Nationwide International to Close for Good

KittenKong · September 29, 2016

2 hours ago, Oxx said:

There's not a single UK bank that will accept non-residents as new clients.

Have you asked them all?

Oxx · September 30, 2016

14 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Have you asked them all?

No need. The British Bankers Association states that there are two banks offering accounts to non-residents. One only offers to non-residents living in the European Union, the other to "selected countries", which doesn't include Thailand. No UK bank will open an account for us non-residents in Thailand.

ianwuk · September 30, 2016

15 hours ago, orientalist said:

I was thinking of Santander, Jersey, which has a brochure covering non-residents, but interest is 0% unless you deposit a lot.

http://www.santanderpb.je/documents/interestratesintl01092016.pdf

I sent them an email and they said no, they will not do business with Thailand.

Back to the drawing board.

ianwuk · September 30, 2016

26 minutes ago, Oxx said:

No need. The British Bankers Association states that there are two banks offering accounts to non-residents. One only offers to non-residents living in the European Union, the other to "selected countries", which doesn't include Thailand. No UK bank will open an account for us non-residents in Thailand.

If you do find anything, please let me know. I am in the same situation as you right now.

KittenKong · September 30, 2016

2 hours ago, Oxx said:

No need. The British Bankers Association states that there are two banks offering accounts to non-residents. One only offers to non-residents living in the European Union, the other to "selected countries", which doesn't include Thailand. No UK bank will open an account for us non-residents in Thailand.

The British Bankers Associations knows nothing.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Rimmer
Flame

KittenKong · September 30, 2016

2 hours ago, ianwuk said:

I sent them an email and they said no, they will not do business with Thailand.

I have an account with their IOM branch. I am in Thailand and they know it. YMMV.

orientalist · September 30, 2016

Estonia offers digital residency to all for 100 euros and banking is possible. Currently, you have to go there one time to open an account but they are working to change that.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/15/estonia-e-residency-european-union-brexit-eu-referendum

Google Swedbank in Estonia. They have non-resident accounts in sterling... but 0% interest.

topt · September 30, 2016

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

I have an account with their IOM branch. I am in Thailand and they know it. YMMV.

KK did you open it with Santander IOM or was it a legacy international account from A&L, B&B etc

partington · September 30, 2016

2 hours ago, KittenKong said:

I have an account with their IOM branch. I am in Thailand and they know it. YMMV.

There is a difference between being willing to keep legacy accounts open, and being able to open a new account.

Though this sounds inconsistent I have direct experience of at least one company, admittedly not a bank but a broker, that will not open any new non-UK resident accounts, but will allow existing accounts to remain operational.

KittenKong · September 30, 2016

3 hours ago, topt said:

KK did you open it with Santander IOM or was it a legacy international account from A&L, B&B etc

I did have an A&L account which was taken over by them, but then I opened an entirely new account with them that required new forms etc.

3 hours ago, partington said:

There is a difference between being willing to keep legacy accounts open, and being able to open a new account.

Absolutely. I was just pointing out that I have one. I dont know how they respond to new applications now.

orientalist · November 9, 2016

Just got my "Thank you and piss off" letter from Nationwide Intl. Anyone in Thailand tried Santander yet?

theoldgit · November 9, 2016

Yes I also received my letter today, whilst they're not closing until the summer of 2017 I note that they will start closing accounts in the new year.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Oxx · November 9, 2016

8 hours ago, orientalist said:

Just got my "Thank you and piss off" letter from Nationwide Intl. Anyone in Thailand tried Santander yet?

Any chance you or someone else could scan and post the letter? Mine will have been sent to my UK address, so it'll be some time before I get it. Thanks.

theoldgit · November 10, 2016

5 hours ago, Oxx said:

Any chance you or someone else could scan and post the letter? Mine will have been sent to my UK address, so it'll be some time before I get it. Thanks.

Here you are, page 2 of the FAQ booklet is blank.

Nationwide Letter.pdf

Nationwide FAQ Booklet.pdf

KittenKong · November 10, 2016

I got this letter. It's just a generic mailshot. All the information is on their website.

Oxx · November 10, 2016

47 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

Here you are, page 2 of the FAQ booklet is blank.

Nationwide Letter.pdf

Nationwide FAQ Booklet.pdf

Thanks for that.

Utterly unhelpful. I really don't understand why, since Nationwide International changed from being an independent bank to a branch of Nationwide Building Society, they can't simply transfer the accounts to another branch.

And they're doing absolutely nothing to help customers find a new, offshore home for their money - a really difficult prospect. And losing access to the account via the BACS network is going to put up account running costs significantly.

I thought building societies were supposed to be more caring for their members/customers than the banks.

Pathetic.

I guess I was naïve for expecting better.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Oxx

chiang mai · November 10, 2016

I'm not unhappy to see them go, they used to be a good BS and a very good offshore deposit taker but somewhere along the line they lost the plot, I think it was under Jeremy Beale. I banked with them in the IOM for years without a problem then about five years ago they tried to screw me by telling me I had to give 90 days notice to withdraw funds from an account that was instant access. I needed the funds to complete a particular transaction so I had to agree to their blackmail whereby they agreed to release the funds if I agreed to a change of account type and interest rate, resulting in a substantial loss of interest. Afterwards I would take them to the IOM Ombudsman and when I produced emails from them confirming the instant access account status they didn't have a leg to stand on and the interest was refunded. The following week they closed all my accounts, without giving a reason.

KittenKong · November 10, 2016

7 hours ago, Oxx said:

Utterly unhelpful. I really don't understand why, since Nationwide International changed from being an independent bank to a branch of Nationwide Building Society, they can't simply transfer the accounts to another branch.

Presumably because the onshore branches dont accept customers who are not UK residents.

They are quite clear about this, so it should be no surprise. Whether it makes any sense or not is another matter.

KittenKong · November 10, 2016

3 hours ago, chiang mai said:

I'm not unhappy to see them go, they used to be a good BS and a very good offshore deposit taker but somewhere along the line they lost the plot, I think it was under Jeremy Beale.

I've been with them for years and have always found them to be responsive and efficient. And much less intrusive than Santander.

I will be sorry to see them go.

Eneukman · November 12, 2016

On 11/10/2016 at 11:47 AM, Oxx said:

Thanks for that.

Utterly unhelpful. I really don't understand why, since Nationwide International changed from being an independent bank to a branch of Nationwide Building Society, they can't simply transfer the accounts to another branch.

And they're doing absolutely nothing to help customers find a new, offshore home for their money - a really difficult prospect. And losing access to the account via the BACS network is going to put up account running costs significantly.

I thought building societies were supposed to be more caring for their members/customers than the banks.

Pathetic.

I guess I was naïve for expecting better.

I've had an account with the Nationwide Isle of Man for many years. For the last 11 of these, I've lived in Thailand though I shall be returning to the UK permanently next year. I also have an account with the Nationwide in the UK so am able to transfer the balance of my account to it when I eventually decide to cloe my account. Incidentally, they have now removed the notice element of my account so I can close my account at any time.

Alan

dsfbrit · December 9, 2016

To the OP I say - I suffer your pain. The number of 'large reputable' offshore banks in the Channel Islands gets ever smaller. There were 8 a few years ago, now there are just 2. I suspect they will vanish soon as well.

I live in Thailand and have my money offshore with Nationwide International. I only read about this last Monday. So I am just starting to think about my options only this week.

I am an expat, with no address in the UK.

That changes next year anyway, as for personal reasons I will be staying in the UK for at least 4 months next year.

So I will then have an address in the UK, for 4 months anyway.

I asked the Nationwide International 'advice service' dealing with this closure if I could open a bank account with them in the UK onshore as soon as I arrived back.

I am British with a British passport, so no problems with proving my legality to live in the UK. I will have an address with proof of address, as I will be giving Nationwide Int my UK address anyway. So I will have plenty of bits of paper from them with proof of my address!

Of course, I then realised if I can open an account onshore with Nationwide I can open accounts with any bank.

It would suit me to open an online 5 year savings account(s) with the new banks offering 2 percent interest.

In fact as one of the posts above stated, I have no real idea what the advantages are now to having any of my savings offshore. The interest is poor and the money is not as safe as being onshore with the 75k FSCS guarantee.

So, I am thinking of moving all my money back onshore - money I have with LloydsTsb int and Santander int as well.

This would mean opening the onshore accounts as a 'permanent resident' and then leaving the UK 4 months later and sending the new banks my address in Thailand.

I am not a 'dodgy geezer' type and this seems like it could be dodgy. Opening an account then leaving the UK 4 months later.

I do not know why I think that.

From reading about the definition of 'permanent resident' it seems the UK authorities are more interested in people claiming they are NOT PR - to avoid paying UK taxes - than claiming they are!

I had other onshore accounts with Barclays, HSBC, Coventry BS, Alliance and Leicester, Halifax and some others, when I first came to Thailand 13 years ago and I just gave them my new address in Thaiand when I left the UK.

It was no problem. In fact I still have most of these accounts and access them online now and then.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Edited December 9, 2016 by dsfbrit

partington · December 9, 2016

38 minutes ago, dsfbrit said:

To the OP I say - I suffer your pain. The number of 'large reputable' offshore banks in the Channel Islands gets ever smaller. There were 8 a few years ago, now there are just 2. I suspect they will vanish soon as well.

I live in Thailand and have my money offshore with Nationwide International. I only read about this last Monday. So I am just starting to think about my options only this week.

I am an expat, with no address in the UK.

That changes next year anyway, as for personal reasons I will be staying in the UK for at least 4 months next year.

So I will then have an address in the UK, for 4 months anyway.

I asked the Nationwide International 'advice service' dealing with this closure if I could open a bank account with them in the UK onshore as soon as I arrived back.

I am British with a British passport, so no problems with proving my legality to live in the UK. I will have an address with proof of address, as I will be giving Nationwide Int my UK address anyway. So I will have plenty of bits of paper from them with proof of my address!

Of course, I then realised if I can open an account onshore with Nationwide I can open accounts with any bank.

It would suit me to open an online 5 year savings account(s) with the new banks offering 2 percent interest.

In fact as one of the posts above stated, I have no real idea what the advantages are now to having any of my savings offshore. The interest is poor and the money is not as safe as being onshore with the 75k FSCS guarantee.

So, I am thinking of moving all my money back onshore - money I have with LloydsTsb int and Santander int as well.

This would mean opening the onshore accounts as a 'permanent resident' and then leaving the UK 4 months later and sending the new banks my address in Thailand.

I am not a 'dodgy geezer' type and this seems like it could be dodgy. Opening an account then leaving the UK 4 months later.

I do not know why I think that.

From reading about the definition of 'permanent resident' it seems the UK authorities are more interested in people claiming they are NOT PR - to avoid paying UK taxes - than claiming they are!

I had other onshore accounts with Barclays, HSBC, Coventry BS, Alliance and Leicester, Halifax and some others, when I first came to Thailand 13 years ago and I just gave them my new address in Thaiand when I left the UK.

It was no problem. In fact I still have most of these accounts and access them online now and then.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

I'm not sure I understand this.

Why do you need to open any onshore accounts fresh when you say you have most of your onshore accounts , more than five, and say you have had no problems in keeping them open and using them online?

Why don't you just do a BACS transfer from Nationwide International into one or more of your "no problem" existing accounts?

After reading about Barclays, for example closing expats' accounts arbitrarily with 60 days notice over the last year, I'm surprised you haven't had a problem with them?

EDIT: Having reread your post properly(!) I see you are trying to open 5 year fixed term accounts with banks you do not yet have an account at, at 2% interest. Fair enough.

You'll still need a utility bill in your name as proof of residence to open a new account though-so it will take a month or so to get one of those .

Edited December 9, 2016 by partington

dsfbrit · December 9, 2016

partington - thanks for your feedback. I don't think you only can provide a utility bill for proof of address. I think a bank statement will suffice as will other documents according to a couple of banks I looked at.

I do have to give a previous address if I have not lived in the address for 3 months. I would provide them with my Thailand address. I don't know if I will have to wait for 3 months until I have lived in the UK before I can open an account (do you know?). I have never heard of that rule before, but it does not mean it does not exist. Like I say I only started looking into this a few days ago so I am still pretty naive about all the rules at them moment!

I have asked Nationwide what I need to do to qualify as a 'resident' for opening a bank account with them. I will post the reply here again when it arrives.

Thanks again for your feedback.

edit: re Barclays, I just told them to close the account. I had been with them over 40 years and had a current account with them that was all and they wanted to close it so I said go ahead then.

Edited December 9, 2016 by dsfbrit

theoldgit · December 17, 2016

I received notification this morning that I must close my account by 20 March 2017, or it will be closed for me and any remaining funds held in an imprest account.

Confirmation that you may be able to open an onshore account with the Nationwide, but only if you are resident in the UK.
The covering booklet advises you to research new accounts via moneyfacts.co.uk though the information they quote in the booklet doesn't seem to be accurate, for instance it advises that NatWest and Barclays will open a Easy Access Savings Account with a deposit of £1, when in fact it seems to be £100,000 and £25,000 respectively.

orientalist · December 17, 2016

Right. I got the same notification and date yesterday.

KittenKong · December 17, 2016

I also got a letter. As I have various other long time deposits maturing over the next 12 months I opened an onshore account online with NSandI. Took about 5 minutes.

When gilt prices drop a little I will start moving my cash savings into those via a gilt ETF with my UK broker.

sprq · January 16, 2017

I'm finally getting down to finding a new home for my Nationwide Intl savings, and am really amazed at the difficulty of finding anything like an equivalent. Unless you have a total of GBP25,000 or equivalent, there is no bank that I have found so far that has savings accounts in GBP, USD and EUR for low sums. Having begun offshore banking back in 1979, I find the difference almost impossible to believe. Back then, and for the next three decades, banks were falling over themselves to take your money, and usually without any charges even for a debit card. Now they're not at all interested, so plainly the whole environment has changed so much that there just isn't enough money in it for them, even paying zero interest.

Heigh ho, back to the hunt - but I fear that, as a Brit with no UK address, I'll have no option for foreign currency savings but to bring the moneys into one of my two Thai banks, after opening suitable accounts. I've never felt comfortable about having any large portion of my cash assets located in Thailand, but - amazingly - it looks like that's the way it has to go.

Things are fine for people with big savings, of course: so-called "wealth management" banks are there waiting for them. But the small saver with under 25k of GBP, USD or EUR, well, is nigh on equivalent to a homeless person in today's offshore banking world.

orientalist · February 6, 2017

I just opened an instant access account with Santander IOM, minimum deposit £1 but pathetic interest. OK for Thailand residents but no cash card available. They required the usual proof of identity, address, and source of funds.

http://www.santander.co.im/default-instant.aspx

Also opened an account with NS&I, but the snag there is that while you can be a foreign resident you need a UK bank account and debit card to get started. They include Isle of Man banks as part of the UK banking system. All deposits are supposed to be from a UK bank account in your own name but they make an exception for UK state pensions. Interest on the Direct Saver account is currently 0.80% and you can sign up for Income Bonds at 1.00%.

https://www.nsandi.com/our-products

This is where I am putting my pensions and transferring them to Thailand the following year with Transferwise.

theoldgit · February 7, 2017

16 hours ago, orientalist said:

I just opened an instant access account with Santander IOM, minimum deposit £1 but pathetic interest. OK for Thailand residents but no cash card available. They required the usual proof of identity, address, and source of funds.

http://www.santander.co.im/default-instant.aspx

This is where I am putting my pensions and transferring them to Thailand the following year with Transferwise.

Did you ascertain if you can transfer funds from your Santander IOM account electronically, if so that may be of benefit to some members?

orientalist · February 7, 2017

Yes, you can do transfers within the UK banking system and also make international payments. Unlike Nationwide, you can set up a new payee with a OTP to your mobile instead of having to mail them a request form.

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