Category Archives: banking in the UK

How to Get a UK Bank Account From Abroad – Part 2

Posted on December 4, 2009 by | Leave a comment

I posted before about how to apply for a UK bank account from abroad and I’d like to add on to the discussion.  First, please read this post.

Here’s a recent question asked by a Canadian teacher about to move to the United Kingdom:

Is there a hope that there is any other bank with less fees? Lloyds seems to gouge ya for everything, but then I’m a credit union user and we don’t have fees at all. Still, £7.5 a month? Just for holding an account. That’s like, £90 a year!!! Yikes.

Great question!  Here’s my answer in a nutshell:

Yes.  There are 2 options for you right now. You can open an account with Llloyds or HSBC from Canada, but HSBC charges you 100 pounds (plus monthly fees) and you don’t get that back. Lloyds is the cheaper option, and honestly, once you have an account in the UK, you can then walk into any UK bank (there are loads) and get a no fee account. But right now, you can’t get an account in the UK without proof of your UK address, which you won’t have until you actually move to the UK, so the Lloyds account is the best option.   But once you are there and have some bills in your name, then get on down to another bank and get a different account.  Keep in mind that banks don’t charge you ATM fees like we do here – so that 7.50 will be the only charge you have.  And you can take $ out of any bank machine (except those little ones in pubs -they charge you). 

That’s my two cents anyway.

If you want to open up a Lloyd’s Account from abroad, just click on this link and start your application that way.  You don’t have to work with my company (Classroom Canada), so just ignore the teaching bit if you’re not a teacher, but you can still use this form.  Your application will be dealt with quickly by my contacts in the Vancouver Lloyd’s office. They’re great.

Questions, Comments? Please share your thoughts below!

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Posted in Americans in the UK, banking, banking in the UK, Canadians in London, Canadians in the UK, Lloyds

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How To Send Money From Your UK Account to Your Canadian or US Account & Vice Versa

Posted on August 27, 2009 by | 6 Comments

On Tuesday, I wrote a post about how to open a UK bank account from abroad. Now, let’s see how you can send money from Canada or the USA (or anywhere else for that matter) to your bank account in the UK.

You have a few options. You can do “wire transfers” which are done by your bank. You pay a fee (anywhere from $20-$50) and your bank sends the money for you. It usually takes 30 business days, and their exchange rate might not be ideal.

More often than not, the banks take forever, charge an arm and a leg and have lower exchange rates. So most people avoid this route.

Speaking from experience, I tried to wire money from my UK Natwest account to my Canadian RBC account. I had student loans and needed to pay these on time every month. It took about 6 months for me to learn that the money I had been sending through the banks was not actually reaching my Canadian account so my student loans went into the red. It’s been 5 years since this happened, and I’m still trying to repair the damage done to my credit in 2004!

Luckily, I found a company called CanadianForex, which specialize in sending money from the UK to Canada and America (as well as other countries) and vice versa.

I’ve dealt with them since 2005 for all of my personal transfers, and most of my teachers use them as well. They haven’t messed up once in all that time, and they actually get the money into my account within 6 days every time.

So my loans are paid on time, and I am happy to recommend that you use them as well. You pay $15 for each transfer under 3000 GBP, and if you are lucky enough to send tranfsers that are more than 3000 GBP, you don’t pay any fees.

Their exchange rates are good, and very transparent on their website. So you know what you’re getting as soon as you go online.

The way it works is this:

  1. You sign up online and provide your bank details.
  2. You set up the amount you want to transfer & pay that amount into the bank account they give you using online banking.
  3. CanadianForex receives that money and does a transfer from their account to your account abroad.
  4. You check your account online within 6 days and ta’da! You should have your transferred money.

This all goes smoothly and should be fairly stress-free. If you know how to use a computer and do online banking, then you can do this very easily.

CanadianForex is also offering your 2 first transfers free if you register with them through this link.

Any questions, comments, confusions? Please leave your thoughts below.

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Posted in banking in the UK, international bank accounts, money, transferring money