Opening a Bank Account in UK

A foreign national client who seems to be planning for settling in UK has written to IwantaPA Ltd to help him find out how to open a bank account in UK. He has stated in his mail that he does not have enough time to look out for this information. Moreover, when he has sneaked out a few moment of his busy schedule yet he could not find/gather information to satisfy what he wants to know.

I was made to wonder if opening a bank account in UK is not friendly for foreign nationals, if not why has he not got the desire information? Perhaps looking/seeking out this information may require a different approach like calling the banks, clicking it right or getting the right keyword for searches if the Internet is concern. I came to learnt that systematic way on opening a bank account in the UK for foreign nationals may not be easily available in the Internet for publication due to reasons of different banks may have different eligibility or criteria.

For instance, some financial institutions like Abbey National being one will not consider applicants who have not lived in the UK for less than a year. Alliance & Leicester expect five years' residence in the UK. The reason being simple and yet may be hard to accept for many. However, these instances are not the only options to bank with in the UK. Before a bank can let you have any kind of account, they need to be confident that you are who you say you are and you live where you say you live. Therefore, the most important thing one must do is provide the bank with at least one current proof of your identity and one current proof of your UK address. Depending on the bank, you go to or the type of account you are trying to open (especially Internet or telephone accounts, where bank staff cannot see you), the bank may need to ask for more than two pieces of ID. Banks know that because you are new to this country you may not have access to documents that people who live in the UK usually have (UK bills, UK driving license, etc), but there are other documents banks may accept for the purpose of confirming identity and address.

If one is opening an account in person, banks will usually accept as proof of your identity:

• Passport or if you are from a country in the European Union or European Economic Area: National identity card, Residence permit issued by the Home Office to EU nationals
• National driving license *** Proving your address in the UK may be more difficult but the following documents may be acceptable:
• Tenancy agreement
• A letter from your employer in the UK confirming your UK address (and if you already have pay slips from that employer it may help to show those too)
• The bank may also want to see proof of your previous or permanent address in the country that you come from. Your national identity card or driving license may be acceptable for this purpose. The bank may ask for your written permission to get a reference about you from a bank or financial institution if you have an account in the country that you come from. Because banks’ requirements vary, it is not possible to be definite about what documents they will accept. The documents that can be accepted may therefore differ from bank to bank.
  

The best approach is to take with you as much information as you have available.

*** The 4 major banks in the UK are Barclays, HSBC, Natwest and Lloyds TSB. If you think in the near future after settling down in the UK, you will be wanting to take out a mortgage (home loan), having your account with one of the big 4 high street banks will help a lot. They are more able to assess your credit worthiness accurately and have mortgage companies of their own.