A UK Banker

Your bank doesnt require proof of address??!!

You'll be getting a lot of PMs from people on this site, begging to know which bank this is!

Cheers, grumpylad!

Sorry just for clarity for recent arrivals the passport will do for ID and the photo driving license will do for address verification assuming it has an address on it.

Yes we need to confirm the address, but for a recent arrival the overseas address can be the one to be confirmed rather than the UK one

Wow... 

VERY different to my banks procedures...

Cait raised a very valid point. What happens if someone goes to a branch and is told something different?

Ask the member of staff to contact the ID Helpdesk to ensure that they are correct in refusing and try and find the reason for the refusal i.e. the branch is a Fraud hotspot so additional precautions need to be taken.

If you are still unhappy let me know, via private message, and I will try and help further.

I just received an email from my recruiter. He referred me to NatWest/Primeline's web site. It appears that all I have to do is complete the application, take it to my bank and have my identity verified. I am to use my recruiting office's address for the temporary UK address, mail it to them, they will attach a letter of reference or guarantee or something and forward it to NatWest. On the day I arrive, I will be met at the airport and taken to the bank where I will be allowed to deposit my relocation check. And, I have also been informed that, once NatWest receives the papers from the recruiter, an account in my name will be opened and I can begin transferring funds so that they will be available to me immediately upon arrival. After reading the horror stories here, I'm afraid that this whole process won't be as easy as I'm being told by the recruiter.

I just received an email from my recruiter. He referred me to NatWest/Primeline's web site. It appears that all I have to do is complete the application, take it to my bank and have my identity verified. I am to use my recruiting office's address for the temporary UK address, mail it to them, they will attach a letter of reference or guarantee or something and forward it to NatWest. On the day I arrive, I will be met at the airport and taken to the bank where I will be allowed to deposit my relocation check. And, I have also been informed that, once NatWest receives the papers from the recruiter, an account in my name will be opened and I can begin transferring funds so that they will be available to me immediately upon arrival. After reading the horror stories here, I'm afraid that this whole process won't be as easy as I'm being told by the recruiter.

It could well be that easy. If the recruitment company are an authorised introducer (large, local, reputable and usually outside of London) a letter can serve as your address verification.

One thing I'd double check, is your relocation in £ or $? If it's in $ will NatWest give you value straight away for the cheque

It could well be that easy. If the recruitment company are an authorised introducer (large, local, reputable and usually outside of London) a letter can serve as your address verification.

This was *not* the case 2 years ago when i worked in New Account Sanctioning for Nat West (the 'helpdesk' at head office)... but perhaps this has changed since i left the department.

Good luck! 

It could well be that easy. If the recruitment company are an authorised introducer (large, local, reputable and usually outside of London) a letter can serve as your address verification.

One thing I'd double check, is your relocation in £ or $? If it's in $ will NatWest give you value straight away for the cheque

Relo money will be in £s. We will go to the bank shortly after arrival and deposit the check. Recruiter warned me that it could take up to five days to clear. I presume five days is standard?

Just a note: I deposited a check for £100 a couple of weeks ago in my local bank. After a nightmarish hour trying to figure out how to credit me for the deposit (small town, small bank), they finally made out the deposit for $177 (that day's exchange rate) but warned me that the department receiving the deposit (in another town) would use the exchange rate for the day in which THEY receive the paperwork. Which makes no sense to me as I deposited the check on day X and therefore that is the exchange rate they should use. Not my problem if they take several days to get their s*** together! Except that, we're only talking about a dollar or two so I'm not going to make a big deal out of it!

That's a great heads up Paula!

Relo money will be in £s. We will go to the bank shortly after arrival and deposit the check. Recruiter warned me that it could take up to five days to clear. I presume five days is standard?

Yes, I'm afraid that's the standard, your Bank can get you the money quicker using a service called "special presentation" normally you'll have the cash the next day depending on the Post Office getting it there (yes it's a fee service £10). Alternatively your recruiter could wire the money straight into your account, normally a £20 fee (it's considered as good as cash).

Just a note: I deposited a check for £100 a couple of weeks ago in my local bank. After a nightmarish hour trying to figure out how to credit me for the deposit (small town, small bank), they finally made out the deposit for $177 (that day's exchange rate) but warned me that the department receiving the deposit (in another town) would use the exchange rate for the day in which THEY receive the paperwork. Which makes no sense to me as I deposited the check on day X and therefore that is the exchange rate they should use. Not my problem if they take several days to get their s*** together! Except that, we're only talking about a dollar or two so I'm not going to make a big deal out of it!

We use the rate on the day we receive the cheque at Head Office, unless it's a large cheque. For sums over $2,000 I'd recommend wiring the money, it's quicker, safer and you normally get a better rate.

For very small sums I'd suggest using PayPal

Thanks, gl. I met with my local bank manager today and explained to him that I would be moving to London in January but plan to keep my local bank account. i asked him what would be the easiest way for me to make deposits to that account from the Uk. Well, there was this big meeting in his office with three or four of them trying to figure out the best way for me to do this. Finally, the consensus was that the London bank would probably have more experience at transferring funds and I should ask them!  Small towns! (Of course, I will ask the London bank but I wanted to have a little fun at my local bank's expense!)

What is the best way to wire money? Is there a UK version of Western Union?

Thanks for all of your advice...it's certainly appreciated!

What is the best way to wire money? Is there a UK version of Western Union?

Once your account is set up you can wire the money directly into the account.

We do have a UK version of Western Union called Western Union  However I'd avoid them if possible because of high fees,  and the increased chance of fraud. They have a very poor reputation in the UK because of Nigerian 419 scams.

I will second the fact that Western Union is horrible for transferring money. The fees are outrageous!!

Fees for most US banks for international money transferring is around the $40-$45 mark.  My bank is Bank of the West and before that, Bank of America, and their fees were $40 last time I did a transfer, so I would suggest that you might want to wait until you have a substantial sum to transfer.  For smaller amounts, it's best to have a debit card and just pull money out of a cash machine.  You can get up to $300 worth of the local currency in a 24-hour period.

Also make sure you get your British bank's proper transfer or routing code for your US bank, which will speed things up.

There is a thread on here about using Paypal to transfer money. I'm not in London yet so I haven't tried it myself, but it looks pretty reasonable. I'll probably try that when I get there.

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=13572.0

We do have a UK version of Western Union called Western Union   However I'd avoid them if possible because of high fees,  and the increased chance of fraud. They have a very poor reputation in the UK because of Nigerian 419 scams.

Grumpylad, i am so ashame of this notoriety of Nigerians when it comes to fraud . I would have avoided asking this question at this point in time, but it is of utmost importance.

On Account opening- I am about relocating to UK through HSMP Work Permit, i will like to know if it is OK to bring last six months Bank Statement with a letter of Reference from my Bank.

If it is OK to do that, can the letter be addressed to a particular Bank or to 'whom it may concern'.

I will really appreciate your advice on this.