NatWest is very well known on the UK high street, but did you know there is also a NatWest offshore online banking department located in the Channel Islands?
Its called NatWest International and it offers a range of services to expats and non residents.
In particular, NatWest can provide those basic services that you would expect from a high street bank in the UK, but with an international flavour:
There’s current accounts, international savings accounts and overseas mortgages available if you meet their criteria.
And depending on your financial situation you maybe able to get a higher level of service through NatWest International Premier Banking.
Whichever option you choose, you can combine international banking services with home banking in one account.
No more tax havens
The registered office for all the NatWest offshore banking services is in Jersey, but they also have a presence in Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar.
Back in the day, these places were considered to be tax havens, but nowadays not so much. Essentially, being highly regulated members of the EU’s third anti-money laundering directive probably put paid to that.
This is evidenced by the number of banks that have relocated from there.
Bottom line being, if you are looking for tax avoidance, this probably isn’t the right option for you.
But of course, most expats won’t require an account for tax avoidance. Rather, they simply need banking services outside the UK from an institution they trust.
When you move to a new country, especially one that is still developing, banking with a name you recognise can be reassuring, and a bank that can provide a bridge between your country of citizenship and your country of residence really is a bonus.
Online Banking
NatWest’s International banking services are primarily served through two accounts. The International Select account and the International Cash Management account.
You use the International Select account like a current account and the International Cash Management account to handle different currencies.
Essentially, you complete all general banking tasks with International Select account, and use your International Cash Management for holding and saving currencies other than sterling. For example, if you wanted a dollar account you’d use Cash Management.
In theory, you can hold up to 25 different currencies.
Online Banking Fees
People use bank accounts in very different ways. The same cheap bank account to one person can be expensive to somebody else. Whether or not a NatWest account ends up being expensive will depend on how you use the account.
I’m sure it goes without saying that there are many fees associated with international transactions.
Consequently, it pays to do your due diligence and research all the fees that you think will apply to you before you open an account.
But here we’ll cover some of the main costs that most expats would be likely to pay.
The first thing to be aware of is there’s a monthly fee for the NatWest International Select account. It costs £8/month. That said this can be avoided with their Premier Banking option (This has some more onerous customer criteria which we’ll come to later).
On top of the monthly fee there are also various costs associated with having the account. For example debit card payments and cash withdrawals cost 2.75% and for international payments their charges range from £23 to £40.
Natwest Transfer Fees Range From £23-£40 when moving money abroad
Though NatWest say there is no charge to convert money between currencies, they do admit that their costs are actually built into the agreed rate applied to foreign exchange transfer, because this includes their margin.
You need to contact them directly for exchange rates, but because of this, you’ll likely get much better rates if you go elsewhere. The legacy banks just can’t compete with the specialists like Wise and Atlantic Money.
That said, the convenience of doing everything within one account will be enough for some to use this facility.
International Savings
International customers also have access to Instant Saver, Premium Saver and Savings Builder accounts.
Instant Saver is a flexible everyday savings account, Savings Builder is for balances of £50 to £25,000 and Premium Saver is for amounts above that.
The current rates on these accounts are as follows:
Instant saver – 0.05%
Savings Builder Account – 1.5% on anything between £1- £10,000 and 0.01% for anything over £10,000 providing you grow your balance monthly by at least £50.
Premium Saver Account – 0.01% – 0.20% depending on how much you are saving and whether or not you make withdrawals.
These are Sterling accounts so you’d need to convert currency before using them. Foreign currency storage would need to be done in the Cash Management Account.
International Premier Banking
If you meet certain requirements you may be eligible for International Premier Banking. In short, NatWest International has two flavours.
For the standard account you need to open the account with a minimum deposit of £25,000 or have a minimum salary of £40,000 paid into your account. This account comes with the monthly fee of £8.
But there’s another option, the International Premier account which offers some additional services and doesn’t have a monthly fee. However, for that option you need to open the account with £100,000 or have a salary of £75,000.
Residential Requirements
NatWest accounts are available to residents in over 20 countries.
Be aware of the fact that not all services and products are available in all countries all of the time. Global regulations are constantly being updated.
At the time of writing the following services are available in the following countries.
Savings Accounts
Austria, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America
International Mortgages
Bahrain, Bermuda, Canada, China (Expats only), Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India (Expats only), Kuwait, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Singapore (Expats only), Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America
Select Account
Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, China (Expats only), Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom or the United States of America
Cash Management Account
Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, China (Expats only), Denmark, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Norway, Oman, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom or the United States of America
Issues
Whist NatWest may be the right choice for you, you should be aware of some issues before going ahead and opening an account.
Anybody who doesn’t meet the minimum salary requirements is going to have to leave £25,000 (basic account) or £100,000 (International Premier Account) wasting away.
That’s a problem if you want to put your money to work and grow your wealth. The current interest rates provided by their savings products aren’t going to enable you beat inflation never mind adequately build wealth.
Only products that invest in the stock and bond markets really provide that possibility. NatWest International don’t offer any investment solutions on their website, but even if they did you would need to maintain a lot more than the minimum balance if you invested in the financial markets.
Recent events illustrate double digit drops in stock markets are common place over the short term. Imagine your balance plunging double digits only to incur charges on your account for going below your minimum balance requirements.
I can’t help thinking that £25,000 – £100,000 might be best put to work in a stockbroker. (We’ve compared some open to expats here if you don’t already have one).
You also don’t have to go to many review sites to see NatWest really doesn’t score well for customer service. In fact, the overall score from 3198 reviews on TrustPilot is 1.5 out of 5 or in a word “Bad.”
Alternatives
UK high street banks, Lloyds and HSBC both offer international options, and there’s also newer alternatives in Wise and SuitsMe that maybe worth looking at. We’ve compared these here.
NatWest Offshore Online Banking – The Bottom Line
If you meet the minimum salary requirements of £40,000 or even better £100,000 to avoid the monthly charge, NatWest International maybe worth considering.
You get the basics you’d expect from an international bank, a name you recognise and NatWest expat mortgages could be the deciding factor for those thinking about investing in property. If they’ll give you a mortgage when others won’t it may be worth banking with them.