Best bank for U.K banking

[gabrielkfr]

hey all, just started uni in the uk for a week already, am looking to set up a local bank account but am unable to decide, currently looking at natwest & HSBC, any ideas/opinions?

 

[zumaba]

hey all, just started uni in the uk for a week already, am looking to set up a local bank account but am unable to decide, currently looking at natwest & HSBC, any ideas/opinions?

I guess you have been convinced that all UK bank's customer service are all like shxt?

I heard for students, Lloyd is relatively good, and cheap, and there is no best there.

 

[Mecisteus]

Pick a branch that is near to your home and school.

 

[anfielder]

I suppose you'd be wanting a basic account with debit card, which should be available from any of the major banks. Look out for whichever one has better freebies?

In the past I went for natwest because there was a branch on campus. I'm not sure you'd want to try that if it's the beginning of the sch term and all the freshmen are trying to open an account, though.

 

[BBCWatcher]

hey all, just started uni in the uk for a week already, am looking to set up a local bank account....

For what purpose(s)? Are you soon going to start authorized employment and need an account to receive your wages?

 

[gabrielkfr]

I guess you have been convinced that all UK bank's customer service are all like shxt?

I heard for students, Lloyd is relatively good, and cheap, and there is no best there.

Kind of... Like the moment any student takes out a passport they gonna shun you haha

I thought Lloyds supposed to be the atas one? And got monthly fee to upkeep the account

Pick a branch that is near to your home and school.

Distance not really an issue because I'm like 10-15min from the city where I'm at (Outside Brighton)

I suppose you'd be wanting a basic account with debit card, which should be available from any of the major banks. Look out for whichever one has better freebies?

In the past I went for natwest because there was a branch on campus. I'm not sure you'd want to try that if it's the beginning of the sch term and all the freshmen are trying to open an account, though.

yeah the bank on my campus is actually Santander but according to people it's not that good, even though I don't really know the specific details, just off hearsay

For what purpose(s)? Are you soon going to start authorized employment and need an account to receive your wages?

no I'm here for my undergrad degree so more of just an account to transfer funds from sg to uk with minimal fee

 

[wealth_farmer]

If you want to transfer funds from SG to UK, sign up for Transferwise. You’ll save much more, and please don’t do currency exchange using your banks.

As for choice of banks, just pick the one with the lowest fees. Check out www.moneysavingexpert.com for general all-round advice on UK personal finance matters. I found them useful.

Kind of... Like the moment any student takes out a passport they gonna shun you haha

I thought Lloyds supposed to be the atas one? And got monthly fee to upkeep the account


Distance not really an issue because I'm like 10-15min from the city where I'm at (Outside Brighton)



yeah the bank on my campus is actually Santander but according to people it's not that good, even though I don't really know the specific details, just off hearsay



no I'm here for my undergrad degree so more of just an account to transfer funds from sg to uk with minimal fee

 

[BBCWatcher]

no I'm here for my undergrad degree so more of just an account to transfer funds from sg to uk with minimal fee

A U.K. bank account isn't part of a minimal fee solution for spending your money. It just adds cost and complexity to spending.

To solve your problem, simply get these two cards issued in Singapore (current 2017 answer, subject to change):

(a) ICBC Singapore's Global Travel MasterCard credit card;
(b) Either CIMB Singapore's debit/ATM card issued with their StarSaver account, or any of Citibank Singapore's debit/ATM cards.

That ICBC card will pay you a small rebate every time you use it to buy things in the United Kingdom. You can't beat that. Favor that card first.

Then, for establishments that only accept cash, those two debit/ATM cards are the lowest cost cards issued in Singapore when you use them to withdraw British pounds from an ATM in the United Kingdom, assuming you visit ATMs that do not have local operator fees. (There are many such ATMs there.)

That's it. Pretty simple.

 

[zuoom]

If just for temp. The last post make most sense.

 

[t14henry]

BBCWatcher's advice is quite solid for minimising cost on general spending however i think having a bank ac is still needed for other purposes - such as setting up direct debit to pay rent to your landlord, cashing uk cheques or simply for proof of residence

for transfers i know dbs has free transfer fee to uk now so if you have dbs ac pick a uk bank that has the lowest fees for receiving money from overseas (also compare it with BBCWatcher's suggestion of withdrawing money from the atm with your sg card)

in terms of basic accts the features offered should be largely similar. ts i suggest you also try demo the online and mobile platforms for the banks you are looking at and go for the one you are comfortable... i used hsbc when i was there and found theirs quite user friendly but ymmv

 

[BBCWatcher]

BBCWatcher's advice is quite solid for minimising cost on general spending however i think having a bank ac is still needed for other purposes - such as setting up direct debit to pay rent to your landlord, cashing uk cheques or simply for proof of residence

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether you're doing those other things. Most university students (especially those living in university housing) are not.

If just for temp.

Duration has nothing to do with it. The (legal) uses/purposes do.

For the record, MoneySavingExpert.com (a very good U.K. financial services consumer advisory site) currently recommends Starling Bank's fee free account and associated debit/ATM card for the reverse path (the lowest cost way to tap your British pounds from outside the United Kingdom). Starling is a low cost online bank. If for some reason that Starling account is unavailable they recommend (in this situation, and also only if an account is needed) a so-called basic bank account.

 

[limster]

IB GBP transfers to UK bank accounts use their equivalent of FAST, and such transfers do not check for account name, because my UK bank account name is very different yet I transfer to and from IB with no problems.

Long ago, UK banks followed the name format "John T. Smith", which means that "Tan Ah Kow" becomes "Kow A. Tan"

buying things from UK/ spending while in UK, using a SGD credit card is not great because the forex premium credit cards charge for GBP conversion is worse than other currencies like USD.

 

[highsulphur]

maybe can use interactive brokers as a medium to transfer money?

to be honest, it didn't matter to me which bank to use. I will open an account with any bank that gives the best gift for opening an account with them