Bangkok Bank and overseas transfers

[bannork]

I left the UK in 1992 so I suspect my account with Nat West has closed down. My mother recently died and I will be receiving a considerable sum when we sell the house in the UK.

The problem is to open a bank account in the UK you have to be resident which obviously means living there for a while, not something I want to do.

I could transfer all the money over to Thailand but I would rather keep some in the UK. I thought of opening an account with Bangkok Bank, they have a branch in London but it seems I have to have an account in the UK prior, before I can transfer the money into the London branch of Bangkok Bank 

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[dabhand]

Don't believe that Bangkok Bank, London allow personal accounts.

 

Why not contact some of the UK banks that operate in, say, the Channel Islands.

 

I have had an account with Barclays, Jersey for over 30 years and they accept me having a Thai address as they are set up for international clients. They normally need confirmation of tax residency. Easy online access with transfers to/from UK & International. I believe entry level of Stg25k needed, sounds like you should easily meet that.

 

[dotpoom]

I have 4 bank A/C's back home still open and next door to the OP's country and I left that country 19 years ago. I simply "kept mums" about leaving... "What they don't know won't hurt them" is my attitude. Particularly these days when statements are done online 

[sometimewoodworker]

11 hours ago, bannork said:

I left the UK in 1992 so I suspect my account with Nat West has closed down. My mother recently died and I will be receiving a considerable sum when we sell the house in the UK.

The problem is to open a bank account in the UK you have to be resident which obviously means living there for a while, not something I want to do.

I could transfer all the money over to Thailand but I would rather keep some in the UK. I thought of opening an account with Bangkok Bank, they have a branch in London but it seems I have to have an account in the UK prior, before I can transfer the money into the London branch of Bangkok Bank 

Any advice would be much appreciated.

You can easily have a UK account, though it expressly designed for receiving money to transfer to Thailand (and other countries), it is the TransferWise borderless account. This provides an account with TransferWise which is a UK bank.

 

if you want to keep money long term with them you should definitely contact them to ensure that it will be no problem.

Edited June 4, 2019 by sometimewoodworker

[English Engineer]

The other option is to open an OCBC in Singapore. You need to deposit $S50k but is available to non residents. If you want to make investment they provide a very wide range of possibilities.

[rwill]

Can you use a relatives address in the UK to open an account?  And have them forward the bank cards and such to you?

That is what I do in the US.

[Hotrats]

You can do what I did, which is open an account with Lloyds International. It is a UK bank, but based in Jersey. It is set up for international customers, so having an address in Thailand is no problem. You can transfer any money you receive into your account in Jersey and then transfer funds as and when needed from Jersey to your local bank in Thailand. On my account all transfers are free.

[Kwasaki]

13 hours ago, bannork said:

Any advice would be much appreciated.

All good advice here, what I would do is ask Nat West if your account is still active.

My UK account is with First Direct UK an online account who are a member of HSBC.

They only have my Thai address.

[Captain 776]

Go to your Bangkok Bank branch you are using here.

Most likely you can open an account in London while you are here.

 

I needed a bank in USA to transfer my retirement accounts here.

The USA bank had a policy not to transfer your money out of USA.

I went to the branch here in Thailand and opened my account in Bangkok Bank in N Y City and because B B is in USA being governed by U S banking regulations my retirement accounts go to N Y......and it is immediately available to me here.

 

Write back......let me know if it worked.

[Pib]

8 hours ago, Captain 776 said:

Go to your Bangkok Bank branch you are using here.

Most likely you can open an account in London while you are here.

 

I needed a bank in USA to transfer my retirement accounts here.

The USA bank had a policy not to transfer your money out of USA.

I went to the branch here in Thailand and opened my account in Bangkok Bank in N Y City and because B B is in USA being governed by U S banking regulations my retirement accounts go to N Y......and it is immediately available to me here.

 

Write back......let me know if it worked.

You did "not" open an account with Bangkok Bank in NY City.  Their NY branch does not open retail accounts for the common man....they are a commercial/wholesale branch that deals with corporate accounts. 

 

You opened a Bangkok Bank account here in Thailand at  local branch and you are simply using the Bangkok Bank NYC branch ACH "routing number" to route funds thru them to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account.  Something that US folks have been doing for decades.  An account is "not" needed (or allowed) with the NYC branch to simply use their ACH routing number to relay funds thru them to your in-Thailand Bangkok Bank account.

 

And by the way, effective 30 Jun 19 unless you ACH retirement payments and/or bank transfers are being sent in ACH "IAT" format the payment will be rejected.  Hopefully you've seen the numerous threads and Bangkok Bank notices on that subject?  If your current payment are being sent in ACH "IAT" format they will continue; but if they are being sent in ACH "domestic" format they will be rejected.

Edited June 4, 2019 by Pib