A bank account at last!

Finally! After 6 1/2 months of waiting, numerous trips to the bank branch and even a few tears, I have finally got a current account. From reading the various posts about people's experiences with opening bank accounts, I have realized that it really it a hit or miss kind of thing. Nevertheless, I just thought that I would say I went into HSBC today and walked out with a full current account.

The story was completely different last weekend when I went into Halifax and tried to open an account. There, they told me I would have to wait a few days for the credit check to be done. They would then send a letter stating whether or not I had been approved or denied. Following that, if approved, I would need to deposit 100 pounds into the account immediately in order to activate it. Five days later I received a letter from Halifax denying my application for a current account based on the findings of their credit check. As if the 100 pound deposit wasn't bad enough, what REALLY made me angry was the fact that the letter denying my application was dated from the same day that I made the application! They made me wait 5 days to hear back when all along they had the results of my credit check the same day I was in the branch! Pah!

Today, I went to HSBC, explained my situation and within 20 minutes I had a current account. I should also point out that the results of my credit check were back within 2 minutes this time. The woman was able to tell me almost immediately whether or not I was approved for an account. Now, why on earth couldn't Halifax have done that to start with? Anyway, it doesn't matter. Just wanted to let those of you expats out there who have not yet opened your current account that Halifax isn't always the easiest to deal with and also to say that perhaps HSBC is a bit more flexible with foreigners opening current accounts. Obviously, this isn't always true, I know some people have had trouble with HSBC, but I had a good experience so I thought I'd pass that along. Good luck!

Congrats!! It's a great feeling, isn't it!!?

For what it's worth, I was just as lucky opening my account at HSBC, although not everyone has been so fortunate!

You are right that experiences with banking just seem so varied!  Halifax was actually the only bank that would give my husband a current account (I'm still waiting to be added on to his account).  It probably all comes down to the individual branches.  As if opening a bank account wasn't enough of a headache!   

Way to go! 

I read the post and couldn't believe that you had to wait 6 1/2 months for a bank account. That's insane. I went to almost every High Street bank when I arrived and I was worried that it would be hard to get an account, but every bank I went in to they were willing to open an account with just my passport, California License and Council Tax book. We finally settled on HSBC because they were the ones who would take the shortest time to negotiate my USD cheque into GBP. I guess it just depends where you are and who you're dealing with. But congrats! Every step is a big one when you're making the big move. 

-Raul-