Barclays UK closing expat accounts ?

[gaijin86]

There is also HSBC Expat, based in Jersey, Channel Islands, separate from the UK-based HSBC.
Jersey deposit protect scheme protects up to 50k UK pounds.

[Del]

@Gareth you’re right about documentation; thank you for the heads up.

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/help/banking-mad ... ntify-you/

HSBC link includes info regarding verification of address abroad.

@gaijin86 thanks for the HSBC Expat info. Barclays have something similar based in the IOM I think.

@kuma even though I was dismissive of the Wise model, that is useful information. Still I would need to do some due diligence especially regarding our savings. Paying in our pensions to Wise seems to be ok.

[Moneymatters]

The wise.com multi currency accounts get the thumbs up from many forum members:

viewtopic.php?t=2976
viewtopic.php?t=1515

Wise has published a decent blog about the UK state pension too:

https://wise.com/gb/blog/uk-state-pensi ... %20further

I use it myself and have found it excellent. You can receive money into a GBP account with UK sort code / account no. and then transfer into other currencies.

thanks Kuma.
Whilst my UK bank account still has a UK address and is actively used I'm keen wean myself from it.

I'm just a bit confused about the WISE application procedure.
Yesterday, I created an account, submitted ID documentation, got verified and deposited funds within the same day.
So what, pray tell me, am I supposed to do with the other several months I'd set aside for this process?
I felt sure I could get a few thousand words out of this. But alas. I was thwarted from the get go. "Enter First and Middle name" I'm furious. I've never felt so 'seen'.

They even let me live out a long standing hostage fantasy by taking a "proof of life" selfie holding a little number card (I pretended it was a newspaper..).

[Roger Van Zant]

@macaddict: I am with Nationwide and while that is still OK for now, I have thought that if the worst were to happen then switching to my sister’s address in the U.K. would be a possible solution. Probably not without hassle as banks so often require codes sent to mobiles these days, but it could likely be worked around. While I would not lie and say I was U.K. resident to open a new account, I wouldn’t have any issue with that lie personally. And what’s the worst that could happen if they somehow (how?) found out? All they would do is close your account and you are no worse off.

I use my sister's address in London for my NatWest bank account. I also use her mobile phone number, so any alerts get sent to her phone and she just then screenshots them to me. I just have to make sure she's awake, what with the time difference. She also forwards me my new debit and credit cards when they get reissued. Been doing this for years.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

@macaddict: I am with Nationwide and while that is still OK for now, I have thought that if the worst were to happen then switching to my sister’s address in the U.K. would be a possible solution. Probably not without hassle as banks so often require codes sent to mobiles these days, but it could likely be worked around. While I would not lie and say I was U.K. resident to open a new account, I wouldn’t have any issue with that lie personally. And what’s the worst that could happen if they somehow (how?) found out? All they would do is close your account and you are no worse off.

I use my sister's address in London for my NatWest bank account. I also use her mobile phone number, so any alerts get sent to her phone and she just then screenshots them to me. I just have to make sure she's awake, what with the time difference. She also forwards me my new debit and credit cards when they get reissued. Been doing this for years.

This is asking a bit from your sister, isn't it? Isn't just worth changing British banks. Touch wood, but Lloyds haven't yet said they are closing any non-resident bank accounts.

[RetireJapan]

@macaddict: I am with Nationwide and while that is still OK for now, I have thought that if the worst were to happen then switching to my sister’s address in the U.K. would be a possible solution. Probably not without hassle as banks so often require codes sent to mobiles these days, but it could likely be worked around. While I would not lie and say I was U.K. resident to open a new account, I wouldn’t have any issue with that lie personally. And what’s the worst that could happen if they somehow (how?) found out? All they would do is close your account and you are no worse off.

I use my sister's address in London for my NatWest bank account. I also use her mobile phone number, so any alerts get sent to her phone and she just then screenshots them to me. I just have to make sure she's awake, what with the time difference. She also forwards me my new debit and credit cards when they get reissued. Been doing this for years.

This is asking a bit from your sister, isn't it? Isn't just worth changing British banks. Touch wood, but Lloyds haven't yet said they are closing any non-resident bank accounts.

NatWest has sent my debit cards to me in Japan for decades now

Hopefully I don't jinx it by writing that...

[concerned]

Am also using Natwest, in Jersey.
Also using Santander which has branches Jersey and Isle of Man

[beanhead]

NatWest has sent my debit cards to me in Japan for decades now

Hopefully I don't jinx it by writing that...

Same here. I have one of their token things for one-time passwords for online banking and also can get the text messages sent to my Japan mobile.
Until now, they seem to have no problem at all dealing with non-UK residents.

[Roger Van Zant]

@macaddict: I am with Nationwide and while that is still OK for now, I have thought that if the worst were to happen then switching to my sister’s address in the U.K. would be a possible solution. Probably not without hassle as banks so often require codes sent to mobiles these days, but it could likely be worked around. While I would not lie and say I was U.K. resident to open a new account, I wouldn’t have any issue with that lie personally. And what’s the worst that could happen if they somehow (how?) found out? All they would do is close your account and you are no worse off.

I use my sister's address in London for my NatWest bank account. I also use her mobile phone number, so any alerts get sent to her phone and she just then screenshots them to me. I just have to make sure she's awake, what with the time difference. She also forwards me my new debit and credit cards when they get reissued. Been doing this for years.

This is asking a bit from your sister, isn't it? Isn't just worth changing British banks. Touch wood, but Lloyds haven't yet said they are closing any non-resident bank accounts.

No, it's nothing.
Also, no way can I open a new UK bank account as a non-UK resident!

[cvtm]

Hang on a minute!. Japan is not on Barclay's list of countries!!!

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Current accounts and savings accounts

If your address is in the European Economic Area or in one of the following countries, we’ll contact you to let you know that your savings or current account is going to close:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canton and Enderbury Islands, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Macao, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Republic of Moldova, Russia, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sint Maarten, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tajikistan, Thailand, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

This will only affect your current or savings accounts listed in the letter we’ve sent you and not any account, product or service provided by another part of the Barclays Group. If you have any other Barclays UK accounts or banking services that are affected by these changes, like a mortgage, loan or credit card, we’ll contact you separately about them.
Source: https://www.barclays.co.uk/important-in ... de-the-uk/
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