If you’re British there is a good chance you have had some kind of Lloyds account somewhere down the line. Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows, MBNA, Schroders, Black Horse, Lex Autolease, Birmingham Midshires, LDC, AMC and iWeb are all Lloyds brands. But did you know they have an offshore Branch called Lloyds International?
Their offshore banking division offers four key services aimed at expatriates: an international current account, an international savings account, foreign exchange and money transfers.
The question is should you open an account?
What services do Lloyds offer to non residents?
When you opt for Lloyds offshore banking you get access to international current accounts, international savings, foreign exchange and international money transfers.
And it’s worth having a look at these in a bit more detail.
Current accounts
Just like your main bank account back home, a Lloyds International current account takes care of everyday banking. Paying bills and receiving salary can be done in either sterling, euros or us dollars. You can also get debit cards in all of these currencies.
This may be good for expats who live in places where their currencies are used and perhaps for overseas landlords that collect rent in sterling, but it might not be so good if you deal in other currencies.
With the current account international transfers are free (at least on the Lloyds side as the other bank may charge you).
There’s a £7.50 monthly fee on the account and you need either £25,000 to fund the account or a salary of at least £50,000. And it should be noted that this is a sole salary, not joint.
Lloyds Premier International account
If you have £100,000 to save or you have a sole annual income of at least £100,000, you could apply for a Lloyds Premier International Account.
This gives you everything you get with a standard account without the monthly fee but with a dedicated Premier Banking relationship manager.
Money transfer
Customers with either a Lloyds International current or savings account can transfer all major currencies without charge.
Just bear in mind that recipient bank charges often apply and there are charges for foreign exchange.
Savings accounts
There are a number of Lloyds International savings accounts available to expats. These include fixed term deposits, international bonus saver accounts and money market funds.
The first two are only available in sterling or dollars, but money market funds enable you to save in most major currencies. You need £5,000 to fund an international bonus saver or £10,000 for either of the other two.
These would suit non residents who just want a place to store cash safely rather than a place to grow your wealth.
You need to contact Lloyds directly to get their interest rates. However, in the current environment they will be very low.
And because of this, as a site that covers investing we would always recommend investing in the stock and bond markets for those who are serious about growing their wealth.
If you are new to this don’t be put off. These days investing in a couple of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) will enable most expats to put together a strong, low cost, globally diversified, investment portfolio quickly and easily.
We’ve recently written a couple of articles about it here and here and if you don’t yet have a brokerage account you can see some options open to expats here.
Where can I open an account?
You can apply for a Lloyds International account online here.
How good is the online banking platform?
Lloyds International offshore online banking platform doesn’t have enough expats using it to get a good idea of how good it is on the major review sites. However, the UK high street bank does.
Unfortunately it gets 1.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot – the service is described as ‘bad.’
Can expats get a mortgage with Lloyds?
Lloyds do offer mortgage products to certain expats in certain countries.
You need to contact them directly to find out whether you would be eligible to buy with one of their mortgage products and whether they offer them where your potential property is located.
If they do have something for you, then expect their rates to be competitive at least in terms of other expat bank providers.
If you need a mortgage and Lloyds don’t offer what there some UK mortgage brokers deal with expats. We’ve covered the better ones here.
What alternatives are there?
The most obvious alternative to Lloyds is HSBC. We’ve compared each of them with some of the better neo-banks here.
Who should open an account?
An account with Lloyds International would be suitable for people with a salary of at least £50,000 who need a current account. This would be especially true if they had a branch local to you.
With interest rates so low we can’t recommend funding accounts with large balances or using savings accounts to grow wealth. However, for daily banking tasks, particularly for those who deal with sterling, dollars or euros a Lloyds International current account could be worth a look.
Do they have a large overseas presence?
Lloyds overseas presence isn’t as large as some of their competitors but they do have branches in some choice locations. New York and Hong Kong to name but a few.
Key benefits
- A reasonable current account, particularly for those with salaries over £100,000.
- Multi-currency accounts
- Mortgages
- Savings
- International fx and money transfer
- A familiar name for UK expats
- Local branches
Key negatives
- Current accounts won’t be suitable for expats that don’t have a salary of at least £50,000 and who want to grow their wealth
- Multi-currency accounts only available for sterling, euros and dollars
- Mortgages only available in limited geographic locations
- Savings pay low interest rates
- International fx and money transfer services more expensive than dedicated providers
Lloyds International Banking – the bottom line
If you have a salary of at least £50,000 a Lloyds International Current Account might just make sense for you, particularly if you live somewhere like Hong Kong or New York where you’ll have a local branch.
For anybody else it’s probably in your best interests to at least have a look at some alternatives (You can see some here).