Account at Barclay's

Just wanted to say... DH and I arrived in the UK on Thursday (15 Jan.). We went into Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday and they told us they could only let us open an account with a utility bill. A tenancy agreement wouldn't be acceptable, nor would a cell phone bill.

We then went into Barclay's last night and told them our situation, and they agreed to open an account with just a tenancy agreement (and passports/licenses, obviously). We opened a premium account with them today (which, for 25 quid a month we think is well worth it; it insures all of our electronics including mobile phones, we have travel insurance, identity theft protection, online banking, debit cards, and a host of other cool features).

Just wanted to share my experience for people moving over in the future.

I'm moving to Newcastle in the summer, and I was planning to open an account with Barclays anyways.  Glad to know it was a relatively easy experience!  I believe that they are the bank that Newcastle University works with, so they may be used to expat faculty needing accounts.

That's assuming they're still around come summer!

25 quid a month is too much for me...

but I DO see that you're getting some benefit out of it as you stated.

I'm just not used to paying a monthly fee for banking... and hope I don't have to.

I plan/hope on opening semi-basic current accounts with no monthly fees, as I may not reap as much benefits from their cool benefits..  like not much electronics to insure and not much travel planned, etc...   od they have this option too?

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/pdfs/bank_accounts.pdf

25 quid a month is too much for me...

but I DO see that you're getting some benefit out of it as you stated.

I'm just not used to paying a monthly fee for banking... and hope I don't have to.

I plan/hope on opening semi-basic current accounts with no monthly fees, as I may not reap as much benefits from their cool benefits..  like not much electronics to insure and not much travel planned, etc...   od they have this option too?

I have held a UK bank account for 14 years (since the age of 11) and I have never paid a monthly fee for any of my accounts (one with Lloyds TSB (children's account), two with Natwest (one which has progressed from student account to graduate account to current account and one is a savings account)).

Personally, I would never open an account that cost me a monthly fee to maintain - my free current account has debit and credit cards, online banking and identity theft protection anyway and I only need travel insurance every couple of years or so, so it wouldn't really be worth it for me.

I'm not accustomed to paying a fee for a bank account either, but we plan on doing a bit of traveling, and we just bought a new Macbook, new iPhone, and we also have an iPod, Zune, and digital camera. With theft more common here than it is at home, I think we have more peace of mind knowing everything is insured for a relatively cheap price.

They do have other bank accounts-- one for 16 a month and another for 3 a month, and then your basic free account that just comes with a debit card and online/telephone banking. ALlso if we decide we're not getting enough out of our account to warrant spending 25 a month, we can always switch to a lower account.

I agree - I think for you it surely makes sense...
I hope it does for me as well a bit later...
I just have to aquire the electronics and be able to do some more traveling, but that may be a couple years down the line

how many quid is a squid?  just curious   I didnt know quid... 

how many quid is a squid?  just curious   I didnt know quid... 

Squid is just slang for quid, which in turn is slang for pound... so essentially all three words mean the same thing (1 squid = 1 quid = 1 pound!)

I was lucky enough to just get signed on to DH's free accounts with Lloyds, he has been with them for ages and knows everyone at the bank, so they didn't need anything other than my passport to add me on. But I'm glad you didn't have too much trouble opening an account since you didn't have a utility bill, etc. 

I was lucky enough to just get signed on to DH's free accounts with Lloyds, he has been with them for ages and knows everyone at the bank, so they didn't need anything other than my passport to add me on. But I'm glad you didn't have too much trouble opening an account since you didn't have a utility bill, etc. 

Thank you Yeah, we were relieved to know we wouldn't be waiting months for a bank account

Thank you Yeah, we were relieved to know we wouldn't be waiting months for a bank account

It sounds like the features might be worth it for you, but now that you have that first account, you will probably find it much easier to get an account at a different bank. Banks are usually happy to use proof of an existing account as evidence in opening another one. You should easily be able to get a free checking account with debit card/cheques/online banking. I was also offered a credit card.

Recently, I have been getting the really hard sell about opening/upgrading to a premier/fee account. For those that don't want this, just keep reiterating that you want a basic, free account. They will eventually back down.

is it like one dollar, on buck, two bucks, ten smackers, etc..

what's mostly used?  pound, quid, Squid?  sterling?  pence, cents, what else are cents?

i go tthe premier sell here too.. but what if you dont have the money...
it's not that you dont want to, but you cant deposit more than 100k anyways, at least not onto a plain checking account...