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How does my French daughter open a bank account in London

Last activity 05 October 2015 by Inti-Phoenix

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RobertDunn

Hello everyone.  I am British and have been living in France for many years.

Life is never simple and my daughter who is 23 and French now  wants to  live in Uk.  She  has just gone to London for a year. She has found a flat and now wants to open a bank account.

  All the banks that she has visited  refuse to allow her to open an account as the lease on her flat (and bills) are  not in her name.

   Any body know a friendly bank in London that will help her with her problem ie open an account without proof of address

Thanks in advance for any advice.

nextlogistics

hsbc

XB23

I was looking for one, and couldn't locate any, including hsbc, who do actually ask you to confirm your address. Nextlogistics, are you speaking out of experience/knowledge ?

Fred

HSBC, and all the rest are subject to government rules, and the banks won't break them.
You are required to prove address, and that mean utility bills or better.

sukie01

I had the same problem.  I am british and returned to the uk after lving in belgium for many years.  The only way i could open an account was to be introduced by my brother to the bank, in my case lloyds.  So i would recommend she goes with someone who has an account to the bank.  Then once i had my account, my children had the same problem opening an account and i had to take them, 23 yr olds and guess what, sign a form saying i had known them for 23 years!  Ridiculous!  Why european banks cant talk to each other i dont know.  We had all held belgian bank accounts for years. Good luck.

Ken01

I moved to the UK from Canada.   In Canada, I had an excellent credit rating, owned a house, banked with the same bank for many years etc.    However in the UK, it was difficult to open an account.   I understood from the bank where I finally did get an account (Barclays, although I tried Co-op, HSBC) that they do run credit checks and  do require current address, identification and history.   They actually locate many bad debtors this way, people who moved away to Europe or overseas leaving debts  behind and then have returned.   I is a pain, but if you have the correct paperwork, are on the voters registration, it is only about form filling.   I suspect my bank advisor was correct, and if you have returned owing money, they will find you.

Inti-Phoenix

Hi

She should register with a GP practice, the NHS will send a card registration with new address, the bank should be able to accept that one

Eter

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