Is it possible to have a UK Bank account while being tax resident in Thailand?

[Liverpool Lou]

44 minutes ago, quake said:

Not looked into this yet.

but maybe a cheap solution.   only need 5k GBP. thinks its in IOM.

https://international.standardbank.com/international/personal

 

19 hours ago, MrMuddle said:

Apparently Nationwide are now asking account holders to confirm their personal details, such as home address, phone number etc. Will they / any other UK Bank allow British citizens who live in Thailand to have accounts with them? 

"Will they / any other UK Bank..."

[Mutt Daeng]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

4 hours ago, leonard beaven said:

Yes you can have a UK bank account,BUT,they will not send documents or replacement cards to Thailand,for security reasons.

That may be the Lloyds policy. It is not true for RBS though I don’t remember if my last debit card was sent to Thailand.

HSBC send new credit & debit cards to my house here in Thailand. In fact I have had new cards delivered this year from HSBC. I don't have a UK address. 

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

That may be the Lloyds policy. It is not true for RBS though I don’t remember if my last debit card was sent to Thailand.

It is all about policy,  and as I was told by an HSBC branch manager, the policy is discretionary. They kept mine open as my income was being paid in.

The question of tax didn't arise, the manager could see income from DWP. 

[PattayaParent]

1 hour ago, quake said:

Not looked into this yet.

but maybe a cheap solution.   only need 5k GBP. thinks its in IOM.

https://international.standardbank.com/international/personal

 

That's the bank I use.

 

Excellent bank.

 

Can't issue credit cards but you can get a debit card.

[PattayaParent]

8 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

HSBC send new credit & debit cards to my house here in Thailand. In fact I have had new cards delivered this year from HSBC. I don't have a UK address. 

 

Is your HSBC account offshore or in UK?

 

I used to have an offshore account with HSBC and had a credit card which was issued from UK.

 

When I needed a new credit card HSBC UK refused to send it to Thailand so I had them send it to my offshore bank address who then sent it to me in Thailand. Their refusal was based on Thailand not being a secure location for delivery, although I never had any problems receiving my cards when HSBC offshore sent them.

 

HSBC would however send my credit card to Seoul Korea where I lived for a while, and on three separate occasions I never received it, even when having HSBC in Seoul instruct HSBC UK to send the card to them for me to collect in person.

 

I closed my HSBC offshore account eventually but kept the credit card active and guess what, come time for renewal HSBC UK had no problem sending me the card to Thailand!

 

[Tropicalevo]

6 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Some banks have closed accounts, I don’t know that the accounts were actively being used at the time. These include Barclays.

 

Anecdotal evidence  could be useful. This would need to include the activity in the accounts, along with the bank name, possibly original opening location.

 

A good friend of mine has an account with Barclays in the UK. Sorry, I do not know the location.

He has been a non resident for about 30 years.

He now lives permanently in Thailand and Barclays keep writing to him telling him that he now has to close his account with them as he lives overseas.

He refuses, telling them that he does not want it closed.

He tells them that if they want it closed, they must close it.

This has been going on for a couple of years now.

He still has an account with Barclays.

 

Back to the OP's original question -

I too have an account in the UK with NatWest. I have had it since they were called Westminster Bank, before they merged (1960's?).

I became non resident the UK in 1993 and told the bank. No problem.

I have my pension paid into it. (They too know that I live overseas.)

For post - they have my M-I-L's address for silly, non important stuff and my Thai address for anything that I want quickly.

 

As others have said, I suspect that if one lives overseas, opening an account in the UK now would be very, very tricky.

[PBob]

Both my wife and I have kept our existing Natwest accounts and they know we live in Thailand. They would not send new back cards to Thailand until a couple of years ago.

 

Ulster Bank insisted that my wife close her account and would not transfer the balance to any other bank in the group. They changed their mind after a complaint and paid compensation for the poor service.

[VBF]

A lot of these problems are caused by money laundering regulations that require the banks to prove that they "know the customer".

If the banks cannot show their due diligence then they seem to err on the side of caution. Obviously, they're prepared to make a greater effort for a customer offering to deposit millions rather than "just a few thousand". What might seem like a lot of money to us is just a drop in the ocean to a bank.

[quake]

People who are residents of Thailand.

will have there uk bank accounts closed In  the next few years.

Unless you are telling them porkies. ( and that my well be found out) 

Get used to it and find an alternative .

unless your up to other things, ( pensions ) and so on. 

 

 

[scottiejohn]

27 minutes ago, quake said:

People who are residents of Thailand.

will have there uk bank accounts closed In  the next few years.

Unless you are telling them porkies. ( and that my well be found out) 

Get used to it and find an alternative .

unless your up to other things, ( pensions ) and so on. 

 

 

Is your tin foil hat not due for replacement soon?

[BritManToo]

47 minutes ago, quake said:

People who are residents of Thailand.

will have there uk bank accounts closed In  the next few years.

Unless you are telling them porkies. ( and that my well be found out) 

Get used to it and find an alternative .

unless your up to other things, ( pensions ) and so on. 

 

 

The UK banks are locking their apps to UK Google accounts with UK IP address, so even if they let you keep your account you'll lose access on your next forced bank app update.

 

Pc access with UK phone SIM for OTP still works though.

[sometimewoodworker]

35 minutes ago, quake said:

People who are residents of Thailand.

will have there uk bank accounts closed In  the next few yea

Where is your information coming from? Or is it just speculation. 
There have been these kinds of statements being bandied about for many years they haven’t been shown as correct yet.

[hotandsticky]

6 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Where is your information coming from? Or is it just speculation. 
There have been these kinds of statements being bandied about for many years they haven’t been shown as correct yet.

 

It has happened. There have been threads on here in which it has been reported. So - YES - it has been shown to be correct.

 

HOWEVER, at the moment it is not widespread and I have not seen one bank come out and state that it is their policy to close non-resident accounts....... Another HOWEVER, you cannot open a new UK bank if you not UK resident. Take that concept a stage further and a logical next step would be to attack low-hanging fruit i.e. existing accounts with an overseas address - or where non-residency has been declared. Compliance is the reason cited by the banks, or more specifically "much higher costs of compliance" where non-resident accounts are concerned.

 

Everyone should have a WISE account as a back up.

[Mutt Daeng]

2 hours ago, PattayaParent said:

 

Is your HSBC account offshore or in UK?

 

I used to have an offshore account with HSBC and had a credit card which was issued from UK.

 

When I needed a new credit card HSBC UK refused to send it to Thailand so I had them send it to my offshore bank address who then sent it to me in Thailand. Their refusal was based on Thailand not being a secure location for delivery, although I never had any problems receiving my cards when HSBC offshore sent them.

 

HSBC would however send my credit card to Seoul Korea where I lived for a while, and on three separate occasions I never received it, even when having HSBC in Seoul instruct HSBC UK to send the card to them for me to collect in person.

 

I closed my HSBC offshore account eventually but kept the credit card active and guess what, come time for renewal HSBC UK had no problem sending me the card to Thailand!

 

It's a UK HSBC account.

[hotandsticky]

40 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Is your tin foil hat not due for replacement soon?

 

 

Don't treat him like a fool....................or you could be wearing the dunce's hat.

[hotandsticky]

2 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

 

 

As others have said, I suspect that if one lives overseas, opening an account in the UK now would be very, very tricky.

 

 

Not tricky......................it is simply not possible to open an account with a mainstream bank.

[quake]

34 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Where is your information coming from? Or is it just speculation. 
There have been these kinds of statements being bandied about for many years they haven’t been shown as correct yet.

just conmen sense,  with the way tech is going now days.

But feel free too fly what ever flag you want.

Big brother does not care.

[quake]

47 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Is your tin foil hat not due for replacement soon?

 

Ok mate.

Tin foil hat, what a laugh you are.

 

[quake]

43 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

The UK banks are locking their apps to UK Google accounts with UK IP address, so even if they let you keep your account you'll lose access on your next forced bank app update.

 

Pc access with UK phone SIM for OTP still works though.

 

Yes. your right.

But in the next 2/3 years.

it may not be the same story.

 

[scottiejohn]

33 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Don't treat him like a fool....................or you could be wearing the dunce's hat.

I will leave it to you do the hat wearing, tin foil, or otherwise!

[bradiston]

23 hours ago, MrMuddle said:

Apparently Nationwide are now asking account holders to confirm their personal details, such as home address, phone number etc. Will they / any other UK Bank allow British citizens who live in Thailand to have accounts with them? Any recommendations for UK Banks that accept Brits who live in Thailand?
Thanks for any replies.

I was recently contacted by Nationwide as I haven't touched my UK account in years. I explained I had moved abroad but they weren't interested. They still had a UK mailing address for me and that's all that seemed to matter. I'd forgotten all my login details but eventually managed to log in and discovered I had a very small amount in the account. But now they've started emailing me again about the absence of any activity on my account. I guess I'll take the money out or top it up just to keep them happy.

[hotandsticky]

11 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

I will leave it to you do the hat wearing, tin foil, or otherwise!

 

 

No hats in this household.

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

No hats in this household.

Probably because you can't get any big enough to fit!

[persimmon]

Maybe the answer to the bank account problem is just to rely on having a Wise account  ?, unless they decide to follow the others and restrict access to UK residents only .

[nglodnig]

7 hours ago, stubuzz said:

By the way it is a Jersey based account.

No it t'aint....... check your facts please - I have had this account for more than a year and then address is DOUGLAS (which is IoM).

 

No idea what you were looking at but mine is a STERLING bank account.

 

Could I respectfully suggest you research first before engaging keyboard.

 

From their website:

 

Villiers House

2 Victoria Street

Douglas IM1 2LN

 

 

[nglodnig]

7 hours ago, stubuzz said:

certified ID and Proof of address

As an ex-bank employeee EVERY bank does this for Know Your Customer rules as I had several training sessions on this. Basically to avoid money-laundering they need to know who you are. Only "dodgy" banks skip this

[sometimewoodworker]

5 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

It has happened. There have been threads on here in which it has been reported. So - YES - it has been shown to be correct.

 

HOWEVER, at the moment it is not widespread and I have not seen one bank come out and state that it is their policy to close non-resident accounts....... Another HOWEVER, you cannot open a new UK bank if you not UK resident. Take that concept a stage further and a logical next step would be to attack low-hanging fruit i.e. existing accounts with an overseas address - or where non-residency has been declared. Compliance is the reason cited by the banks, or more specifically "much higher costs of compliance" where non-resident accounts are concerned.

 

Everyone should have a WISE account as a back up.

As has been noted by numerous posters, despite your spreading of FUD there is ZERO evidence of the claimed proactive general move to close actively used accounts. 
That some accounts in some banks have been closed is an acknowledge point, if they were being actively used is unknown. This point was never contested.

 

While it is difficult to impossible for most non U.K. residents of modest means, to open a U.K. based account it is not impossible if you have sufficient liquidity.

 

The inescapable conclusion is that you are dressing up your speculation as fact as is @quake

[Gaccha]

7 hours ago, PattayaParent said:

That's the bank I use.

 

Excellent bank

I'm intrigued by its practical functionality. 

 

Obviously it's in Pound Sterling. But as an offshore account is it linked to the free ATM usage network (the name of which escapes me) of the UK or are you charged on your bank card withdrawals (assuming you have one)?

 

Did onshore institutions allow payments to be made to it? For example, law firms sending funds or government institutions sending payments etc.

 

Is it on the Swift network or are movements treated as international from and to the UK? Are transfers to and from the UK free of charge?

 

What other differences?

[ukrules]

14 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

FWIW if you have an active U.K. bank account some banks will not require that you close it.

 

Especially if you owe them money in one form or another.

 

I do wonder if anyone has ever had their account closed down whilst having an ongoing loan or even long term mortgage which is paid by direct debit from the main current account which is subject to closure?

Because that may not end well for the bank if they cut off the only easy way to repay things....and we all know they're not so stupid when it comes to collecting.

[hotandsticky]

6 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

A 
That some accounts in some banks have been closed is an acknowledge point, if they were being actively used is unknown.  

 

 

 

 

That is all you need to know at this stage.

 

Ignore the potential for future issues, or prepare for the possibilty.

 

 

I don't give a toss what you choose to do, I have made adequate provision for the unlikely event that the UK banks may take a tougher stance on expat accounts during my lifetime..