This week we take a look at the best bank accounts in the UK for non residents.
Now, it has to be said, that opening a bank account isn’t quite as easy as it would be if you were living in the UK.
This is for the simple fact that most UK banks require proof of UK residence, which non residents simply can’t provide.
But that doesn’t mean you don’t have options because you do.
Here’s a quick summary of the best account providers out there.
Non resident bank account summary
| Bank | PROS | CONS |
 | Lowest fees Lots of currencies Excellent customer service | Fintech rather than bank No savings |
 | Easiest to open an account Best platform/app Excellent customer service | Fintech rather than bank No savings |
 | Household name Local branch | High fees & requirements Poor customer service online |
 | Household name Lower requirements than HSBC | High fees & requirements Poor customer service online |
EMIs – When banks aren’t banks
EMI stands for Electronic Money Institutions. They are often referred to as neo-banks or fintechs.
Whilst these aren’t exactly banks per se, they offer pretty much the same thing banks do, and for far lower costs, particularly for the kind of services non residents are more likely to use like money transfer and currency conversion.
With an EMI you get:
- UK sort code & account number
- Send & receive money both nationally and internationally
- Credit or debit card
- Direct debits and standing orders
- Slick mobile app & online platform
- Can manage your money 24/7 globally
- Set up in minutes
- Excellent customer service
There are many of these about these days but for non residents in particular Wise & suits me stand out.
Wise offers banking services to non residents
Wise started life as a money transfer app called Transfer Wise, but soon morphed into one of the best EMIs out there for non residents.
Not only do you get all the banking services mentioned above, you also get this:
- One account to spend, send and receive. Hold money in over 40 currencies
- A card to spend in over 40 currencies in over 150 countries
- Send money to over 160 countries
- Real account details in 10 countries (including UK account no. and sort code)
Wise makes transferring money and currency exchange an absolute breeze. It takes minutes if not seconds to transfer money around the globe.
And Wise fees are as competitive as they come.
Independent comparison site Monito’s research suggests Wise is on average 83% cheaper than the big four UK banks (HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays & Natwest) on major currency “routes”, but can be up to 90% cheaper in some cases.
And according to independent research agency Alderson Consulting, Wise is 19x cheaper than receiving and sending money overseas through PayPal.
There are dedicated business accounts, a slick app and online platform and really good customer service. Wise scores 4.3 on trust pilot (excellent)
No proof of address needed with suits me
Suits me is less international and a bit more expensive than Wise, but it comes with a better app and is easier to open an account.
Basically, anybody can open one!
And that’s because suits me gets rid of the need for background checks and proof of address by adopting a pay as you go model.
In other words, you can only spend what you have in your account. No credit cards or overdrafts means no credit referencing or proof of address needed.
Whilst not quite as international as Wise, it provides anything you could want from a standard UK bank account.
There are three accounts. Essential doesn’t have a monthly fee, but Premium is £4.97 and Premium Plus is £9.97.
Which account you choose will depend on what services you need from your account. Basically, certain services come with associated fees.
As an example, ATM withdrawals are £1.50 with the Essential account. If you don’t need ATM withdrawals you can stick with this free account but if you do need them you might want to upgrade to Premium Plus which includes 4 free a month.
You just figure out what services you need and choose the most cost effective option.
Are EMIs safe?
Both Wise & suits me are regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as Electric Money Institutions.
This means your money is protected by safeguarding.
Safeguarding involves segregating 100% of client funds from operations. In other words it is kept at another bank.
This in turn means that in the event any one of these companies ran into financial trouble your money should be safe because it is kept elsewhere.
Non resident savings options
The biggest problem with EMIs is that whist you can store money with them, they don’t offer savings.
However, non resident investment accounts are an excellent option here.
After all, anybody saving for the long term should really be investing in shares and bonds anyway.
But even if you are just looking for higher interest rates on stored cash, an investment account can often provide higher rates than standard banks anyway. Either via money market funds or simply by paying interest on cash in your account.
We’ve covered money market funds in a lot more detail here, but suffice to say they are a pretty safe way to get high rates of interest. Usually, better than you’d get in a savings account by the way.
And many investment platforms give you good rates on uninvested cash too.
For example, as I write this, anybody living in Europe can get the following rates with Lightyear:
USD 4.5%
GBP 4.5%
EUR 3%
Offshore bank accounts
Whilst UK high street banks don’t usually deal with non residents, some of them have international departments with what are commonly referred to as offshore bank accounts.
The big two being HSBC & Lloyds. In short, with these you get everything you’d expect from a UK high street bank, but with higher fees and opening requirements.
You need £100K salary or be prepared to keep £50K in your account at all times with HSBC.
Lloyds has two options. Either £100K salary or £100K in your account at all times or you can pay a monthly charge of £7.50/month to open a bank account with either £50K salary or a keep £25K in your account at all times.
You can open a Lloyds account more easily but you won’t get the big international presence of HSBC ie the possibility of a local branch.
And I think that’s probably important because neither of these have good reputations for customer service.
But if you read the (not so complementary) online reviews they get on places like Trustpilot you find a lot of people are complaining about their online service.
Having been an HSBC customer before, I didn’t have any problems but perhaps that was because I was lucky enough to have a local branch in walking distance.
In short, you get the nearest thing to a UK bank account with these two, but you pay for the privilege in terms of fees, service and the minimum requirements for opening an account.
A local branch might make up for any negatives.
Bank account in the UK for non residents – the bottom line
So there you have it. If you are non resident, opening a bank account in the UK isn’t quite as easy as it would be if you lived in the UK, but you do have options.
If you priorititize fees and service, go for an EMI, but if you need a name you recognise and are able to meet the minimum requirements go for an offshore account.
With EMIs, Wise has the lowest fees and suits me is the easiest to open an account.
HSBC edges the offshore accounts due to its geographical coverage. In other words they give you the best chance of having a local branch.
However, Lloyds offers something similar to HSBC but with lower minimum salary and funding requirements for a monthly fee.
This includes financial promotion. We (British Expat Money) will be paid a referral fee if you open an account and deposit funds through some of the links on this page.