Marisawright Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 If you had American express whilst in OZ, you can go on the Amex website and use the option of migrating to another country. Amex will be happy to issue you a card in the UK. I came to UK in 2008 and my employer opened my first account with Natwest. I contacted the account manager and they issued me with a credit card straightaway with no liability to my employer. I wonder if that's still the case? I'm with Citibank and their website still says they can transfer your account overseas for you. When I enquired, they told me that due to the recent tightening up of UK bank regulations, they can't do it any more. Which could be why Bristolman found it fairly easy to do so recently and yet we're having a struggle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bqjt Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I think what they (Amex) do is create a new credit card for you based on your credit history in the country you held the card in. With Citibank, are you talking about Credit cards or bank accounts ? Bank accounts might be a completely different thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 It really isnt the only thing you can do, our first credit card was a normal mainstream card with normal interest rate. That was two years ago, wasn't it? If the change is so recent that Citibank hasn't even updated their website, then things could have changed. The website I linked to is a very successful British site that seems to know what it's talking about on most things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 That was two years ago, wasn't it? If the change is so recent that Citibank hasn't even updated their website, then things could have changed. The website I linked to is a very successful British site that seems to know what it's talking about on most things. Yes of course but there is nothing to say that getting a credit card has become more difficult though. Before we left we were being told we wouldn't be able get car insurance or a credit card and it would take a month to open a bank account. None of those things were correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 (edited) Yes of course but there is nothing to say that getting a credit card has become more difficult though. Before we left we were being told we wouldn't be able get car insurance or a credit card and it would take a month to open a bank account. None of those things were correct. I opened a basic bank account almost immediately, but that was because I had arranged for my Aussie bank to send my Visa bill to my sister's house in the UK (where we were staying). So long as you have one bill of some kind with your UK address on it, you can get a basic account with a debit card - it doesn't matter how long you've lived there. My oh wasn't so organised so he had to wait until we had a utility bill at our new address. He did try - he was knocked back by two different banks (Barclays and Santander) who both said he could not get even the most basic account, or even be an additional cardholder on mine, until he had a bill with his address on it. To make matters worse, our first bill was a council tax one, but Southampton City Council had mispelt his first name (just two letters transposed, a clear typo!) and both banks said that because of that, they couldn't accept it. Both banks explained that with the recent tightening of security, the slightest tiny discrepancy will lead to the account being closed by their security team, who vet every application. The Council has corrected the mistake and he's waiting for the amended invoice to arrive so he can go back to the bank and open the account. Neither of us can get a proper bank account (i.e. one with a credit card or overdraft) because we have no credit history. We've tried with two banks and both said the same thing. It's annoying because we'd like to open an account with Santander which would pay 3% on the balance. We can manage without an overdraft or credit card for a while, and we're willing to pay a substantial amount into the account, but they won't approve it because we can't pass the credit checks. Edited June 25, 2015 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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