I can second despegue´s story. The UK is a 3rd world country when it comes to banks!
Opening an account is indeed a nightmare as it´s a chicken or the egg story as despegue described.
You don´t have an apartment yet, because you´re new in the UK and you haven´t gotten paid yet (because you don´t have a bank account, duh!) so you don´t have a ´fraudproof´ utility bill to show the banks who you are! Instead of accepting a European ID card (or as in my case a European member state passport) as proof of identity, all UK banks want to see that famous utility bill (which any teenager can easily fake!) as "proof of identity." All this because of ´the war on terror´ and fears of money laundering! Hahahaha! Laughable and totally pathetic!
Once you have your bank account sorted out, expect high fees and 3rd world service! Sending some money to Europe (the real Europe, i.e. the mainland!) takes ages, is impossible to set up over the internet (unless Citibank UK--> Citibank EU) and is very expensive! IBAN and SWIFT numbers are not recognised as banking standards, instead UK banks operate with an outdated system of ´sort codes´ which is incompatible with the rest of the world.
Caractacus, IOM or Jerey accounts generally require a minimum balance of ₤10.000,- and are not suitable for us underpaid pilots. The same ridiculous restrictions apply for opening an account in the first place, you need a utility bill!
Scottie, Citibank is not too bad, but you can only send money online from your UK Citibank to a European Citibank. Besides, you get ripped off with the exchange rates, so it´s
not free!
F4F, that doesn´t work. You need to open an account in the UK, plain and simple. For example, Citibank Belgium will not/can not open an account for you with Citibank UK. Same for HSBC France and HSBC UK etc...
To end my post on a more constructive/positive note: try to obtain a letter of employment/reference from your employer and see if a
local branch accepts this. In my case the HSBC in Luton was able (after about 4 different visits and dealings back and forth) to open an account for me. PM me for more info!
Welcome to the UK!
