Bank account South to North?

skye

Hi all,

I have a current account with BOI in the South but I am moving to the North in a few weeks. Will I be able to transfer the account to a northern one? And if so will the money in there automatically convert to sterling? Will I also have to change my pass card? I will be staying with family and therefore will have no household bills as proof of address, and I've no photographic ID for the north either. Any advice appreciated.

sheepshagger

Nope - different money laudering rules etc. . your opening an account in a different country so will need to 'start from scratch'.

In saying that BOI down here should be able to give you a referral letter(a short letter saying you have run your account satisfactorily). .. you'll still need to fulfil their ID requirements though.

Your account will need to be closed in ROI, they can give you a cheque for the closing balance (or ust cash), you then use that as the opening deposit in the North (they will convert to GBP at their current 'buy' rate).

GAAman

Pretty much what ss said, i went with ulster bank as i found them to be the best for student accounts (overdrafts ya gotta love/hate them )

You might be able to use a letter from your relative (ie owner of the house you will be staying in in their bank (ie if they are in ulster bank you go to their branch with them etc etc)

as for id when you say for the north do you mean north issued? If so passport,drivin license or even the garda card can be used up here

skye

Great. Thanks for clearing that up for me. For no photo ID I mean nothing with an address in the north. I've been down here so long everything has this address on it. But if I can use my passport or something that will be grand.
Do all banks offer the same exchange? I mean, I know the rate fluctuates but is any one bank consistently good on what they offer? Gonna have bout 25000 euro to change. What are my best options?

GAAman

Again i am gonna sound like a schill but (here in derry) its ub again

Of course i dont get charged commission cos im a student so that might be why ub are better then boi etc

gucci

Im moving to the UK (going to work in England!) will i need to close my irish account? Im currently with AIB and obviously will need a UK account for my wages to be paid into, however id like to leave my irish AIB account running as i will be over and back quite frequently and also have a bank loan of c. 2000 euro left to pay off that draws from this account monthly

absolutegroove

Hey Gucci,

When I first moved to the UK I had to open a bank account. Depending on who you choose to bank with then the procedures vary.

They'll require your passport, rent/lease agreement (UK) and proof of address (UK bill etc).

I found that when you first open an account over there, you will be limited to what you can do/have with your account i.e. overdraft, debit card etc. It may take up three to six months before you have all the facilities of a normal account (once they see your wages been paid in and activity on your account you'll be ok).

You don't need to close your Irish Bank Account (I still have mine), it's handier to have it open as then you can transfer your money between Ireland and the UK without getting caught for commission charges (as long as your not money laundering).

I still bank with HSBC and Nationwide and if I was to recommend one, then it would be the Nationwide Flex Account as you dont pay any charges when you use there debit card anywhere in the world sweet.

The most hassle you'll have in the UK is getting an NI Number :rolleyes: be prepared for the interview is all I can say. Get your NI number as soon as you go over as it will save a lot of hassle.

Hope this helps.

gucci

Thanks very much for the advice.

Yeah im hoping the NI number thing will go through pretty quickly. I have a full time job sorted already (im transfering to the UK with my job basically)

Obviously it will be tricky enough have a bill for proof of address when im only moving over so its gonna be bit of a pain.

By the way you said prepare for the interview...how do you mean? is it intense/intimidating? Is there anything you can think of I should bring over with me from Ireland? Passport obviously, Bank statement perhaps? Not sure if i will have copy of my UK work contract (as i dont know if they can give me that when i dont have a NI number!)


*edit* do i need a NI number prior to opening a bank account?
Should i bother trying to get a referal letter from my irish bank (im worried by doing this they'll throw a hissy fit about my loan etc, even though iv never missed a bloody payment on my loan or credit card in 3 or 4 years!)

absolutegroove

As you are transferring through the same job from Ireland to the UK then that's a help as you can get a letter from your company stating this and bring it to the bank also bring it to your NI interview.

When you start your job you'll probably be issued with a Temp NI number but you'll still have to go for the interview to get set-up proper on the UK tax system.

Maybe the interview process has changed from when I was there but I found it very intrusive and they asked a hell of a lot of personal questions etc, but I suppose there'll only doing there job and finding out about the person you are.

Not sure about bringing up your details of your loan in Ireland - wouldnt be a good thing as some of the banks seem pretty tight about who they have as customers (they wouldnt like to see a person coming in with a loan already even though it's been paid up and in a different country).

Now let me add that things may have changed since I first started over there and please anybody do feel free to correct me.

One other thing I spent about four and a half years working in the UK and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Hope this helps.

gucci

Haha, thanks for the re-assurances!
Hopefully il enjoy it too, going over with a work transfer, but plan on moving to another city/job in year or so when i have a bit more experience and reasonably settles.

Thanks for the help, if anyone else has anything they could add i would appreciate it