Bank Account
The process of opening a UK bank account is comparatively tedious as compared to back home mainly it's because we're non British and I suspect the same thing happen to foreigners in Singapore as well.
Do you need a UK bank account? Absolutely. It's where your salary will go into and where your rent will be deducted from. Without a bank account, you'll need to travel around with a thick wad of cash or rely on your Singapore credit card, which is hardly wise. Please make sure that you have a functioning UK account before you leave Singapore. To find out how, read on.
There's a huge number of banks here. Essentially they are divided into two main categories: High Street Banks, non High Street Banks.
High street banks refer to those big commercial names, HSBC, RBS, Natwest, Nationawide, Barclays, Abbey National etc. These banks offer easy access to your money via ATMs (known as cash machines) and have branches all over. They're like our POSB and DBS back home.
Non high street banks are essentially the Building Cooperations. They're like private banks that help you hold on to your money. These Building Cooperations offers only limited services. With no ATMs and branches far and few, your money is safe... from you. However, the upside is that these Cooperations offer a much higher interest rates as compared to High Street banks.
If you're a newcomer and need the liquidity, I would suggest an account in a High Street bank.
Which Bank?
HSBC is by far the one with the most extensive network in London. Don't be deceived by its name, it is a British bank. They even have a branch "Hui Feng Ying Hang" right smacked in the middle of Chinatown. With presence in Singapore, it's a great choice for any Singaporeans relocating to London.
Now, please do not assume that if you're already a HSBC account holder in Singapore, it'll be easy to open up an UK HSBC account when you're in London. It's pertinent that the UK account should be set up while you're in Singapore.
If you've not already, please open up a HSBC Singapore account. Through that, you can request to open up a UK account. If you're told that you can only open up a UK account when you're London, please refer to HSBC's "International Service Centre". I understand that the Tanglin branch (Claymore Plaza) deals with this. Unless you're a high worth individual and has a HSBC Premier account, the process will be rather tedious. So you should start the process a month before you leave.
Once the UK account is set up, it'll be dormant unless you inject cash into the account. That, you can do when you reach London. There's no minimum amount that you can have in your UK account and there's no fees chargeable as well. It's like Singapore back then.
There is a flat 10 pounds transfer fee if you need to transfer from your UK HSBC account to Singapore HSBC account. There's also a small fee of S$5 to transfer from Singapore HSBC account to any Singapore bank account.
Finally, UK bank account allows an overdraft for current account; you can draw more money than you have from your account (up to a limit) and a charge of 25 pounds will be imposed everytime there's a withdrawal when the account is in deficit; unlike Singapore, there's is no link between the current account and the savings account.
ATMs
ATMs here are known as "cash machines". All cash machines accept cards from all the all high street banks. It's like OCBC atms accepting UOB's cards. Cash machines generally do not charge a withdrawal fee with the exception of some which will charge between one to two pounds per withdrawal. So make sure the one that you're using does not charge you.
Unlike Singapore's 6 digit pin, UK's cards use a 4 digit pin. So it's easier to remember and of course easily replicated as well. Guard it with care.
Direct Debit
Direct debit is the UK's version of GIRO. It's rather tempting sometimes to go for it as the incentives look attractive. Well, if you can afford, my advice is not to go for it. It's not worth the trouble when you need to cancel it. BBC recently ran a report on the issue and found that banks generally feels that they owe an obligation to companies rather than their customers; meaning that the money tend to be released to the companies when disputes arises.
Credit Cards
Singaporeans accustomed to chalking up credit card points will be sorely disappointed. There's absolutely no incentive for you to use your UK credit card here. British generally do not need to be encouraged to use their credit cards, the only incentive is the lower 'roll over' interests that certain cards offer.
If you're a prudent person and pay your credit card bill in full every month, it doesn't make a difference to you. Almost all establishments here require a 4-digit pin when you're using your credit card. No signature is required. It's safer in a way as it discourages forgery.
If you insist on using your Singapore credit card (for one reason or another), you'll need to prove your identity with your passport. You'll be allowed to sign it off thereafter.
Like the bank account, a UK credit card allows you to charge beyond your limit. However, to prevent incurring interest, do pay your credit card bill asap.
One point to note is that it's more affordable to use your Singaporean credit card when you're touring Europe or States as UK banks charges a premium on overseas usage, sometimes as high as 10%.
The process of opening a UK bank account is comparatively tedious as compared to back home mainly it's because we're non British and I suspect the same thing happen to foreigners in Singapore as well.
Do you need a UK bank account? Absolutely. It's where your salary will go into and where your rent will be deducted from. Without a bank account, you'll need to travel around with a thick wad of cash or rely on your Singapore credit card, which is hardly wise. Please make sure that you have a functioning UK account before you leave Singapore. To find out how, read on.
There's a huge number of banks here. Essentially they are divided into two main categories: High Street Banks, non High Street Banks.
High street banks refer to those big commercial names, HSBC, RBS, Natwest, Nationawide, Barclays, Abbey National etc. These banks offer easy access to your money via ATMs (known as cash machines) and have branches all over. They're like our POSB and DBS back home.
Non high street banks are essentially the Building Cooperations. They're like private banks that help you hold on to your money. These Building Cooperations offers only limited services. With no ATMs and branches far and few, your money is safe... from you. However, the upside is that these Cooperations offer a much higher interest rates as compared to High Street banks.
If you're a newcomer and need the liquidity, I would suggest an account in a High Street bank.
Which Bank?
HSBC is by far the one with the most extensive network in London. Don't be deceived by its name, it is a British bank. They even have a branch "Hui Feng Ying Hang" right smacked in the middle of Chinatown. With presence in Singapore, it's a great choice for any Singaporeans relocating to London.
Now, please do not assume that if you're already a HSBC account holder in Singapore, it'll be easy to open up an UK HSBC account when you're in London. It's pertinent that the UK account should be set up while you're in Singapore.
If you've not already, please open up a HSBC Singapore account. Through that, you can request to open up a UK account. If you're told that you can only open up a UK account when you're London, please refer to HSBC's "International Service Centre". I understand that the Tanglin branch (Claymore Plaza) deals with this. Unless you're a high worth individual and has a HSBC Premier account, the process will be rather tedious. So you should start the process a month before you leave.
Once the UK account is set up, it'll be dormant unless you inject cash into the account. That, you can do when you reach London. There's no minimum amount that you can have in your UK account and there's no fees chargeable as well. It's like Singapore back then.
There is a flat 10 pounds transfer fee if you need to transfer from your UK HSBC account to Singapore HSBC account. There's also a small fee of S$5 to transfer from Singapore HSBC account to any Singapore bank account.
Finally, UK bank account allows an overdraft for current account; you can draw more money than you have from your account (up to a limit) and a charge of 25 pounds will be imposed everytime there's a withdrawal when the account is in deficit; unlike Singapore, there's is no link between the current account and the savings account.
ATMs
ATMs here are known as "cash machines". All cash machines accept cards from all the all high street banks. It's like OCBC atms accepting UOB's cards. Cash machines generally do not charge a withdrawal fee with the exception of some which will charge between one to two pounds per withdrawal. So make sure the one that you're using does not charge you.
Unlike Singapore's 6 digit pin, UK's cards use a 4 digit pin. So it's easier to remember and of course easily replicated as well. Guard it with care.
Direct Debit
Direct debit is the UK's version of GIRO. It's rather tempting sometimes to go for it as the incentives look attractive. Well, if you can afford, my advice is not to go for it. It's not worth the trouble when you need to cancel it. BBC recently ran a report on the issue and found that banks generally feels that they owe an obligation to companies rather than their customers; meaning that the money tend to be released to the companies when disputes arises.
Credit Cards
Singaporeans accustomed to chalking up credit card points will be sorely disappointed. There's absolutely no incentive for you to use your UK credit card here. British generally do not need to be encouraged to use their credit cards, the only incentive is the lower 'roll over' interests that certain cards offer.
If you're a prudent person and pay your credit card bill in full every month, it doesn't make a difference to you. Almost all establishments here require a 4-digit pin when you're using your credit card. No signature is required. It's safer in a way as it discourages forgery.
If you insist on using your Singapore credit card (for one reason or another), you'll need to prove your identity with your passport. You'll be allowed to sign it off thereafter.
Like the bank account, a UK credit card allows you to charge beyond your limit. However, to prevent incurring interest, do pay your credit card bill asap.
One point to note is that it's more affordable to use your Singaporean credit card when you're touring Europe or States as UK banks charges a premium on overseas usage, sometimes as high as 10%.
0 Response to "Setting up a bank account in London"