Bank account help

[Anonymous]

Evening,

Firstly, this is _not_ one of those 419 things from Nigeria! :lol:

I have to get a bank account setup over in England for college, HSBC and Barclays are on campus.

I’ve heard it can be a bit of a ‘mare getting a bank to open an account that you’ll only use for the year you’re there.

Anyone got any recommendations/warnings about either?

Should i budget myself per semester or transfer nearly all i have to sterling to be safe?

Thanks in advance (i know you’re all helpful people!)

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice!

I’ll be living on campus so maybe my tenancy agreement or something will work instead of a bill…although it won’t be hard to find me when they need
to send the hired goons! :lol:

I was told as a “foreign student” that it can take up to 7 days to get an account opened due to increased security checks. I hope they mean
someone outside of the EU and because i don’t live in England i got the standard “Foreign Student” booklets.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, if you have any problems, you can get a letter from the uni your in to confirm you’re studying there and live on campus at X address. Should keep them happy.
Waiting a week….I doubt it, EU students should be fine.
Opening student accounts are a piece of cake, opening proper accounts can be a mare if you’re not upgrading.

[Anonymous]

Just so you know, on top of the grant you get here in Ireland that they send to you in the UK (if you qualify). The english government now gives student loans to eu students (they way they work is you don’t pay interest or anything back until you start earning a minimum amount in full time work when you finish uni).

Just thought I would let you know because after living in England for 18 years and living here 2 before going back to study I wasn’t eligable as an British citizen! ( God help them if they ever try to call me under conscription). But after moving to DCU for my second year I was informed I was eligible this year for a Student loan in London.

Clearly the system works :s

[Anonymous]

All good stuff to be aware of thank you!:D

I hopefully won’t need a loan, i’ve been working full time for the last year to have enough cash.

Then i got a studentship for the University so they are going to pay my fees, which saves me about e6000…i’m a jammy git as i didn’t even apply for it, they offered it to me!

[Anonymous]

For some bizzare reason I had a hard time getting a UK bank account (I wasn’t resident for >6 months or some crap). So without the backing of the company I worked for I wouldn’t have been able to get one.

Bit crap really.

Oh and I only had a lamo debit card that wasn’t accepted online\abroad. Its ok now as I’ve been here nearly 3 years (eeeek!!!)

[Anonymous]

For some bizzare reason I had a hard time getting a UK bank account (I wasn’t resident for >6 months or some crap). So without the backing of the company I worked for I wouldn’t have been able to get one.

Bit crap really.
[/quote:26ef27b161]

Err I had the same problem getting a bank account over here….and I’ve lived here all my life….. I must look shifty.

[Anonymous]

i had no problems with the bank account, just went in with housing contract and made a lodgement of a few quid and bang opened. HSBC if that helps.

[Anonymous]

ah ok, mine was with lloyds (and in scotch land)

[Anonymous]

i had no problems with the bank account, just went in with housing contract and made a lodgement of a few quid and bang opened. HSBC if that helps.[/quote:015f79a6e6]

Thanks, a few friends who went to college in England have recommended HSBC too.

There’s a HSBC or a Barclays on Campus, there are other banks in Brighton but it’s a lot handier with an on campus bank (AIB in DCU spoiled me!).

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

I’ve spent the morning looking at the student banking offers – while working very hard in work – if only i was a British resident…the stuff they offer students opening accounts is unbelieveable!

Ofcourse most students will also be taking loans out with these various banks so it’s all swings and roundabouts.

As i won’t need a loan, HSBC seem to have the better deal for International Students.

I’ve been quite impressed with the overall setup for students in England though, particularly with a laptop scheme that Sussex is involved with. All the Southern colleges have gotten together to form a large purchasing group, so they form one large customer and the likes of Toshiba and Sony (Apple used to) have agreements for cheaper hardware.

[Author]

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