Best UK Bank whilst living in Thailand

[Robin]

I was with Nat West.  Decent account.  On-line banking worked and money could be transferred easily on -line.

Then NW cancelled my account, no reason given and maximum inconvenience and rudeness.

If you have a good relationship with NWB, I would go with them.  Just do not complain to them about any aspect of their banking.

Some UK banks, including Santander, appear to have difficulty sending money to Thailand via on-line banking.

NB.  Gave up with HSBC ; Their system was so secure that neither I nor any of their support staff could log me in and I had to close the account to get my money out.

Many UK banks require you to have a UK address;  check before you think of opening an account.

[hotandsticky]

21 minutes ago, Robin said:

I was with Nat West.  Decent account.  On-line banking worked and money could be transferred easily on -line.

Then NW cancelled my account, no reason given and maximum inconvenience and rudeness.

If you have a good relationship with NWB, I would go with them.  Just do not complain to them about any aspect of their banking.

Some UK banks, including Santander, appear to have difficulty sending money to Thailand via on-line banking.

NB.  Gave up with HSBC ; Their system was so secure that neither I nor any of their support staff could log me in and I had to close the account to get my money out.

Many UK banks require you to have a UK address;  check before you think of opening an account.

 

Just a couple of comments to add…

 

ALL banks require you to be U.K. resident to open an account.

 

I send money to Thailand via WISE; never use your clearing bank to remit funds to Thailand.

[phetphet]

22 hours ago, Karlo said:

I am seeking recommendations from UK citizens living in Thailand regarding UK banks. I want to keep the majority of my money in the UK and transfer regular amounts to my bank in Thailand. Currently with Santander but their money laundering checks are causing me grief on a regular payment I get from DWP state pension. So I am contemplating move away from Santander.

Opening another bank account might prove very difficult. The requirements will likely include proof that you are a UK resident. Maybe a Council Tax bill or something similar.

Even if you find another bank that will open an account for you, don't close your Santander account. Most UK Banks are closing accounts of customers if they find they are living abroad. Better to keep it just in case.

[PJ71]

7 hours ago, ukrules said:

And don't forget the active uk phone number, it's not for phone calls but for text messages - you will 100% need this.

I have a uk account, i do not need a UK phone number - Bank of Scotland.

 

Infact, i've got my Thai number linked to it, the account is however still linked to a uk address.

[Madgee]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

I would recommend FlexAccount Nationwide, they have a 20 pound fixed fee for transfers up to the legal amount, make sure you have someone who can send you a new card reader or ATM card to Thailand, if and when you need one. p.s any card reader from any uk bank will work. I had a card reader that just stopped working (not the battery). 

Nationwide send replacement cards to Thailand. I had not realised that mine was expiring and they automatically replaced mine to my Thailand address without me asking. Also, they sent me a new card reader not long ago at my request. 
Download the NBS app in the UK. 

[brianthainess]

27 minutes ago, Madgee said:

Nationwide send replacement cards to Thailand. I had not realised that mine was expiring and they automatically replaced mine to my Thailand address without me asking. Also, they sent me a new card reader not long ago at my request. 
Download the NBS app in the UK. 

Unfortunately the new card readers are auto generated and not sent registered post, so the two they sent me never arrived, useless postman!, I'm lucky to get post once every 3+months, I changed my address to my daughters in the UK, as with the new card I can not trust Thailand Post for anything, if I do need something by EMS then I give my wife's shop address which is on a 'main' road, where as I live it's 75 meters up a small Soi, lazy  Potman   Lostman Postman. I have 2 card readers now........

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Yes you can . 

You can do it online without a telephone number 

Well I couldn't open another account that gives better interest, without using a UK sim for the OTP number.

[topt]

1 hour ago, PJ71 said:

I have a uk account, i do not need a UK phone number - Bank of Scotland.

 

Infact, i've got my Thai number linked to it, the account is however still linked to a uk address.

Yes but presumably you still need access to that no. for OTPs or whatever - unlike as claimed by another poster? 

[PJ71]

1 minute ago, topt said:

Yes but presumably you still need access to that no. for OTPs or whatever - unlike as claimed by another poster? 

I can login without OTPs and make transfers ( up to a certain amount ) without OTPs.

 

 

[topt]

Just now, PJ71 said:

I can login without OTPs and make transfers ( up to a certain amount ) without OTPs.

 

 

I presume the transfers are to existing payees. What If you wanted to add a new payee?

Which bank out of curiosity and I thought all banks now had to have some sort of 2/multi factor authentication?

[brianthainess]

11 minutes ago, topt said:

I presume the transfers are to existing payees. What If you wanted to add a new payee?

Which bank out of curiosity and I thought all banks now had to have some sort of 2/multi factor authentication?

You can add payees using your card reader, what you can Not do is open another type of account without a UK SIM.

[brianthainess]

14 minutes ago, topt said:

 

Which bank out of curiosity and I thought all banks now had to have some sort of 2/multi factor authentication?

That is was the card readers do by sending different codes to the reader when asked, Pin to log in, given a code, enter code, your logged in, then any other transactions also require a new code, all explained while you are logged in. on transferring money to any other account even your own Thai one, you will get an email asking if you submitted it.

Very secure IMO. and on a side note, I forget the limit now (50k ?) but you still only pay the 20 quid, and last time I checked it was cheaper than Wise.

[topt]

2 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

That is was the card readers do by sending different codes to the reader when asked, Pin to log in, given a code, enter code, your logged in, then any other transactions also require a new code, all explained while you are logged in. on transferring money to any other account even your own Thai one, you will get an email asking if you submitted it.

Very secure IMO. and on a side note, I forget the limit now (50k ?) but you still only pay the 20 quid, and last time I checked it was cheaper than Wise.

Yes I get all that and a card reader is effectively another means of SCA (strong customer authentication) so an alternative to an OTP.

Not all banks use card readers and I was curious about the poster's that I replied to.

 

For example I have had to use OTP's with LLoyds for years just to log in. Lloyds offshore bank requests a phone number to call and you then have to give the numbers that you see on the screen where you are trying to log in - which recently suffered a glitch (separate thread from another poster in the Home forum)

 

I agree the that the card reader sounds very secure. I am not sure that I would want to deal with a bank these days that didn't insist on some sort of MFA.

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

I send money to Thailand via WISE; never use your clearing bank to remit funds to Thailand

What UK bank do you use to send £ to Wise?

[Mike Teavee]

42 minutes ago, topt said:

Yes but presumably you still need access to that no. for OTPs or whatever - unlike as claimed by another poster? 

For my Barclays account I have a card reader but mainly use "Mobile PINSentry" via their mobile App, in fact I can't remember the last time Barclays wanted to send me an OTP to my mobile.

 

[Mike Teavee]

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

What UK bank do you use to send £ to Wise?

Barclays, in fact they flagged the last one & ended up freezing my account when they couldn't contact me on my UK mobile number.... Their rationale was it was a large transfer (£6,300), made at 4am & I'd sent £4,500 a few weeks before.  

 

I explained  that I was travelling around Asia so didn't have my UK mobile enabled, was in Thailand so made the transfer at 10am local time but not to worry about the Transfer as I'd made alternative arrangements from one of my other accounts.  

Edited September 17 by Mike Teavee

[brianthainess]

8 minutes ago, topt said:

I agree the that the card reader sounds very secure. I am not sure that I would want to deal with a bank these days that didn't insist on some sort of MFA.

They are secure, and they work by magic, not connect to anything but your card, one can only presume, all info needed is somehow imbedded in your card and you can use any UK bank's card readers. Luckily for me when I needed a new reader, I found a friend who lent me his, until I got a new one.

[PJ71]

51 minutes ago, topt said:

I presume the transfers are to existing payees. What If you wanted to add a new payee?

Which bank out of curiosity and I thought all banks now had to have some sort of 2/multi factor authentication?

Bank of Scotland, mentioned above.

[scubascuba3]

31 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Barclays, in fact they flagged the last one & ended up freezing my account when they couldn't contact me on my UK mobile number.... Their rationale was it was a large transfer (£6,300), made at 4am & I'd sent £4,500 a few weeks before.  

 

I explained  that I was travelling around Asia so didn't have my UK mobile enabled, was in Thailand so made the transfer at 10am local time but not to worry about the Transfer as I'd made alternative arrangements from one of my other accounts.  

Barclays will probably close your account if they get wind you live in Thailand

[Mike Teavee]

6 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Barclays will probably close your account if they get wind you live in Thailand

Yep, Irony being it was them that moved me to Singapore which lead to me living in Thailand. 

[hotandsticky]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

What UK bank do you use to send £ to Wise?

 

HSBC mainly.

[OJAS]

23 hours ago, Robin said:

If you have a good relationship with NWB, I would go with them.  Just do not complain to them about any aspect of their banking.

 

The OP doesn't appear to have an existing account with NatWest - and the likelihood of him being able to open a new one from Thailand is zero!