Opening Bank account in UK
By kahheng
@kahheng (281)
December 14, 2006 8:01am CST
I wonder why is it so difficult to open up a bank account in UK. All of them seems to require a billing address. The problem I am facing is I have no bills (yet). I do have a letter from National Insurance (I applied for a NI card) sent to me to my residential address, but the banks would not accept it :(
Anyone from UK can advice me accordingly?
2 responses
@snowflake5 (1579)
• United States
14 Dec 06
It's to prevent money-laundering. The best way to check proof of identity is utility bills, because no-one pays these unless they are really living at that address.
There isn't any way to get round this - you need to wait for your first electricity/gas/telephone bill before you have proof of identity.
1 person likes this
@snowflake5 (1579)
• United States
14 Dec 06
The NI number identifies the person, not the address. You could have arranged to have the letter with your NI number sent to a friends' address or parents' address, and the NI issuers would have done so.
Therefore the NI letter is not proof that you live at the address, it's just proof that your name and date of birth match your NI number.
1 person likes this
@chingyieng (248)
•
1 Jan 07
Yea... even as an international student I had a lot of difficulty opening an account. Need all sorts of documentation. Not only that, I am charged 5pds a month for international student accounts. I was a little disappointed so I wanted to close my account with HSBC which i have just applied and I did not bank in any money yet. They asked me to wait initially for the letter to arrive and then they want me to write in??? why make it so difficult to just close and account when I have not even put in any money? whatever it is, they are really wasting my time. I scouted for another bank that does not charged me 5 pds. I don't understand why banks in the UK take advantage of students like us...
1 person likes this
