Returning UKC & Lack of Bank Account Concerns

Hi all,

I'm reading through this section with trepidation. My husband (the Brit) and I (USC) will be returning to Scotland after living the last 7 years here in the US. He has been offered a job that he will be starting on 27 June. Initially, he will be staying with his parents, while he looks for a rental. He has no bank accounts, and the credit cards he had back in 2003/04 have since all been cancelled.

How difficult is it going to be for him to get a bank account open? He'll have his passport and the job offer letter as proof of income, but I don't know what he could use as proof of address?! All the bills at his parents house will be in their names, not his. The added difficulty is that my OH has spent most of his life outside the UK - he was born and raised in South Africa and only spent ~4yrs in Scotland before moving to the US - so he has little working knowledge of the credit/banking system. When he moved from SA to the UK, he did have extreme difficulty in getting an account open as well, and he's afraid of a repeat. 

On top of that, he needs to go over with about £10k in order to get established..esp to buy a car and some home goods. How should he bring the £10k with him, if he has no bank account to put it into right away? Traveler's check, cashier's check? Wire transfer isn't an option I would think, since he needs to buy a car right away, and w/out a bank account to already send it to, it could take a week or two to send it over.

And please help me get over my fear of not having access to money.  I've read story after story of peeps having problems getting access to accounts with debit cards and whatnot, and I am scared shitless. I am the financial person in the house, my OH does not pay the bills..heck, he probably hasn't checked our bank balance in a year. I do all of it, and I'm beyond worried that I am going to get sooo frustrated with the whole banking industry that I'm gong to say "screw it, I want to go home." And I don't want to do that to my husband. He has no patience or even inclination to handle these sorts of things. He just doesn't like dealing with the stuff. So he's going to get frustrated too, if I can't take care of the normal day to day and he has to get involved.

Please help alleviate some concerns.   

Oooh, I know the worries ...

Can his new employer help him out with the bank accounts, etc.? Sorry I have no experience with transferring money ... yet.

From what I have read on the forum it depends on which bank you talk to. Some have the reputation of being customer service orientated and it could also be a big city versus small town thing.

Yup, definitely depends on the bank. Some are very easy to deal with when opening accounts, others not as much. I'd recommend not getting stressed. If a bank won't give you an account or won't give you services you need, just try a different one. Also, Mrs. Robinson recently posted a great link to services that banks offer in this thread. Different banks accept different documents as proof of address, and usually list them on their website under their section on opening a new account. I know some allow you to use your passport as personal I.D. and a UK driving license as address I.D. Your DH could apply for a UK license as soon as he arrives, then receive it in the post after a few weeks and use it as proof of address. Alternatively, if your DH will only live with his parents for a very short time it might be worth waiting to open a bank account until he's found a new place, rather than rushing to get I.D. and open an account asap.

From personal experience, we've never had any trouble accessing our money. Even when living with DH's parents we were able to easily open bank accounts.  Both of us were granted small overdrafts, reserves, debit cards, and cheque books. There are loads of services for managing money on the go: branches, post offices, telephone banking, mobile banking, online banking. We don't want to have a joint account, so the one negative is that we can't use each others debit cards when we're out. One time I used DH's just as my reference for his account number and sort code and the bank employee said they should confiscate it but would let me off. This might cause a problem if you don't have a joint account and need to access your DH's but can't go to a bank or ATM without your DH there. But at home either of us can easily access both accounts so it's really simple keeping track of money, paying bills, and doing transfers between our accounts when we need to.

Thanks for the responses.

My OH already has a UK license. Only problem is, he had to send it off this past Monday (while he was still in the UK) to get the photo updated. So by the time he flies over in about 2 weeks to start the job, hopefully it will arrive back at his folks house.

Unfortunately he will absolutely need the bank account the first day he starts his job. They have already told him that he needs to bring that info on the very first day of work, so they can set him up in their system to receive his salary. So waiting is not an option. If his license can be used as proof of address, then I hope he will get it back by the time he arrives there (and before his first day).

We've always had a joint account. We're of the philosophy that our incoming salaries are for the household and don't believe in separating it into 'her' & 'his' money. We've been married for 7+ years and this is what works for us.  So hopefully I won't have any issues being added to his account(s) when I arrive. Being able to go to the store to just buy some milk could become a hassle without a card to access funds!

That's great your husband already sent his license off. Ours took under three weeks to be sent back when we updated them, so hopefully he'll get it back by the time he gets back to the UK. I'd recommend first checking which banks are most local and convenient to get to in your future area, then check that link Mrs. Robinson posted to make sure they offer the services you need, and then check their individual websites to see what documentation each bank requires to open an account. I know some accept a driver's license, but possibly not all of them do. If you have a list of your top preferences and know what your husband needs to bring along with him then as soon as he gets back to the UK (hoping his license is returned by then) he can start trying to open an account.

We have that same philosophy about our finances as well. Our main reason for not wanting to have a joint account is because just in case it ever goes over $10,000, I don't want to have to report it to the U.S. government each year.  So I use my bank account for little things like grocery shopping and to have money accessible to me, but we use DH's account for all householdy bill type stuff. I think my stubborness is kind of pointless though, so soon I'll probably give in, but at the moment it is very easy for both of us to access both accounts in a variety of ways, so it hasn't been an issue yet.

You might want to look into the HSBC Passport Account which I think you may be able to open before you move.

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/current-accounts/passport

We have that same philosophy about our finances as well. Our main reason for not wanting to have a joint account is because just in case it ever goes over $10,000, I don't want to have to report it to the U.S. government each year.  So I use my bank account for little things like grocery shopping and to have money accessible to me, but we use DH's account for all householdy bill type stuff. I think my stubborness is kind of pointless though, so soon I'll probably give in, but at the moment it is very easy for both of us to access both accounts in a variety of ways, so it hasn't been an issue yet.

Ah, I understand the FBAR concern. Unfortunately that approach won't work for us as my OH is a naturalized USC, so we'll have to report all of our accounts regardless. That's an entirely different topic of concern...as if taxes while living in the US aren't complicated enough! 

Thanks for the responses.

My OH already has a UK license. Only problem is, he had to send it off this past Monday (while he was still in the UK) to get the photo updated. So by the time he flies over in about 2 weeks to start the job, hopefully it will arrive back at his folks house.

Unfortunately he will absolutely need the bank account the first day he starts his job. They have already told him that he needs to bring that info on the very first day of work, so they can set him up in their system to receive his salary. So waiting is not an option. If his license can be used as proof of address, then I hope he will get it back by the time he arrives there (and before his first day).

We've always had a joint account. We're of the philosophy that our incoming salaries are for the household and don't believe in separating it into 'her' & 'his' money. We've been married for 7+ years and this is what works for us.  So hopefully I won't have any issues being added to his account(s) when I arrive. Being able to go to the store to just buy some milk could become a hassle without a card to access funds!

Is there any way he can give them his parents' bank info, and have his salary deposited into their account temporarily, until he establishes one of his own? I'm thinking his employer probably doesn't care WHERE the paycheck is going, as long as it's going into an account that's set up for direct deposit.

For this to work it would have to depend on a few things, though:
1- his employer not minding that the money is being deposited into a different person's account
2- his parents not minding "holding" his money for him, and furnishing their bank details to his company
3 - his employer allowing him to subsequently switch account details over to his new account when he gets one established

You might want to look into the HSBC Passport Account which I think you may be able to open before you move.

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/current-accounts/passport

You can also open this account without proof of address.