Barclays UK closing expat accounts ?

[Del]

Recently we received a letter from our UK Barclays Bank saying that they will be closing all of our UK Bank Accounts because they are applying limitations to their services to customers with an address outside the UK. Apparently this has been happening to British expats UK Bank accounts since 2020.

They’ve given us 6 months notice to make alternative arrangements. We currently have our UK pensions paid into our Barclays personal accounts monthly; have a couple of Barclays savings accounts and a joint account all of which will be closed.

Our Pensions can be payed into a foreign account, but before we take this route I have a question for forum members who reside here in Japan from the UK and have been affected in a similar way. What alternative arrangements have you made to have your salary, pension other monies paid and what about things like direct debits and savings that you’ve had to move elsewhere ?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

[RetireJapan]

That is very concerning. I have my account with NatWest, have had it for 30-odd years. I keep it active with some standing orders, etc.

Just over ten years ago NatWest Stockbrokers closed my account as I was a Japan resident (they didn't want to deal with Japan's FSA) but I have not had any issues with the bank.

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come

[Roger Van Zant]

I have a NatWest bank account.
I use it to pay my NI contributions every month, plus I keep a small balance on a UK credit card which I pay the minimum payment on every month.
I really hope nothing changes.
The NI contributions would be a pain in the ass to pay....

[kuma]

The wise.com multi currency accounts get the thumbs up from many forum members:

viewtopic.php?t=2976
viewtopic.php?t=1515

Wise has published a decent blog about the UK state pension too:

https://wise.com/gb/blog/uk-state-pensi ... %20further

I use it myself and have found it excellent. You can receive money into a GBP account with UK sort code / account no. and then transfer into other currencies.

[MacAddict]

Hello. I received the same letter today
Yes, Barclays is closing our accounts, and I have the same concerns.
Rather than starting a new post, I hope you don't mind if I ask similar questions on this thread.

When it rains, it pours.
So today I received a letter from Barclays Bank UK stating that after 50 years of being a loyal customer they are simply going to close my Current and Savings accounts in October. A quick search online reveals that this has been an ongoing policy since 2015 by Barclays to terminate expat accounts.

The pickle I am in now is where and how to transfer the UK money.

Setting up another UK bank account from overseas is nigh-on impossible due to concerns about money laundering (I guess).

I could pop into the bank when I am back in the UK in summer and change to my mum’s UK address. The rule though is that for a Barclays account I should only be ‘temporarily’ overseas (6 months) and reside in UK. I guess I could lie.

In 2 years from now I will also need a bank account for my UK pension to be deposited. I ‘could’ use my Japanese bank but most of the money will be lost to transfer fees. No thank you.

So much for being an ‘international’ citizen huh!

May I ask:

1. Do you know of a possible solution; such as an online bank where I can transfer my Barclays money and receive my UK pension (in 2 years’ time)?
2. Or an international account with another UK bank? Lloyds used to be quite good and I regret not switching.

Again, many thanks … and any advice would be much appreciated. I have til October to figure this out.

Michael

[RetireJapan]

Second kuma's idea above: the wise 'virtual' UK bank account should do the trick if normal banks won't serve us. I have one of those too and it is very easy to use (I've done both UK and US transfers from my Wise 'bank accounts' and they both worked very smoothly).

[Beaglehound]

@macaddict: I am with Nationwide and while that is still OK for now, I have thought that if the worst were to happen then switching to my sister’s address in the U.K. would be a possible solution. Probably not without hassle as banks so often require codes sent to mobiles these days, but it could likely be worked around. While I would not lie and say I was U.K. resident to open a new account, I wouldn’t have any issue with that lie personally. And what’s the worst that could happen if they somehow (how?) found out? All they would do is close your account and you are no worse off.

[Del]

Thank you for the replies

MacAddict as we are almost in the same position. You’re welcome to join in. BTW I stand corrected about when Barclays closing these accounts ( 2015 ).

We prefer not to use an available UK address and as stated you have to be resident there. If not resident that could create multiple problems for all parties; not good no matter how tempting / convenient an idea. ( IMHO )

We currently use Wise for forex transfers & Revolut occasionally when travelling. Whilst both of these offer banking facilities I’m a bit wary, as it’s not clear ( to me ) about their deposited money protection guarantees ( £85,000 ) in my opinion. ( I could be wrong ! )

On the other hand some online research suggests HSBC may possibly be a solution. Their online check for UK expats opening a new Uk account ( not offshore ) as a Japanese resident, (due to cross border restrictions ?) stated we must go to a local UK HSBC branch to apply when we next visit. So fingers crossed.

Ironically Barclays were happy to accept our Japanese address when we emigrated in 2020 and up to December last year even sent us renewal Debit cards. Somethings obviously changed.

[Gareth]

On the other hand some online research suggests HSBC may possibly be a solution. Their online check for UK expats opening a new Uk account ( not offshore ) as a Japanese resident, (due to cross border restrictions ?) stated we must go to a local UK HSBC branch to apply when we next visit. So fingers crossed.

I use HSBC. When I eventually changed my address over from my Dad’s in the U.K. to here in Japan, I had some issues with proof of address. But when I moved again recently, it was much easier. Either way, proof of address could be an issue as detailed in this post

viewtopic.php?t=2679

So definitely worth checking you have exactly what they need before you get on the plane!

[kuma]

Wise writes eloquently on how they keep your money safe:

https://wise.com/help/articles/2949821/ ... money-safe

We’re licensed to hold your money and, as part of keeping it safe, we follow strict rules set out by the regulators in the countries where we operate.

As of 30 September 2022, our customers are trusting us with the equivalent of 9.2 billion GBP in their Wise accounts.

If you keep money with us, our regulatory obligation is to hold all of it in cash and secure liquid assets.

Why do banks need deposit insurance?
We don’t lend out your money. Banks do. This is why governments make them insure their deposits by participating in country-specific deposit insurance schemes like the FSCS and FDIC.

Because we’re not lending your money we handle it differently, by safeguarding it. Safeguarding means that we look after your money, keep it separate from our own money, and keep it available to you whenever you need it.

And:

How we keep your money available to you even during market turmoil
We make sure your money is safe and readily available to you. Roughly 60% of your money is in secure liquid assets such as UK and US Government bonds and money market funds (as of 13 March 2023). The other 40% is in cash in reputable banks. For a government bond to fail, the government would need to default on their loan payments, which almost never happens with stable governments. For the money that we put into banks, we hold it with several reputable banks with strong liquidity.

The bonds we hold are predominantly short-term bonds so we are not materially exposed, and therefore more resilient, to increasing interest rates. The average duration of the bonds we hold is currently under 6 months – with the majority of bonds having a remaining term of 3 months or less.