Citibank or HSBC??

[Rosiegirl]

I'm wondering who to open a bank account with - Citibank or HSBC? We're thinking seriously about moving back in around 3 years and will obviously need a bank account, in the meantime we are going back for a holiday and was thinking of opening the account for spending money and some savings. Has anyone had any experience of using Citibank or HSBC? Thanks

[CiderDrinkingCoder]

Citibank only really operate Wealth Management services in the UK. Which is fine if you want to pop at least a few hundred thousand on deposit.

HSBC have done a lot of work at growing their UK branch network over the past few years; I use one of their subsidiaries, First Direct (which has no branch network: but then, no real need for it, as I can deposit in HSBC and get all my needs met over the phone / web).

 

You might like to consider Barclays / Santander / Lloyds / Halifax / NatWest / Bank of Scotland / RBS / Metro (if you're in London) / Marks & Spencer (another HSBC subsidiary). The list goes on a bit.

 

To go back and answer your question: from the point of view of them being a subsidiary, First Direct have always been good for me and I'm always happy to recommend them.

[rammygirl]

You will struggle to open a UK bank account if you are not resident in the UK. The rules have changed. I still have several UK accounts but even those banks will not let me open new accounts with them! Even when you are there on holiday unless you have utility bills etc with a U K address then you can't open an account. Also not a great idea to lie to get an account.

 

if you want a Serling account then you can look at international arms of UK banks in the Channel Islands. Just google expat banking UK. We are considering this to get a better interest rate on out UK pounds as don't need them in Aus at the mo and the exchange rate is pants!

[Marisawright]

As Rammygirl says, you can't open a UK bank account from Australia any more. In fact it's against the new UK money laundering regulations to allow it, so if any bank is still doing it, they're breaking the law!

 

We have an Australian bank account with Citibank and it's fantastic for our uses - i.e. having our money in Australia but living in the UK. We do big money transfers with Moneycorp, but if we need small amounts we can go to any ATM (in the UK or Europe) and withdraw money fee-free, and the exchange rate is almost as good as Moneycorp's. Very convenient. However they have no branches in the UK except in London, so useless otherwise.

[bristolman]

HSBC without a doubt, they have been brilliant in the time we have been here.

[Rosiegirl]

Thanks for the replys. I was thinking opening an account with Citibank here so that I can use it for our holiday but note your reply Marissa about branches only in London. Is it a problem getting money out of ATM's outside London? Maybe HSBC maybe better - but do they charge? I was thinking that if I had a bank account that I can use in the UK, it would make it easier to access funds when we eventually move back until we are able to get a bank account over there.

[bristolman]

HSBC have branches literally everywhere which is a bonus. I don't know about charges as we have a fee free account but they have ATM's everywhere.

[Kenfrapin]

Second a lot what others have said, HSBC's banking services, at the branch and online, are superior. Been a customer for so many years and still have our main account with them. There are a lot of other options too where you get accounts with rewards, decent interest and introductory offers, so you can choose those once you are back and settled in.

 

We have used Nationwide, Natwest, Co-op, Santander, Tesco and Lloyds, none of these have convinced us to move our main current banking account away from HSBC. And now that we are moving, HSBC will open an account in Australia and hand our debit cards to us while in the UK so we land with activated cards in hand, fabulous!

 

KnK

[Marisawright]

Thanks for the replys. I was thinking opening an account with Citibank here so that I can use it for our holiday but note your reply Marissa about branches only in London. Is it a problem getting money out of ATM's outside London? Maybe HSBC maybe better - but do they charge? I was thinking that if I had a bank account that I can use in the UK, it would make it easier to access funds when we eventually move back until we are able to get a bank account over there.

 

You can use your Citibank card at any ATM. If you choose ATM's that say "fee-free withdrawals" (which is most of them), then there's no charge. We've used ours all over the UK, Austria and Italy so far with no problems, no charges and good exchange rates.

[goingbacksoon]

HSBC have been brilliant for me - I used their International Service before leaving Australia and opened a UK bank account. It's probably worth checking out to see if that is still possible in view of what Marisa is saying about money laundering.

[Rosiegirl]

Thanks for the replys - very helpful:smile: