Should I go w/what the company is setting us with or do it on our own?

Hi guys, I'm hoping to get some advice cause I really don't know what to do.  My husband's company is giving us all the info we need to open an acct at Natwest.  Ok, this is how it would be:  we have our acct w/a credit union, we would keep that.  We would open a Citibank acct and also a Natwest acct. 
My husband's paycheck would be divided-some going into our credit union to pay our mortgage and stuff like that, and the rest that would go to Citibank so that we can wire transfer to Natwest (then of course that would be our spending/living money when in London).

But what I have been told from another family already there, is that it takes about 4-5 weeks to have access to the money.  They could have used debit/credit cards but the fees were too high. 

So after reading what some of you have adviced, I looked into the HSBC website.  Would that be faster if we were to open an actt w/them here and just talk w/them to open an acct. in London? 

One thing that I am liking about our credit union is that we can use our credit union debit card and we would not pay any fees. I already called our credit union twice to verify this is true.  So if we use our debit card over in London we are not charged any fees by our credit union.  We would be charged whatever fees the ATM machine applies or the grocery store, or the restaurant or whatever. BTW, about how much are those charges, anyone know?

Thanks for any info!

is your husband getting paid in USD? And you're talking about a Citbank US account not a Citibank UK account?  Assuming those two things are true, then I can't see why a wire transfer would take 4-5 weeks...more like a couple of days.  And even opening an account with Natwest took less than a week for me (the account was open for deposits within 3 days and I got my debit card in the mail about a week later.)

If the company is helping you open a Natwest account, there's probably not any advantage to opening an HSBC account. You can't transfer money easily and directly between US and UK HSBC accounts, unfortunately--you'd still be stuck with wire transfer or whatever. And I agree with springhaze that a wire transfer should only take a couple of days!

Sorry, I guess I did make it sound like it would take 4-5 weeks for a wire transfer.  Actually, this is the problem:  as she put it, she said, first, they went in and opened the acct.  Then they waited for money to be wired.  Then they waited for their signature cards.  THen they waited for their signature cards to be processed.  Then they waited for their debit cards to be mailed to them.  Then they waited for the pin to be mailed to them in order to use their debit card. THey arrived on Dec. 7 and could not have access to their money until Dec. 31.  And she said several other families who have gone there for this certain project have also had the same experience. 

So I was wondering, instead of waiting 4-5 weeks for acct. to be completely accessible to us, would it be faster to just open an HSBC acct. here and it would be an easier transition to open on through them in the UK.

Oh, and yes he gets paid in US dollars.

Thank you really for your responses. 

Well from my experience with opening a Natwest account- I did the signature thing at the same time that I opened the account. I didn't have to complete a separate signature card. And while I didn't get my debit card and PIN until a week or two after I opened the account, I'm fairly sure I could have still gone into any branch and withdrawn the money with a photo ID if I really needed to.

This is how it went for me:
Account open for deposits- 3 days
Wire transfer US-UK - 2 days
Recieved Debit card & PIN- 7-10 days

Not immediate, but definitely not 4-5 weeks! And it's probably going to take that long with any UK bank, even if you open a US HSBC account ahead of time.  And in the mean time while you're waiting for your account to set up, you should be able to use your US debit card to withdraw money.

Ok, I see what you're asking now! In that case the HSBC route might be worth exploring, if you have enough time before you move. The advantage is that you can have the UK account open before you go, not that it's faster to set one up once you get there. But it will take several weeks to set up the UK account, and it's a bit of a hassle. Do you have an HSBC branch nearby?

Ok, I see what you're asking now! In that case the HSBC route might be worth exploring, if you have enough time before you move. The advantage is that you can have the UK account open before you go, not that it's faster to set one up once you get there. But it will take several weeks to set up the UK account, and it's a bit of a hassle. Do you have an HSBC branch nearby?

No, I don't have a branch nearby, I thought that we could do everything over the phone.  But like you said, only if we have enough time which we really don't.  So, I guess I just need to be more aggressive, to get the acct. open in less than the 4 weeks it has taken others. 

Also, what fees have you encountered when using your American debit card.  Like I said, my credit union won't charge me any but I'm sure the UK business/bank will.  How much are those fees?  THanks!!

And it's probably going to take that long with any UK bank, even if you open a US HSBC account ahead of time.

Exactly, what takes the time is going to be general admin stuff that needs to be done in order to open up the account and send all the paperwork and cards to you. It probably won't matter much whether you go into HSBC or Natwest, it's still going to take a similar amount of time for the bank to verify your details, have your debit cards made and then send them to you in the post etc.

When I opened my US bank account here in NM, I had to wait two weeks for my debit card and checkbooks to arrive, but if I needed to access my money, all I had to do was go into the bank branch with my account number and ask for it .

Also, just because it took 4-5 weeks for your friends to get access to their money, it doesn't mean that that amount of time is standard. It might have had something to do with the exact branch they went into, the person who filed the paperwork, the time of year, etc. - have all the other families used the same Natwest branch to open their accounts? Perhaps it's that particular branch that is slow with processing times. I'd guess the average time is probably more like 1-2 weeks.

I would guess everyone has used the same branch since everyone probably helps each other out as more employees move over there for the same project. 
I think we might be ok, particularly cause our credit union is a good one.  But it just seems so complicated to have a Citibank acct. just so that we can have the ability of a wire transfer w/out having to incur fees.  Citibank does charge a fee for a wire transfer if we do more than one but still, it just seems pointless to me to just have a Citibank acct. w/them just for this reason.  Oh well, I think we'll do what everyone else has done and just go w/the flow.

Thanks again everyone for your responses.