Opening a bank account

I know it's hard for newcomers in general, but do international students get a break (student accounts?) or do they face an added hurdle?

Which banks would you recommend? HSBC's Passport Account is my last hope, though I'd like to know about others. I really like Co-operative Bank but.. no newbies, apparently. Abbey has an account for postgrads but is that limited only to UK residents?

I know it's hard for newcomers in general, but do international students get a break (student accounts?) or do they face an added hurdle?

Which banks would you recommend? HSBC's Passport Account is my last hope, though I'd like to know about others. I really like Co-operative Bank but.. no newbies, apparently. Abbey has an account for postgrads but is that limited only to UK residents?

I would say that most universities will have a bank on campus or a bank they advise students to go to. If you contact the study abroad office at your UK university, they should be able to advise you on how to open an account as an international student (it may even be covered as part of orientation). When I arrived in the US, this was the case for my university here - I was even given the names of branches that had special arrangements for the international students.

You'll be studying at SOAS, right? (if I remember correctly from your previous posts). I have just visited their study abroad office website:

Can I open a bank account in the UK?

Yes. You should be eligible for a “basic bank account” with a number of different banks. You normally need to be physically present in the UK to open a UK bank account. You will need to take with you your passport, SOAS acceptance letter and your housing contract. The SOAS Welfare Office will be able to provide you with more information.

I know what a "basic" account entails and don't want that. That Passport account gives me a proper debit card (Maestro). There is a fixed, 1-year contract with a fee of £6/mo. Is there anything better than that?

I know what a "basic" account entails and don't want that. That Passport account gives me a proper debit card (Maestro). There is a fixed, 1-year contract with a fee of £6/mo. Is there anything better than that?

I've never heard of international students having to pay for a bank account or not being able to get a debit card with a free account (and I was on the international students welcome team in my final year of undergrad).

Here's a link to the 'Opening a Bank Account' guidelines for International Students at Leeds University. All three banks profiled allow international students to open a free student account with a debit card and a chequebook:

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/international/Opening%20a%20bank%20account.pdf

Remember, they often allow special circumstances for international students who wish to open an account compared to other non-student expats.

Edited to add:

Sorry, looking at both the Natwest and HSBC sites, they do charge the £6/month (which the university websites don't seem to mention), although I'm not sure about Barclays - I couldn't find anything about international students on their site.

I opened a free basic bank account with Natwest when I came over as a student- I have a Solo debit card, and to be honest, it's not that much of a hassle.  It's accepted in the vast majority of shops now- whenever I go somewhere new with the intention of buying I do carry cash just in case, but usually I'm pleasantly surprised that they accept Solo.  The big exception is the rail network, but I use my credit card for buying train tickets so that's fine.

BTW- the fee that Natwest charges is for the Advantage "extras" that you can get on top of a basic account- I didn't want or need any of those, so I just stuck with the free version.

Barclays does do an international student account and there are two different types it seems:

http://www.barclays.com/international/ibs_ibank_student.html

http://www.barclays.com/studentandfamily/internationalstudentaccount/index.html

But if you read the fine print at the bottom, neither is available to US residents. No idea why. It's  annoying because I currently bank with Bank of America and was hoping to easily get an account at Barclays since they're sister banks. Grrr...

just to add that in 2006, opening a bank account at NatWest as an international student was exceptionally easy. All I needed was my passport and a letter from the uni confirming my course details and UK address, and 3 days later I had a bank account (actually 2, I opened a savings account as well).  No extras, but it came with a debit card and the ability to handle direct debits and standing orders, which is all I needed.  I was even asked if I wanted to apply for a credit card (which would have given me a £300 limit as an international student, but better than nothing!)

When I moved over last year, I opened an account with Barclays. It's the no-frills, no debit card account, but it worked fine for me (and still does -- it's what we pay all our bills out of).

A few months ago, I applied for a Lloyds account and got it. It has debit card, overdraft, and cheques. I was told last year that Lloyds needs proof of address and a visa that lasts for more than 1 year to give you an account (which I didn't have when I got the Barclays account).

Both of my accounts are free.

I know what a "basic" account entails and don't want that. That Passport account gives me a proper debit card (Maestro). There is a fixed, 1-year contract with a fee of £6/mo. Is there anything better than that?

If you don't have it and you are thinking about getting that, don't.  I was looking into it and it's with HSBC.  They want a £60 up front fee or a fee of £6 a month.  Never pay to open a bank account.  They should be paying you via interest, etc.  I have an account with NatWest... and I don't pay for it.

As for banks...  hmmmm...  I didn't get an account at the Uni of Nottingham, but rather in Derby where I'm living until Saturday... and they weren't aware that I wasn't supposed to get a Current Plus (just a student account!), but they gave me one anyways. 

If you are going through a university, which is the best bet (easiest!) you'll probably end up with a student account.  You can get stuff like rail cards, etc., so it's worth it.  I probably would have got a student account, because I don't qualify for the benefits of a Current Plus account anyways. 

At international welcome week at the Uni of Nottingham they were giving out forms to register with the two on campus banks - HSBC and NatWest.  It's worth asking the international office at your uni about that stuff.

These "basic"  bank accounts are given to people with low income or bad credit (and students). They come with an Electron or Switch (?) which isn't as universally accepted, even with High Street merchants, and esp when making purchases online or over the phone.

These "basic"  bank accounts are given to people with low income or bad credit (and students). They come with an Electron or Switch (?) which isn't as universally accepted, even with High Street merchants, and esp when making purchases online or over the phone.

Students get Student Accounts - which come with a debit card (usually Maestro or Visa Debit), a cheque book, an interest-free overdraft and often a credit card. At 18, I had no income, no credit and I was a student, yet I had no trouble opening a Natwest Student bank account with Maestro (then Switch) debit card, a cheque book and a Mastercard - and they also gave me an extra £60 just for opening the account (now they give you a 5-year railcard worth £125)!

Switch (now Maestro) is accepted everywhere and while Visa Electron/Solo cards didn't used to be accepted at many places, you'll find that a good number of places do now accept payment using them. Plus, the only bank that issues Visa Electron cards is Halifax and the only banks that issue Solo cards are Natwest and HSBC.

Students get Student Accounts - which come with a debit card (usually Maestro or Visa Debit), a cheque book, an interest-free overdraft and often a credit card. At 18, I had no income, no credit and I was a student, yet I had no trouble opening a Natwest Student bank account with Maestro (then Switch) debit card, a cheque book and a Mastercard - and they also gave me an extra £60 just for opening the account (now they give you a 5-year railcard worth £125)!

Switch (now Maestro) is accepted everywhere and while Visa Electron/Solo cards didn't used to be accepted at many places, you'll find that a good number of places do now accept payment using them. Plus, the only bank that issues Visa Electron cards is Halifax and the only banks that issue Solo cards are Natwest and HSBC.
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But do you think international students will be afforded that privilege?

Virgin Trains, Natnl Express East Anglia, Odeon and Cineworld don't accept Solo. I can live without the others but I'm depending on Virgin to take me around the country on the cheap.

I think we've had this discussion before elsewhere but international students don't get the cushy student accounts that UK students get.  International students generally get bank accounts without overdrafts or cheques (but they do come with debit cards in most cases).

And like I said above, National Rail not taking Solo is one of the biggest annoyances of having a Solo card- but to be honest, it's not that much more hassle to withdraw money from the ATM and buy the ticket with cash at the station.  I've honestly not found my Solo card to be a huge drawback and once you've been here for a year or two you'll probably be able to upgrade (I can likely get a Maestro card now but I just haven't bothered going to the bank to do it.)

Any idea if being a mature student with an excellent bank history in the US (and plenty of cash to deposit in a UK account) will make a difference in the benefits or type of accuonts you can get? Nothing against younger students, but I'd hate to think that my 20+ years of good banking history are useless now.

as long as you have
1- Proof of Identity (passport)
2- Proof of Address (utlity bill)

you should be able to set up a regular checking account- with a visa debit card, cheques (although i rarely use them). 

unfortunatly, i found that my 10+ years of good banking history were useless here.  same with my credit score.