# Barclays account closure



## simpleton

I've had a letter from Barclays informing me that post Brexit and as a non UK resident, my current account will be closed at the end of the year.

I had similar with Barclaycard recently but managed to keep that card by changing my correspondence address to that of a relative in the UK. However the letter re the current account says that I must be a UK resident to retain the account.

I know other banks have been doing similar recently, but how have people managed it ? Does anyone know of other providers who offer sterling accounts which can be used to receive UK private pension payments who will accept applications from French residents ?


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## conky2

That is worrying. First Direct (a division of HSBC) have been getting difficult with me this year, but so far have just removed the overdraft facility that I had , although it was rarely used. I think that you are going to find it difficult to find another provider .


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## Lancashire_Lass

Hi. Not sure if helpful, but I have accounts with both NatWest and HSBC in the UK and live full time in the USA. Not France, but neither have suggested I close my accounts.


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## Chrissippus

I suggest that you change your UK address to a commercial mail receiving agent, assuming such businesses exist in the UK. They will provide you with a street address in the UK. This will not necessarily fool a British bank that checks your new address against a list of such agents, but it might. I have been using such a service in the US for years, mostly without problems. Usually they scan every envelope they receive as part of the basic service and then, on your request, they will scan the contents of an envelope for a per page price or forward it to you at your foreign address.


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## zarathustra

I've always used a French address, and ran into problems with a difficult Santander manager once - eventually got it resolved and compensated, but that was due to his own ignorance.When they started 'ring-fencing' the big banks, I think it made it pretty much impossible to try and use a different address? That happened in 2019. With everything that's happened since, I think it would probably be a bad idea to try and use an address where you're not resident.

Shame Barclays have waited until now to inform you. You would have thought given how much time has passed since Brexit, you'd have been free to continue. I've not experienced any problems with HSBC UK or Santander, but I opened those accounts many years ago when I was a UK resident. I believe some people use a WISE (formerly transferwise) in order to receive their pension and send it on, although if you do have a WISE account for banking type purposes, it's something you must declare on your tax form.


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## simpleton

Thanks for the replies. Looking at the HSBC website it appears that they still open accounts for EU residents:

_*Who can apply?*
You can apply for an HSBC Bank Account if you:

are 18 or older and live in the UK or EU
are happy for us to do a credit check against your name (if you live in the UK)
can provide ID and proof of address if needed
are able to provide proof of your address for the last 3 years, your employment details and your income details. Here’s a list of documents that we accept.
_

I'll give them a go.


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## EuroTrash

simpleton said:


> I know other banks have been doing similar recently, but how have people managed it ? Does anyone know of other providers who offer sterling accounts which can be used to receive UK private pension payments who will accept applications from French residents ?


I believe many people have their UK pension paid direct into their French bank. Apparently DWP is able to get better than average exchange rates.
I don't think telling your bank you are UK tax resident when you're not, is a very good idea. For one thing, they will then start deducting tax at source from your savings interest. But more seriously, banks and tax authorities in different countries share data so questions are likely to be asked sooner rather than later.


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## BackinFrance

EuroTrash said:


> I believe many people have their UK pension paid direct into their French bank. Apparently DWP is able to get better than average exchange rates.
> I don't think telling your bank you are UK tax resident when you're not, is a very good idea. For one thing, they will then start deducting tax at source from your savings interest. But more seriously, banks and tax authorities in different countries share data so questions are likely to be asked sooner rather than later.


I believe some UK private pension schemes will not pay into a foreign bank account, which is the OP's concern.


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## EuroTrash

BackinFrance said:


> I believe some UK private pension schemes will not pay into a foreign bank account, which is the OP's concern.


Ah ok, yes it says "private pensions", I hadn't read it properly.
Maybe open a UK Wise Bordeless account then, or use Revolut?
Although, can a pension provider actually refuse to continue paying you your pension? I carefully read what my private pension provider says and I can't remember the detail now because I didn't see any issues, but as I recall, as long as I was a UK resident for as long as I paid into the pension (and possibly I had to be UK resident when I claimed it but I can't remember that, it wasn't an issue because I was in any case), they couldn't weasel out of paying it.


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## simpleton

Yes it's private pension payments and also rental income from a UK property. The state pension is paid directly to a French account.

One problem with the currency companies like Wise is that they aren't covered by the FSCS guarantee (I know they hold the funds in a separate account, but it's not quite the same). Revolut is an option. 

I'll give HSBC a go. Judging by their website there shouldn't be any issues, so we'll see.......


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## EuroTrash

simpleton said:


> One problem with the currency companies like Wise is that they aren't covered by the FSCS guarantee (I know they hold the funds in a separate account, but it's not quite the same).


You wouldn't leave the money in Wise in any case because I believe they've started charging you if you have more than a few thousand deposited with them. The way to do it would be to have the money paid in and then transfer it to your French bank more or less immediately.


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## rynd2it

simpleton said:


> I've had a letter from Barclays informing me that post Brexit and as a non UK resident, my current account will be closed at the end of the year.
> 
> I had similar with Barclaycard recently but managed to keep that card by changing my correspondence address to that of a relative in the UK. However the letter re the current account says that I must be a UK resident to retain the account.
> 
> I know other banks have been doing similar recently, but how have people managed it ? Does anyone know of other providers who offer sterling accounts which can be used to receive UK private pension payments who will accept applications from French residents ?


I had the same issue a year or two back. I changed the address on both accounts (Barclaycard and Current account) to my stepsons address and also retained a UK mobile phone number associated with the accounts. I contacted Barclays when I had done this and asked if my account would now be left open and received confirmation that it would. So far, no problem. 

Their system automatically flags accounts that have non-UK details (phone, post code etc), removing these stops that.


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## EuroTrash

If it works for you all well and good but I don't think I could get comfortable with that.
If Barclays is not licensed to provide financial services to EU residents, and an EU resident "cons" them into providing a service that that they are not permitted to provide, is that OK with everybody?


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## Befuddled

Banks "con" their customers all the time. It would be nice to reverse the trend for a change.


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## EuroTrash

Befuddled said:


> Banks "con" their customers all the time.


Into doing illegal things that they can be sanctioned for? Really?


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## Crabtree

Anyone who gives a false address for any reason is putting their head above parapet and we know what the inevitable result will be.It may not happen today next week or next year but it will happen


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## rynd2it

Crabtree said:


> Anyone who gives a false address for any reason is putting their head above parapet and we know what the inevitable result will be.It may not happen today next week or next year but it will happen


Barclays are aware that is is not my residential address and if they are OK with that, what's your problem?


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## EuroTrash

Living or moving outside of the UK | Barclays


If you live outside of the UK, you could face changes to your banking and investment products and services with us.




www.barclays.co.uk




"For your accounts to stay open, you and everyone you have an account with need to live in the UK, and all of the addresses we have for you also need to be in the UK."

I supposeit's arguable.what "you need to live in the UK" means.


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## Chrissippus

Crabtree said:


> Anyone who gives a false address for any reason is putting their head above parapet and we know what the inevitable result will be.It may not happen today next week or next year but it will happen


A mailing address is not a "false" address.


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## Bevdeforges

Chrissippus said:


> A mailing address is not a "false" address.


It depends on what they have asked for. Those of us who have lived in France for a while are only too familiar with having to prove our "residence" in France, which involves producing a utility bill or other document proving that we actually live at the address we give. Other countries aren't as strict in their interpretation, so you give them what they are asking for. If they will accept a mail drop address, then that's what they get. But in France that doesn't usually fly.


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## EuroTrash

Everybody seems to be very hung up on the address to the exclusion of everything else. As per the quote above - Barclays also specifies a requirement that customers live in the UK and I don't see how a mailing address addresses this.
If you live in the UK I'm sure a mailing address is fine.
If you never set foot in the UK one year to the next then that in itself would appear to rule you out, don't matter if you can give a mailing address or use a friend's address or what.
If like me you live some of the time in the UK and some of the time in another country, well who knows. 
Fortunately I'm not with Barclays.


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## ToulouseRob

simpleton said:


> ... Does anyone know of other providers who offer sterling accounts which can be used to receive UK private pension payments who will accept applications from French residents ?


Going back to the OP, I have a Nationwide account (that goes back half a lifetime) and they have said very clearly and explicitly that they will continue to offer their services to customers resident in the EU, that includes receiving credits. And so far the Co-op Bank and Santander Bank have also said they will continue, although I have less confidence in them.

But there is, I believe, a wider problem: I don't know of _any _bank or building society that will allow non-UK resident customers to open a _new _bog-standard UK account. Not even Nationwide. That is where you might get stuck.

I believe Nationwide have an "International account" that is available for non-UK residents (based in the Isle of Man? Don't remember) but it's not "free".


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## Yours truly confused

ToulouseRob said:


> Going back to the OP, I have a Nationwide account (that goes back half a lifetime) and they have said very clearly and explicitly that they will continue to offer their services to customers resident in the EU, that includes receiving credits. And so far the Co-op Bank and Santander Bank have also said they will continue, although I have less confidence in them.
> 
> But there is, I believe, a wider problem: I don't know of _any _bank or building society that will allow non-UK resident customers to open a _new _bog-standard UK account. Not even Nationwide. That is where you might get stuck.
> 
> I believe Nationwide have an "International account" that is available for non-UK residents (based in the Isle of Man? Don't remember) but it's not "free".


I ended up closing my Nationwide account as I only had a passbook and they could not convert it to a more modern account as I live outside of the U.K. It meant that money could be deposited easily enough but the only way I could get money out was to go “in branch” with my passbook.
Likewise, NatWest will not let you open any “new” accounts if you live outside the U.K. but will, at the moment, continue to service tho accounts you already have.


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## ToulouseRob

Yours truly confused said:


> I ended up closing my Nationwide account as I only had a passbook and they could not convert it to a more modern account as I live outside of the U.K. It meant that money could be deposited easily enough but the only way I could get money out was to go “in branch” with my passbook.
> Likewise, NatWest will not let you open any “new” accounts if you live outside the U.K. but will, at the moment, continue to service tho accounts you already have.


Yes, I've got a FlexAccount which was a standard current account. I am slightly apprehensive that the NW will make such accounts "obselete" and introduce some shiny, new modern version. If they do, I hope they will let me smoothly upgrade.


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## Bevdeforges

I had two HSBC accounts several years ago - a current account and a savings account - based where I lived for a year in the UK. They never had any problem with my changing my address on the account. First to the US, then to Germany and then here to France. 

Several years ago now I received a letter from the bank saying that they were closing out all savings accounts held by overseas residents, and that within the next couple of months they would simply roll the balance in my savings account into my current account unless they heard differently from me. So I just waited for them to do that, which they never did. Two years after that notification I decided that I really didn't have much need for a sterling account in the UK anymore. (It had started out as a current account with Midland Bank before they got bought up by HSBC). So at that point, I just transferred the remaining balances in both accounts over here to my French bank account and closed the accounts. I still have no idea if they changed their minds, or if the amounts I had with them were simply too small for them to bother with.


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## ParisYank

Like many expats in France, I received a "_Dear John_" letter from Intl [email protected] two years ago saying my [email protected] International account would be closed because I reside in France. Finally I found that if I engaged a US-based financial planner [[email protected] [email protected]], my [email protected] account would become US-based and remain open to me. I could keep my legal French address.

Later, I received another "_Dear John_" letter from [email protected] Brokers [UK]. In response, I transferred those funds to US [email protected] and closed the IB account.

In 2022, I tried to change my existing French bank account to a popular on-line French bank. I was refused because of the question, "In what country were you *born*?" --> Me: USA --> Sorry Charlie, refused. I found another FR bank that accepts Americans [So Gen]. Another one for daily activity N_26 works very well. They accepted my FR address and US passport.

US financial regulations have become so restrictive and federal reporting so onerous that few banks [US *or* foreign banks] wish to deal with US Expats in any way. US regulations are designed to catch the oligarchs. We little, good guys must follow the rules designed to catch the big bad guys. There is nothing illegal about accepting US Expats by anyone. It is the *bank policy* refusing Expats so the bank is not obliged to follow US Federal reporting requirements. US banking in France can be done but only with much research and persistence by the Expat.


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## simpleton

Good news ! HSBC have accepted the account application and will be sending a debit card etc in due course. Bye bye Barclays.


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## jamanja182

Welcome to the UK non resident world of being British without a UK address. I live in the USA but have UK pension receipts in pounds. Years ago Barclays did the same to me. Pulled the rug on my account and Barclaycard without telling me. First I knew was when a collections agency called me about the credit card debt, because the current account stopped making payments to Visa. Complete *******s Barclays. I move my account to Nationwide in the Isle of Man, but with Brexit that closed to. I am now with Santander in the Isle of Man.. they are brilliant. I can call the in the morning from the USA at 3am, 9am UK time, arrange a transfer of pounds in to US $, and wire it to me. Go back to bed and when I get up at 9am the funds are in my US Bank in US$, Better than any bank I have ever dealt with. Ever !!


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## ParisYank

FYI - a few years ago before Brexit, Barclays spun off their French division. Barclays-FR became Melleis Banque. Since then, Melleis service dropped like a stone. Melleis is closing branches and dropping services. I doubt Melleis, ex-Barclays has a long future in France. I went with Societe_Generale that accepts American Expats living in France.


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## Bevdeforges

It has been a long-time issue about banks in France not wanting to accept Americans as customers (or anyone with the dreaded "US indice" like having been born there or applying from there). And many online banks will not accept anyone as a new customer who doesn't have a current French or Euro-zone based account (has to do with the "know your customer" requirements already being met). 

Soc Gen has often been recommended, but they have a reputation for being one of the more expensive banks in France when it comes to fees. And I believe they are the "bricks and mortar" bank behind Boursorama Banque which is one of the online banks popular with some people. 

Just a note here, too - I think HSBC has spun off their French banking system (or is in the process of doing so) so you may see changes coming to the French HSBC banks, too.


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## Grazza

Unfortunately the reality of the situation is for most banks, with the way regulation has gone it is just not feasible to maintain customers in other jurisdictions. I've had the same situation leaving the US. While you can definitely switch to another provider, what has happened to me (3 times now) is i get a 'dear customer' letter from that next provider. So right now you may get something from HSBC, but then their compliance department will realize the risks and they will kill it off as well. I am not just hypothesizing, i have worked in the industry, specifically in risk management. 

I fully expect over the next few years pretty much every UK high street bank will close down existing accounts used by non-residents. Remains to be seen if they open up new products aimed specifically at non-residents, but you can guarantee they will be fee-heavy...

Your best option is realistically to:
a) As some have suggested maintain an address in the UK. The worst they can probably do is close your account, but each to their own the risks you want to take. 
b) explictly look for an account designed for non-residents. With the high street banks these typically have some pretty high bars for salary/investment. But I believe some of the 'non-bank's' like WISE effectively give you a SORT code and account number. So you can receive funds in, but others may have more direct experience of how functional this is. You need to be wary there is a big difference between a French (or any non-UK) bank offering you a currency account in sterling, vs a account with UK Sort Code, Account number etc. which you need to receive inbound payments like pensions. 

If you do a bit of googling on 'non-resident bank account in UK', you will find quite a few pages summarizing some options, but you just need to be wary as per above it's a bit of a moving target right now who allows what.


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## rynd2it

Grazza said:


> Unfortunately the reality of the situation is for most banks, with the way regulation has gone it is just not feasible to maintain customers in other jurisdictions. I've had the same situation leaving the US. While you can definitely switch to another provider, what has happened to me (3 times now) is i get a 'dear customer' letter from that next provider. So right now you may get something from HSBC, but then their compliance department will realize the risks and they will kill it off as well. I am not just hypothesizing, i have worked in the industry, specifically in risk management.
> 
> I fully expect over the next few years pretty much every UK high street bank will close down existing accounts used by non-residents. Remains to be seen if they open up new products aimed specifically at non-residents, but you can guarantee they will be fee-heavy...
> 
> Your best option is realistically to:
> a) As some have suggested maintain an address in the UK. The worst they can probably do is close your account, but each to their own the risks you want to take.
> b) explictly look for an account designed for non-residents. With the high street banks these typically have some pretty high bars for salary/investment. But I believe some of the 'non-bank's' like WISE effectively give you a SORT code and account number. So you can receive funds in, but others may have more direct experience of how functional this is. You need to be wary there is a big difference between a French (or any non-UK) bank offering you a currency account in sterling, vs a account with UK Sort Code, Account number etc. which you need to receive inbound payments like pensions.
> 
> If you do a bit of googling on 'non-resident bank account in UK', you will find quite a few pages summarizing some options, but you just need to be wary as per above it's a bit of a moving target right now who allows what.


One point to be aware of is that Wise will not accept cheques (checks) so if you receive those in GBP or US$ you'll have expenses to deal with.


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## cherami

I thought that Barclays offer banking in France?


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## SPGW

Thanks Grazza for the 'insider' info. It looks like we should at least prepare for the eventuality that all UK banks eventually, and maybe in the near future, cease to maintain accounts for non-residents. Strange though (to me at least), that regulations don't allow banks to keep accounts for citizens regardless of their place of residence. It sounds like an assumption that if you live "abroad" your finances must be of questionable legitimacy and the banks' catch-all risk-averse strategy is simply to reject any non-resident customer. What of the "rights" of a citizen ? Are you not permitted to hold a bank account in your country of nationality ? Surely this bothers a few people ? 
On the simple, pragmatic side, if it comes to it, why not 'rent' space at a family member's or friend's UK property so you can legitimately use that address ? Being resident for tax purposes is/should have/ nothing to do with maintaining a bank account, after all, we in France are obliged to disclose any foreign bank accounts. Can anyone enlighten us further?


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## EuroTrash

If you can wade through this, it might enlighten one further.








UK–EU future relationship: financial services


Does the financial services sector rely on the EU?




www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk





Basically as I understand it, EU freedom of movement includes the free provision of financial services throughout the single market. EU members are all signed up to the same standards etc etc. But for the UK all that came to an end with Brexit. Now, UK financial institutions have to jump through hoops if they want to continue providing services into the EU. And they are obviously deciding it's not worth their while.

Is that more or less correct?


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## conky2

EuroTrash said:


> If you can wade through this, it might enlighten one further.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UK–EU future relationship: financial services
> 
> 
> Does the financial services sector rely on the EU?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Basically as I understand it, EU freedom of movement includes the free provision of financial services throughout the single market. EU members are all signed up to the same standards etc etc. But for the UK all that came to an end with Brexit. Now, UK financial institutions have to jump through hoops if they want to continue providing services into the EU. And they are obviously deciding it's not worth their while.
> 
> Is that more or less correct?


Yes .Although I don't necessarily agree with Graze's negative spin.


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## Bevdeforges

EuroTrash said:


> Now, UK financial institutions have to jump through hoops if they want to continue providing services into the EU. And they are obviously deciding it's not worth their while.


A big part of this has to do with the national control of the banking sector within each EU country and across the EU in general. HSBC and any other bank with branches in France is operating as a French bank - NOT as a branch of the UK parent bank. And there are reporting rules related to banks that hold accounts with foreign residents (not "foreign nationals" - it's a tax thing specifically because of the "foreign resident" designation).

While admittedly the US tax laws drive quite a bit of the insanity there regarding US banks' responsibilities for their foreign resident customers, there are complications (mostly tax driven) involved in many cross-border banking arrangements. That was supposed to be one of the big "advantages" of EU membership. (Though there were plenty of glitches in practice.)


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