UK bank account and Brexit

Hi again.

This affects Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows accounts.  I've heard it's not Brexit specifically, but to do with obtaining licences to trade in certain EU countries (Netherlands and Slovakia) which will arise because the UK is no longer a member of the EU; the Lloyds Group have decided not to pursue any further business in those countries; which I guess translates to mean they don't make enough money in those countries to make it worth their while.

Maybe switch banks, my daughter still lives in the Netherlands and her bank (HSBC} haven't done this.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

As a NL resident: After Brexit when Lloyds UK ditched me as a customer I opened a GBP account with HSBC.  Now (Jan 2025) they are not letting NL residents open any new sterling accounts (though I can keep the ones I have for now).  I assume they'll ditch me too in due course.

Hello Colin,

Please contact Kifid.

Kifid is the Dutch Institute for Financial Disputes.

Kifid helps to solve problems between consumers and their bank, also foreign bank.

https://www.kifid.nl/

Goodluck!

@ExpatPreneur Netherlands

Colin doesn't have a problem with his bank yet.

@SimCityAT

Indeed .... but I expect it will become an issue in a few years time. 

To the extent I have an issue now it's the following:  As a retail customer I have no way of seeing what HSBC's game plan is.  Their websites are information-free; if you telephone them you get call centres in East Asia (quite hopeless) or Scotland (more helpful but unknowledgeable) who don't even know when HSBC stopped allowing new NL accounts never mind their future policy.

All this is to some extent irrelevant - I know I can get a sterling (GBP) account with ANB AMRO, ING or others for €50-100 per year and fewer added extras than with a UK Bank (full disclosure: I use a UK friend's address to keep my bank account going with Lloyds - no problems so far, no fees, quite interesting GBP savings products and free DIsney+ - whoopee ....)

It's just part of the cumulation of Brexit irritants we Brits in NL have to face.  I'm happily smuggling in cheddar and bacon every time I come back from the UK, have my dual NL nationality to avoid the £10/€7 visa fees and immigration hassle coming up later this year (and more) ... but that's just life going forward I guess. 

@colin in amsterdam

Even without Dual citizenship, you would be exempt from payer these new charges because you are resident in the Netherlands.

I use my dad's address, for my bank account. He is getting on, so when he passes. I will just move it to my sister's address. I only use it for holiday money.  I'm with Barclays.

Quite correct !

I forgot to mention that Revolut is a realistic alternative to using a NL bank for your sterling account.  It costs about the same.  Its big plus is that its currency conversion fee is somewhere around 0.15% off midrate instead of the 1% or so normal retail banks charge (particularly useful for someone like me whose income in mostly in sterling and whose expenditure is mostly in euros, handy for holiday money too and not only £/€).  But while you get the same €100k bankruptcy protection in theory as for all UK and NL banks I still have a little residual doubt that a Lithuanian financial institution founded by a couple of Russian whizz-kids is as stable as financial institutions based nearer by.