Kim & Phillipa’s Blog

I’ve been doing some research into the whole “working in the UK” thing and some advice that people give is to set up a UK bank account before you go.  That’s not to say it’s not impossible to do it over there (a very good friend leaves on Saturday and has decided to wait until she’s over there to set it up).  However, if anyone is interested, I’ve found these options…

• If you are an existing HSBC account holder (6 months or more), you can simply get an account transferred (I think).  It’s much easier anyway.  If you’re thinking about travelling in 6 months time, I’d be opening an account with them now
• Otherwise, you can setup an account with HSBC via Travelex.  Travelex consequently slog you for $120 to do so. To get it setup, do the following:
• Bring in your passport and evidence of your current address (licence - if the address is on the front, not the back - or utility bill etc)
• You need to have a minimum initial deposit of 1500 pound, but the bank account itself is fee free.  You can give the dosh to them by cheque, cash or credit card, but be warned, the credit card is a “cash advance” so be prepared for the interest on your next bill!
• Pick up the forms from any Travelex, bring in your id and you’re done.
• It takes about 5 or 6 weeks to set up apparently.

Contrary to what some people may tell you on the web, NAB don’t setup UK accounts - at least that’s one one rep told me when I called them to ask.  But he did tell me they will write a reference for you so it’s easier to set one up over there.  I imagine most banks would do this for you.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 at 11:14 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.