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UK banks closing expat's accounts

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    UK banks closing expat's accounts

    From the Sunday Times: Tens of thousands of Britons who live in the EU are to be stripped of their UK bank accounts and credit cards within weeks, because the government has failed to negotiate post-Brexit rules.

    One poor expat, a company boss, said:

    ...he faced a serious headache after the termination of his account, which he said contained “a considerable sum”, because he mostly lives in his Portuguese villa. In the UK, he receives a state pension, annuities and dividend income and pays all the usual bills, from insurance to utilities.

    Hmm. Wonder who that could be.
    Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!

    #2
    Originally posted by NotAllThere View Post
    From the Sunday Times: Tens of thousands of Britons who live in the EU are to be stripped of their UK bank accounts and credit cards within weeks, because the government has failed to negotiate post-Brexit rules.

    One poor expat, a company boss, said:

    ...he faced a serious headache after the termination of his account, which he said contained “a considerable sum”, because he mostly lives in his Portuguese villa. In the UK, he receives a state pension, annuities and dividend income and pays all the usual bills, from insurance to utilities.

    Hmm. Wonder who that could be.
    The UK is no longer a member of the EU. The transition period does not guarantee benefits of EU membership and often matters are left for individual EU countries to decide what to implement or not. There has been much misinformation and guesswork give as advise in the press and other media.
    "A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices," George Orwell

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      #3
      Would this include building societies?
      "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". Mark Twain

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by scooterscot View Post
        Would this include building societies?
        I thought you had a UK address - just use that if you're worried. Or you could just get a German account, assuming you don't already have one. HSBC, Santander and Natwest are not (currently) planning to close accounts, so it's not universal, and probably based on the amount of money they make (or don't) on expat accounts.
        His heart is in the right place - shame we can't say the same about his brain...

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          #5
          Originally posted by Mordac View Post
          I thought you had a UK address - just use that if you're worried. Or you could just get a German account, assuming you don't already have one. HSBC, Santander and Natwest are not (currently) planning to close accounts, so it's not universal, and probably based on the amount of money they make (or don't) on expat accounts.
          Different banks have had different policies for years. When I left the UK, I had to close my Smile account, which wasn't a problem. My wife (who isn't British) still has her HSBC account with a few quid in.

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            #6
            Sold our UK address last year. Use the account for funding the mums.

            Sure we can still send somehow
            "Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience". Mark Twain

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              #7
              Originally posted by scooterscot View Post
              Sold our UK address last year. Use the account for funding the mums.

              Sure we can still send somehow
              Transferwise, for example.

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                #8
                Originally posted by jamesbrown View Post
                Transferwise, for example.
                No protection on TW if the underlying bank (which depends on which address you use) goes bust. They're not a member of any FP schemes.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by zerosum View Post
                  No protection on TW if the underlying bank (which depends on which address you use) goes bust. They're not a member of any FP schemes.
                  Sure, but why would you hold money with them? It's a transfer service, not a bank account. I was responding to scootie's post about transferring money.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by jamesbrown View Post
                    Sure, but why would you hold money with them? It's a transfer service, not a bank account. I was responding to scootie's post about transferring money.
                    They do have e.g. a borderless (business and personal) account for dealing with money in other currencies so TransferWise has outgrown their name, really.

                    It may also be the only option in the short term if you're caught by a UK bank closing and haven't built up sufficient proofs to open an account in the country you're moving to, or don't trust the local banking system (Cyprus )

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