I'm going to start receiving 2 pensions from Barclays early next year & for the DC one at least I need to tell them that I'm not a UK Tax Resident so I'm trying to make alternative arrangements for my Banking, General Investment & ISA accounts should they decide to close my accounts.  Ideally I would just switch everything to a Barclays International account (Plan B)

 

For anybody who already has an International Banking account with Barclays... 

1.    Did you open your account whilst living in Thailand? I've searched everywhere for the list of 35 countries that are eligible and I can't find it anywhere.
2.    Do you have any Investment services with them?
3.    For the qualification criteria, does it have to be Cash or can I use other assets (e.g. UK Shares/Gilts)?  

 

Appreciate I should be asking Barclays direct but I don't want to trigger them into closing my accounts until I've got alternatives in place so would really appreciate any information existing account holders can share...

 

 

My "Plan C" is:-

1. Banking - Lloyds or Standard Bank
2. GIA/ISA - Interactive Brokers (UK)

... Any thoughts/comments on these or alternatives?

 

 

Many thanks

 

 

Sam

I'm a few years away from receiving my UK state pension and am a British expat in living in Thailand.

 

I plan on declaring my non-UK residence status (so I can sleep at night) and having it paid directly into my WISE account in GBP. From there I can transfer it to a Thai bank account or elsewhere (investment broker) when it suits me. Very reasonable Fx fees and also, should I change my mind about which country I reside in, the money still comes through to an account I can access easily from anywhere and transfer to anywhere.

 

WISE has been very good to me in so many ways and the state pension payment going there seems the logical choice for me.

 

On 9/22/2025 at 4:06 PM, SamSpade said:

My "Plan C" is:-

1. Banking - Lloyds or Standard Bank
2. GIA/ISA - Interactive Brokers (UK)

 

My two pence worth:

If you're moderately wealthy, you should be considering your Inheritance Tax situation.  Assets in the UK over GBP 325,000 are subject to IHT.  (And if you're deemed domiciled in the UK at time of death, it's your worldwide assets that are subject to the tax.)  For me it made more sense to open an account with IBKR in the US.  (That's where the account is opened if you open from Thailand.)  I still have access to the full range of the London Stock Exchange stocks, investment trusts and ETFs.  However, I keep my total investments in UK domiciled stocks and investment trusts below the GBP 325,000 limit.  Pretty much all ETFs are domiciled outside the UK (Ireland is common, as is Luxembourg), and some investment trusts (technically "investment companies") are also domiciled outside the UK in places like Guernsey & Jersey.  No access to UK mutual funds, though.

 

I've banked with Standard Bank (IoM) for a few years.  No complaints, though transfers to/from my account are not instantaneous - no access to the "Faster Payments" system.

22 hours ago, Zaphod Priest said:

 

My two pence worth:

If you're moderately wealthy, you should be considering your Inheritance Tax situation.  Assets in the UK over GBP 325,000 are subject to IHT. 

60-100% (Depending if siblings/parents die before me) of my UK Assets will go to my Thai Partner & I believe she won’t be subject to UK IHT or Thai IHT (I’d describe myself as comfortable, certainly not wealthy, well below the 100M Baht Thai tax). 

 

Thanks for the positive feedback on Standard Bank, I actually visited their office in J’Burg in 2005/6 when Barclays bought ABSA 👍🏻

 

 

 

1 hour ago, SamSpade said:

60-100% ... of my UK Assets will go to my Thai Partner & I believe she won’t be subject to UK IHT

 

Do you actually understand UK IHT? It's not a tax on the person receiving it, but upon the estate of the deceased.

If your UK estate is above the threshold, it will be subject to IHT.  Generally speaking, it matters not one jot or tittle who is receiving it.

On 9/30/2025 at 10:54 AM, Zaphod Priest said:

 

 For me it made more sense to open an account with IBKR in the US.  (That's where the account is opened if you open from Thailand.)  I still have access to the full range of the London Stock Exchange stocks, investment trusts and ETFs.  However, I keep my total investments in UK domiciled stocks and investment trusts below the GBP 325,000 limit.  Pretty much all ETFs are domiciled outside the UK (Ireland is common, as is Luxembourg), and some investment trusts (technically "investment companies") are also domiciled outside the UK in places like Guernsey & Jersey.  No access to UK mutual funds, though.

 

I've banked with Standard Bank (IoM) for a few years.  No complaints, though transfers to/from my account are not instantaneous - no access to the "Faster Payments" system.

Regarding IKBR, do you get dividends paid out to your bank?

I am thinking of moving my various investment trust shares to them to a joint account with my wife so that when I die she continues getting dividends and control of the shares. I assume the shares have to be sold, then money transferred and then shares repurchased.

Any charges for dividend payment transfers?

6 hours ago, BlueScouse said:

Regarding IKBR, do you get dividends paid out to your bank?

I am thinking of moving my various investment trust shares to them to a joint account with my wife so that when I die she continues getting dividends and control of the shares. I assume the shares have to be sold, then money transferred and then shares repurchased.

Any charges for dividend payment transfers?

 

Dividends are not automatically paid out.  They accumulation within the account.  You can withdraw cash manually.  One withdrawal per month is free.  After that it's GBP 1 (for sterling).

Be cautious about joint accounts.  I have not been able to get a clear answer from IBKR as to what happens when one of the joint account holders dies.  One can't designate someone to inherit the account (that's only available for US residents), and the process may require US probate.

i am considering much the same as at some point it will be obvious i am not in the UK. i looked at Loyds international based in Channel islands, they need a TIN code to open an account, tried a few times here, i keep getting sent away they just say you don't need one as you do not have a work permit.  from 2027 pension pots are no longer tax free  on your death. it is added to your IHT.  there seem to be other changes, my financial advisor has made it clear, if i live abroad, then he will no longer by law be able to advise me

23 minutes ago, howerde said:

Loyds international based in Channel islands, they need a TIN code to open an account, tried a few times here, i keep getting sent away they just say you don't need one as you do not have a work permit.

 

Try Standard Bank (Isle of Man or Jersey).  I have no TIN, but was able to open an account with them after explaining why not.

 

If you receive taxed interest from a Thai bank account you can reclaim it, for which the tax authorities will have to issue you a TIN.

17 hours ago, Zaphod Priest said:

 

Do you actually understand UK IHT? It's not a tax on the person receiving it, but upon the estate of the deceased.

If your UK estate is above the threshold, it will be subject to IHT.  Generally speaking, it matters not one jot or tittle who is receiving it.

I’ve obviously got it wrong, I was assuming she wouldn’t have any tax to pay on it as she’s non-UK Citizen/Domiciled/Tax Resident but I can see your point so thanks for that. 
 

Damn, another nail in the coffin for me not marrying her 😳

13 minutes ago, SamSpade said:

Damn, another nail in the coffin for me not marrying her 😳

 

From a tax point of view, being married to someone not domiciled in the UK is not particularly helpful.  The tax free amount that can be transferred to one's spouse tax free is a measly GBP 55,000.  (See point 26 in https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79ff65ed915d6d99f5c67f/inheritance_tax_election_to_be_treated_as_domiciled_in_the_uk.pdf.pdf )

It's best to have no UK assets (and that includes things such as UK shares, even if held outside the UK) - or at least keep UK assets below the IHT threshold.

1 hour ago, Zaphod Priest said:

 

From a tax point of view, being married to someone not domiciled in the UK is not particularly helpful.  The tax free amount that can be transferred to one's spouse tax free is a measly GBP 55,000.  (See point 26 in https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79ff65ed915d6d99f5c67f/inheritance_tax_election_to_be_treated_as_domiciled_in_the_uk.pdf.pdf )

It's best to have no UK assets (and that includes things such as UK shares, even if held outside the UK) - or at least keep UK assets below the IHT threshold.

What about property? I still have my old UK home and was under the impression that I could leave that to “My Spouse” IHT Free (even though she’s never set foot in the UK).

 

I can see that I need to do a lot more research on IHT, it’s just one of those subjects (Wills are another one) that I think a lot of us don’t think enough about 😔

This might be of some use,

https://www.saffery.com/insights/articles/inheritance-tax-reforms-for-uk-non-doms/

 

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax

21 minutes ago, howerde said:

This might be of some use,

https://www.saffery.com/insights/articles/inheritance-tax-reforms-for-uk-non-doms/

 

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax

Thanks, it’s this point… 

• “you leave everything above the £325,000 threshold to your spouse, civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club“

… That I’ve always assumed to mean if I did marry my Thai partner she wouldn’t have pay any IHT on my estate. 
 

 

31 minutes ago, SamSpade said:

What about property? I still have my old UK home and was under the impression that I could leave that to “My Spouse” IHT Free (even though she’s never set foot in the UK).

 

Pretty sure the answer to that is "nope". It forms part of your estate, and is subject to IHT like any other asset.  However, my previous reply referring to the GBP 55,000 exemption from IHT for gifts to one's spouse is outdated.  The limit now is the IHT nil rate tax band - GBP 325,000.  This is a lifetime limit on all gifts.  You still have your personal GBP 325,000 IHT exemption, so the total amount you can give without IHT is GBP 650,000.  (I think that's right now, but would be happy to be corrected.)

1 minute ago, SamSpade said:

Thanks, it’s this point… 

 

• “you leave everything above the £325,000 threshold to your spouse, civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club“

… That I’ve always assumed to mean if I did marry my Thai partner she wouldn’t have pay any IHT on my estate. 
 

 

 

That only applies if the spouse is UK domiciled.

7 minutes ago, SamSpade said:

Thanks, it’s this point… 

 

• “you leave everything above the £325,000 threshold to your spouse, civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club“

… That I’ve always assumed to mean if I did marry my Thai partner she wouldn’t have pay any IHT on my estate. 
 

 

I'm trying to make sense of it myself , as my advisor can only give advice to UK residents, and his advice is make a will in the UK

2 hours ago, Zaphod Priest said:

Pretty sure the answer to that is "nope". It forms part of your estate, and is subject to IHT like any other asset. 

That is my understanding. So anything above a valuation of 325k currently, presuming no other assets, IHT is applied.

2 hours ago, howerde said:

I'm trying to make sense of it myself , as my advisor can only give advice to UK residents, and his advice is make a will in the UK

General advice is to have separate wills for different country assets - Eg. one for UK and one for Thailand. Possibly with different executors as long as you have someone you trust still in the UK.

I was also surprised when I discovered that Isle of Man has a completely separate probate process to the UK so if you have any assets offshore there (or anywhere else for that matter) maybe worth having a separate will for there. 

2 hours ago, topt said:

Isle of Man has a completely separate probate process to the UK ... maybe worth having a separate will for there. 

 

Personally, I keep the balance of my IoM bank account below GBP 10,000.  That means there is no need for probate.  It's rather like the UK system where banks will pay out without probate if the balance is below x pounds.  

19 minutes ago, Zaphod Priest said:

 

Personally, I keep the balance of my IoM bank account below GBP 10,000.  That means there is no need for probate.  It's rather like the UK system where banks will pay out without probate if the balance is below x pounds.  

 

 

That is exceedingly sensible when dealing with the Channel Islands.....they have their own Probate rules - on top of anything that might have been proved in your home country.

On 9/30/2025 at 3:27 PM, roger buttmore said:

I'm a few years away from receiving my UK state pension and am a British expat in living in Thailand.

 

I plan on declaring my non-UK residence status (so I can sleep at night) and having it paid directly into my WISE account in GBP. From there I can transfer it to a Thai bank account or elsewhere (investment broker) when it suits me. Very reasonable Fx fees and also, should I change my mind about which country I reside in, the money still comes through to an account I can access easily from anywhere and transfer to anywhere.

 

WISE has been very good to me in so many ways and the state pension payment going there seems the logical choice for me.

 

 

Interesting .... I wonder whether this might work for me dealing with the particular requirements my pension provider has for paying out.  Does a WISE account require an address from you? Does WISE give you a statement or other correspondence specifying that address?

 

My pension administrator requires me to supply a statement showing my home address as corroborated by certain other documents that can be checked to certain third party records (like the Electoral Register). If I could get a GBP account supported by a statement from WISE showing my address here in Thailand, it might work. 

 

Thanks in advance

On 10/3/2025 at 2:22 PM, 503726 said:

Does a WISE account require an address from you? Does WISE give you a statement or other correspondence specifying that address?

Yes it does, for reasons such as receiving a physical debit card.

 

However, once the account is setup, besides a place to receive a replacement physical card periodically, nothing else gets sent to that address as everything else can be handled online using their app or website. If you do not need or want a physical card the option to setup digital debit cards for online use can be setup very easily, then frozen, deleted and remade adfinitum. 

 

Of course, having a trusted UK address to get the ball rolling would be required.

 

Earlier this year I used a screenshot from my WISE account showing details of my UK address as part of an identification process for a solicitor with regard to a UK property sale and that was accepted without issue.