My UK checking and savings accounts were officially opened this morning. It’s only been 2 1/2 weeks since I arrived, so that’s actually not bad in terms of timing for these things. I could have had this all completed 2 weeks ago, though, if it wasn’t for a delay and problem with my college. While there are many options, and lots of different banks to choose from, and each individual student coming to the UK will have different circumstances, I’d like to make a recommendation based on my experience: the HSBC Passport account.
The HSBC Passport account will set you back £60 for 1 year (or £6 per month if you want to pay that way), which is the only major negative I’ve seen. That being said, I personally found this expense well worth it, since the normal process with most other banks and accounts seemed almost impossible to go through. There are no minimum account balances with these accounts, and I got both checking and savings accounts, along with debit card, and free internet banking. Apparently, I will also be getting a free UK sim card (for mobile phones) with a £10 free credit plus international calls from only 4p (that’s 4 pence) per minute. There are a few other benefits of the account, though I’ll probably not take advantage of those. In the end, though, this was a rather painless why to get a UK bank account quickly, and in one year’s time, it’ll be converted into a standard UK account. All I needed to do was:
- Apply online for the HSBC Passport account (I did this a month before arriving)
- Request bank letter from my college (I did this before arriving)
- Take college bank letter, account approval letter from HSBC and my USA passport to local branch
- Spend 5 minutes with customer service rep. at bank branch
- Leave with new account
At this point, based on my experience so far, I heartily recommend this route to anyone moving to the UK for the first time.
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Darrell J. Rohl BSc (Hons) (Andrews), MA (Dunelm): I'm a PhD candidate in 
Cousin! Whats up man!? Mom told me that you had a website and I had to find ya. I’ve started a Family Tree site that I’d love for you, your wife, and kids to be a part of. I don’t think I’ve seen you since you since Dave (Riggs) had you go with me and Frank up to Portage Public Schools
to long brother!
Later bud
Phil
phil.fletcher@gmail.com
Thanks for stopping by and commenting Phil. I’ll send you an email.
hey bud, haven’t talked to you in ages!! i got your website that your mom sent to my dad plus the flickr site too. i am absolutely (sp?) fascinated in archaeology. i watch a bunch of shows on tv. naked archaeology and some other show. can’t think of the name off hand. something with underground. i see you are living north of london, and i am soooooo jealous. i hope to visit london one day. my mom went there many years ago and i love the history there. plus i am a huuuuugggggeee Sherlock Holmes fan. (yes i am a dork). anywho, enough of the rambling. all the pics are awesome and i will be checking periodically on the websites.sorry i haven’t talked to you in a while. take care and talk at you later!
Hey Tom, Thanks so much for the comment. It’s been a long time. I’ll send you an email later today. In the meantime, I hope you find the blog and Flickr photos of interest. Be sure to keep checking back for more info… I’ll certainly be posting more as I settle in and get my schedule really arranged.
Just a quick heads up but you should check whether the savings accounts are insured by the FSCS. It is the UKs version of the FDIC and insures selected banks for up to £50k per person per insititution.