Sterling account needed

[overmonnow]

We are in the process of closing the HSBC £ account we have had for years because we are fed up with certain things...but this leaves us without a sterling account.

What are the chances of us opening up another sterling account with a UK bank given we do not live there, have no proof of residence, no UK pay slips etc...I think minimal.

Or can I open up a sterling account with a French bank (we bank with Caisse d'Epargne here) just so that we can have a chequebook and card for the occasional sterling purchase we will need to make at Xmas etc?

Thanks

[Jc]

Why don't you make your sterling purchases with a French card?

[IAN_S]

I have been trying to open a new UK savings account to get a better interest rate, and there are a number that have a better rate than the bank I am presently with.

But they all say, non resident, goodbye!

I don't really understand this as the inland revenue know exactly where I am, I even get tax forms, refunds etc from them sent to me here in France.

The savings bank I am with now would also not give me an account now if I told them I was non resident, but Natwest don't have a problem for some reason and again deal directly with me here.

If anyone knows a way round this I for one would be very glad to know.

[Teamedup]

I would say do not close your account.

I have yet to find any british bank who is as bad as the best of the french banks we have used. So far we are on our 5th or is it sixth.

[Benjamin]

We are in the same boat with our Barclays current account where we would like to move away but know that no other bank will take us on. It's all down to money laundering rules which in themselves are a good idea to try to stop the vast amounts of money derived from illegal activities being laundered into legitimate commercial concerns.

One avenue that IANS might like to try is the Offshore savings route. If you would like to pm me I will tell you who I'm looking at presently but there are lots of other companies out there. They are perfectly happy to open an account with a french address and you can elect either to pay the witholding tax and keep your name away from the tax man or you can be paid gross interest and have the details sent to the tax authorities in your country of residence and pay the tax there.

 

Benjamin

[Ron Avery]

"and you can elect either to pay the withholding tax and keep your name away from the tax man"

Why would you want to do that Benjamin?  Isn't keeping your name away from the French tax man illegal?  All that would happen was that your income tax return in France would be a false declaration and you could claim CMU and pay less taxes

Isn't this EXACTLY what is annoying the French, other legal Brits (and Will and MIKI) in respect of those CMU scroungers?

[Benjamin]

Ron

All I'm quoting is a part of what the EU Savings Directorate which came into force on 1 July this year says. Part, but not all , of the withholding tax is paid over,anonymously, to the country where you are tax resident.

 

Benjamin

[Benjamin]

I'm not getting into the discussion on CMU because I don't know what it is and don't understand it but you are being very naive if you think that French people and in fact many other Europeans aren't taking advantage of savings opportunities in these Offshore centres. 

 

Benjamin

[LesLauriers]

All worldwide bank accounts including offshore accounts need to be declared on a French tax return. The fine for witholding information is 500€ per account plus any tax due and fines, should it be discovered.

EUSTD or not.

[vervialle]

I work in a bank in the U.k and it is difficult now for overseas residents to open a bank account in the U.K. we will only accept a uk utility bill with a uk address,a communication letter from the uk inland revenue or a uk driving licence for proof of address your passport whatever nationality will always be accepted for your I.D.For overseas residents that cannot provide proof of address in the U.K. we refer them to our offshore service which is fine but all the accounts run with a charge for instance our basic account with a basic cashpoint card costs £4.00 per month and charges go upwards depending what facilities you require.If you think you will never have use for a u.k. bank account fair enough, but I would leave it open with a small balance and perhaps create a small turnover a couple of times a year incase it becomes a dormant account. However if you ever had to return to the U.K. the fact you would have to find somewhere to live, would then provide you  (with the very least a B.T. Landline utility bill. so I do not think its a big deal if you close it, but I would always keep the bank account you just never know when it could be handy . for visits ect.My dealing with french banks has been far from good, there online services are not as good as U.K. ones and I resent paying an anual fee for my cashpoint card and it cost me 12 euros to cancel a direct debit last year.I am not having a moan but we have one of the finest banking systems in the world in the U.K. and whilst our indian call centres are not popular and believe me we have so many complaints about them , but on the whole the banks are efficent and we are starting to return to the old values that we had when I joined in 1975 (thank goodness) I thought if I stayed long enough that might happen.

[pete charente]

Hi, regarding sterling accounts I've just opened an account with Nationwide Building society.They don't care where you live, the flex account allows you to withdraw from cash machines without charge and at a reasonable exchange rate, it is operable on internet and the instant transfer savings account pays 4.75% interest. so far the best i could find and the young lady who set it up for me in half an hour was most helpful. Hope this might be of help.

[vervialle]

Did you open the account at nationwide from France online or in England and did they not ask for proof of your address and what facilities do you get, I am very intrigued as due to the new goverment procedures on money laundering the banks in the U.K. have had to clean up there act for opening accounts and are fully accountable to the U.K. goverment, there has been and is so much fraud worldwide I am amazed a bank in the U.K is not concerned where you live.I do not disbelieve you just intrigued and it may be good for brits living in France to be able to open an account in the U.K with such ease.Also how did they verify you were who you said you were, did you have to provide french bank statements.

[Ron Avery]

"Hi, regarding sterling accounts I've just opened an account with Nationwide Building society.They don't care where you live",

Many reading this first post will be thinking the same as me, is this true ?  Well NO it isn't, you just cannot open a Nationwide account using a French address, you HAVE to have a UK address because if you do not you cannot get past the box that says county.  

They might not check that you live at the UK address that you gave but you did have to give a UK address didn't you? 

[BJSLIV]

Interesting that Nationwide "don't care where you live", because their legal conditions for their Flexaccount( Current Account ) state

"Nationwide's FlexAccount is only available to UK residents aged 16 or over."

[Jc]

This is the other way round.I've had an overseas account with a French bank(compte etrangere)for years.This year the French Government requires me to send the bank proof that my income is overseas.A photocopy of my UK tax coding appears acceptable.

[pete charente]

Hi folks, should have made it clearer. On opening account with nationwide i gave my UK address but said that soon Iwould be residing in France and would that cause a problem with documentation, the answer was that it made no difference where I lived once the account was open so long as I informed them of my change of address. This seemed acceptable to me as you say other banks don't really want to know if you move abroad, or if they allow you to keep your account you get stung for withdrawing or transferring funds. Hope this clears up my previous post and sorry for raising undue expectations

I will try it out in France and if I get problems will post another message

Regards pete

[pete charente]

Hi folks, should have made it clearer. On opening account with nationwide i gave my UK address but said that soon Iwould be residing in France and would that cause a problem with documentation, the answer was that it made no difference where I lived once the account was open so long as I informed them of my change of address. This seemed acceptable to me as you say other banks don't really want to know if you move abroad, or if they allow you to keep your account you get stung for withdrawing or transferring funds. Hope this clears up my previous post and sorry for raising undue expectations

I will try it out in France and if I get problems will post another message

Regards pete

[derf]

 

"Hi folks, should have made it clearer. On opening account with nationwide i gave my UK address"

I think everyone is entitled to a woopsie once in a while

[Viv]

what are you supposed to do if you have a UK civil service pension but are living outside the UK?

It has to be paid into a sterling account, because its up to the individual to arrange to change it into whatever currency.

[vervialle]

 Thankyou for clarifying your post, you are right once you have opened the account it does not seem to matter where you live, I suppose the banks attitude is that if you have opened it with all the correct documentation why should they worry where  you live. The only thing the banks in the U.K are worried about is fraud and if you have built up a relationship with a bank they trust you its no different to years ago having a slate at your local shop, they trusted you to pay your bill when the money came in. I for one am glad the banks have been made to account for their customers, I can remember when you could open an account by just walking in and telling them your name.Now our banking system is safer for the guidelines the goverment are making them put in place.This post has diverted a bit from the original thread but its interesting, by the way inever tell people I work for a bank as I always end up with a stream of abuse, how different to when I joined, you had a certain respect and I signed thousands of passports verifying a persons identification, what lovely days!!!! when I watch people in banks in france it is like going back to those days you dont seem to be just a number, but dont you think thats how everything is in france I know a lot of people who contribute to the forum have a desire for france  to move on but it is that charm that has made me be  in love with the country for 15 years. regards

[joanhomerJoan Homer]

Thanks, vervialle, for those final remarks. I was beginning to think I'd never read anything positive about France in these postings ! I've lived here nearly 15 years now, never seem to have encountered the kind of problems you all seem so bothered by and personally have always found the 'bureaucracy' to be eminently reasonable and flexible !

On the matter of sterling accounts, as a non-French resident you are entitled to an investment account with a French bank - it doesn't give you cheque facilities but you do benefit from the UK bank rate.

Joan

[joanhomerJoan Homer]

Thanks, vervialle, for those final remarks. I was beginning to think I'd never read anything positive about France in these postings ! I've lived here nearly 15 years now, never seem to have encountered the kind of problems you all seem so bothered by and personally have always found the 'bureaucracy' to be eminently reasonable and flexible !

On the matter of sterling accounts, as a non-French resident you are entitled to an investment account with a French bank - it doesn't give you cheque facilities but you do benefit from the UK bank rate.

Joan

[Liz]

[quote]We are in the process of closing the HSBC £ account we have had for years because we are fed up with certain things...but this leaves us without a sterling account. What are the chances of us openin...[/quote]

If you can put aside your differences with HSBC and keep a current account with them I am sure this is the easiest and cheapest way to go.  There should not be a problem in using a french address with them.  I had a relative who has lived outside the UK for some years and wanted to open a sterling account in the UK, it was impossible.   You could try off-shore, but there are often quite high charges. www.moneyfacts.co.uk will tell you what accounts are available.

Liz (29)

[gpluxgplux]

I live in Luxembourg.

I have often seen this matter discussed on various forums and can not understand why people have problems.

I still have an account with a UK High Street bank opened when I lived in the UK. Cheque book, switch and credit card attached.

I have a savings account in Guernsey in both € and £. opened many year ago but today opened easily with UK passport and utility bills from any EU Country. I could have a credit card with these accounts but do not.

I have a french bank account opened easily many years ago WITH a cheque book and have had no problems with them at all (touch wood)

All the above are declared and above board.

 

Am I missing the point

[andyh4]

"I have often seen this matter discussed on various forums and can not understand why people have problems.

I still have an account with a UK High Street bank opened when I lived in the UK."

 

GP

the problem is not keeping what you had before you left the UK.  The problem is setting up something after you have left.  Because of money laundering and tax evasion, UK banks are very reticent about allowing non-resident to set up new accounts.  You can retain an existing one but not set up a new one (easily).