced). The £50K mentioned (HSBC/Lloyds etc) is not necessarily savings alone... What is the income?

HSBC Offshore for example is still the UK, though with a few benefits (different currencies, tax etc) - I only say this as I still hold Offshore Accounts and UK Accounts with the HSBC...

That’s not quite correct Pete, I opened an online current account with Starling about a year ago - all done online, although I do have a genuine UK address I used (not my brothers friends next door neighbours)!!

[buksida]

Starling is a little different (also have a current account there) as it is online only and doesn't have any physical branches but still comes under UK banking regulations. You still need to provide a UK address and mobile number to open the account though, so not an option for those that don't have one!

[Dannie Boy]

I was just trying to provide information that might be useful to others - I appreciate that many won’t have a legitimate UK address, but for those that do, it’s possible to open an account remotely.

[buksida]

Yep, its good info and may help those who are getting warned about account closures from their existing UK banks. It was very easy to open online (though the interest rates are shite so I don't leave anything in there, its just a backup).

[pharvey]

That’s not quite correct Pete, I opened an online current account with Starling about a year ago - all done online, although I do have a genuine UK address I used (not my brothers friends next door neighbours)!!

Apologies if I've got things wrong, however I've also done it in the past, but recently with the HSBC there was certainly a lot of Red Tape to go through despite the fact that both I and the LHG already have existing accounts with them (separately and jointly). I was told then that UK regulations had become tighter, but maybe this is more of an HSBC "thing". Ultimately I opened a Bonus Saver Account which was done entirely online - of course the issue with the UK address still holds (and as such the Offshore option maybe the better one).