UK Bank Accounts

[UKtoUSA2020 1]

For those of you who have already moved to the US, can I ask what you did with your UK bank accounts? We need to keep ours open for now, so not sure if we're best to just have any mail redirected to us or what.

Thanks.

[Xyrstine 224]

I have yet to make the move but I will be keeping my current account open and deal with it online and via my app. I think it's good to have one open for any residual bills and financial correspondence to the UK.

 

It helps having a bank that is easy to access globally. Most do, to be fair.

[yuna628 9,680]

1 hour ago, UKtoUSA2020 said:

For those of you who have already moved to the US, can I ask what you did with your UK bank accounts? We need to keep ours open for now, so not sure if we're best to just have any mail redirected to us or what.

Thanks.

Keep it, especially if you have any loans to pay or want to transfer money between friends/family. Hopefully you'll be able to update details without a lot of hassle, there are some UK banks that can be a real pain about this (and can even cause problems trying to close out the account itself). 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, UKtoUSA2020 said:

For those of you who have already moved to the US, can I ask what you did with your UK bank accounts? We need to keep ours open for now, so not sure if we're best to just have any mail redirected to us or what.

Thanks.

Mine is still open after moving 12 years ago. I access it online.
If they need to contact me by mail, it goes to Mum.

 Uses:

• Ordering gifts for free delivery to relatives via amazon, eBay, etc UK accounts. Way easier/cheaper than mailing something.
• Paying UK credit card (since closed)
• Transferring £ to my daughter to buy a car. Paying her back for gifts she bought, wrapped, and delivered for others.
• Lending my son deposit money during a move until he got his other deposit back.
• Depositing an inheritance check issued in £.
• Working sweet deals on vacation rentals directly with owners with “cash” transfers. 
• Getting cash out of the machine when visiting. No extra fees or exchange rate ripoffs.

 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Wuozopo

[Boiler 45,659]

Kept mone

 

Change my address every time I moved like you would anyway.

[GringoCarioca 16]

I know for us we are planning on closing ours when move.

I believe some banks here allow you to set up an account in the usa ahead of moving if they have an international footprint.

If we are unable to do this, easiest may be just a wire transfer and then closing the account after it goes through.

[silversnake125 266]

Has anyone done this with Lloyds Bank?

I'm looking to keep mine open, especially as I'll be moving before I technically finish work (through using up my annual leave) and will be getting paid into that account. The only thing is I want to change my address to the US because my family will likely be moving soon so I'd rather the letters come to me.

I've looked online and found nothing. I don't want to go into branch and ask in case it causes problems and they try to close my account.

[Boiler 45,659]

With Nat West you can change your address on line.

[corntop 129]

A good alternative is Transferwise. You can set up accounts in different currencies if you provide ID and make a deposit. They give you contactless card that you can use in any country and even allow UK direct debits now. My wife and I both have accounts in £ and $. I plan to keep my Barclays account and change my address to a family members but if there's trouble with that then Transferwise has worked fine for me so far.

[Xyrstine 224]

3 hours ago, hannahjsf said:

Has anyone done this with Lloyds Bank?

I'm looking to keep mine open, especially as I'll be moving before I technically finish work (through using up my annual leave) and will be getting paid into that account. The only thing is I want to change my address to the US because my family will likely be moving soon so I'd rather the letters come to me.

I've looked online and found nothing. I don't want to go into branch and ask in case it causes problems and they try to close my account.

Most banks you can change to purely paperless settings so you can access all forms of correspondence online. I don't have any personal experiences with Lloyds, sorry. 

[yoda one for me 322]

8 hours ago, hannahjsf said:

Has anyone done this with Lloyds Bank?

I'm looking to keep mine open, especially as I'll be moving before I technically finish work (through using up my annual leave) and will be getting paid into that account. The only thing is I want to change my address to the US because my family will likely be moving soon so I'd rather the letters come to me.

I've looked online and found nothing. I don't want to go into branch and ask in case it causes problems and they try to close my account.

Lloyds support told me I'd have to take all my documents to go and sort this out in-branch, and my local branch told me it wasn't allowed to have a bank account in the UK with a US address (even though I found some of their online help documents that said it was!) and the account would be terminated, so I just went online and changed it to my mum's address in the UK. They were useless and rude about it, so in the end I actually sent in a complaint and was glad to be moving the bulk of my money away from them to the US anyway.

 

I've considered looking at something like Transferwise's Borderless account but since I only have a bit of cash in there to cover occasional UK expenses like gift orders and a play fund for when we visit, it's just sitting there.

Edited August 20, 2020 by yoda one for me