What UK Bank = Irish Bank?

Chaz

Apologies for the cryptic topic - basically what I need to know, are any of the UK banks the same as the Irish ones?

I have a BOI account and a Permanent TSB account. I am no longer resident in Ireland and need to open an account in the UK.

Are any of the banks in the UK linked to either of those where I may be able to 'migrate' or similar my account?

Is Permanent TSB and Lloyds TSB teh same bank or is the 'TSB' misleading?

Thanks.

GerardKeating

Chaz wrote: »

Apologies for the cryptic topic - basically what I need to know, are any of the UK banks the same as the Irish ones?

I have a BOI account and a Permanent TSB account. I am no longer resident in Ireland and need to open an account in the UK.

Are any of the banks in the UK linked to either of those where I may be able to 'migrate' or similar my account?

Well Ulster Bank/First Active is part of Royal Bank of Scotland,

Halifax is part of well Halifax

BoI do have a UK arm, or used to

Chaz wrote: »

Is Permanent TSB and Lloyds TSB teh same bank or is the 'TSB' misleading?

Thanks.

It is misleading, Ireland and the UK both have seperate Trustee Savings Banks, and bot shorted the names to TSB over time.

Chaz

Thanks. Almost seems easier to just open a new account here and let the one in Ireland remain as is.

daithijjj

Chaz wrote: »

Thanks. Almost seems easier to just open a new account here and let the one in Ireland remain as is.

You have answered your own problem here. I moved to england for university and stayed 13 years, just moved back. Keep your accounts here and just go and open a new one in the uk. Boi and aib have branches in the uk but they are a 'donkey ride' and a half to get to no matter where you live.

I banked with lloyds tsb but i wanted to switch to nationwide.....too lazy:). If i was in the same position now id get an account with nationwide(uk)........they are the best all round bank in the uk imo.

ps. i bank with halifax here now and they are completely separate from halifax uk or so i was told by the cashier.

Chaz

Thanks for the info.

What do I need to open an account? Do I need proof of address? I suppose that will be needed - what about the local 'PPS number'?

harney

If I remember correctly, and it was a nightmare, you need a utility bill dated within the previous three months and something else I cant remember right now - sorry.

If you have a credit card change the address to the UK and you should be able to use it as proof after the next statement arrives. Some banks allow you to be sponsored if you know someone that has been banking for two years with the bank.

Don't forget to set your Irish bank account as non-resident to avoid being charged fees while you are living outside the country.

daithijjj

harney wrote: »

If I remember correctly, and it was a nightmare, you need a utility bill dated within the previous three months and something else I cant remember right now - sorry.

If you have a credit card change the address to the UK and you should be able to use it as proof after the next statement arrives. Some banks allow you to be sponsored if you know someone that has been banking for two years with the bank.

Don't forget to set your Irish bank account as non-resident to avoid being charged fees while you are living outside the country.

YES, it still is a bit of a nightmare. It was a bit different for me i suspect, bank officials were lining up in the foyer of the university to get our business so setting up a first acc was easy.

Its actually a good idea for you to find someone who might 'sponsor' your new account, a family member or close friend etc. Passport and utility bill are basic requirements also. Apply for a national insurance card asap also, it will only help any application.

ps.....irish banks are a bloody nightmare to open a new account also if you are new to the country.........boi, aib, ulster all refused me despite me having a large sum to deposit and an irish passport, halifax opened an account for me in 10 minutes.

Chaz

daithijjj wrote: »

YES, it still is a bit of a nightmare. It was a bit different for me i suspect, bank officials were lining up in the foyer of the university to get our business so setting up a first acc was easy.

Its actually a good idea for you to find someone who might 'sponsor' your new account, a family member or close friend etc. Passport and utility bill are basic requirements also. Apply for a national insurance card asap also, it will only help any application.

ps.....irish banks are a bloody nightmare to open a new account also if you are new to the country.........boi, aib, ulster all refused me despite me having a large sum to deposit and an irish passport, halifax opened an account for me in 10 minutes.

Ye, i recall the pain just over 6 years ago.

amcalester

I opened up an acount in Lloyds TSB in January of this year, all I needed was my Passport and NI number. It took all of 20 minutes in the branch.

So I'd try that then when you start getting your statements you'll be able to open an account anywhere that requires more info.

As far as I know you cant just switch from an Irish account to a UK account (definately the case with Halifax) as they operate as separate companies in the 2 countries.

Im Irish by the way and had just moved to London, had no proof of address at all.

leitrim lad

bank of ireland have several branches in the uk , but i found it very hard to open a bank account in the uk and some places just turned you away with out even an application form, halifax, lloyds, hsbc and natwest used to be impossible to get an account open in for some reason

daithijjj

leitrim lad wrote: »

bank of ireland have several branches in the uk , but i found it very hard to open a bank account in the uk and some places just turned you away with out even an application form, halifax, lloyds, hsbc and natwest used to be impossible to get an account open in for some reason

boi have branches allright, but you may need a compass and grid references to find them:P..........and when you do, they either have no cashpoint, do business transactions only etc etc. Not worth the hassle.

I said it above but i think nationwide (uk) are the most customer orientated bank in the uk.

BuffyBot

I've split the discussion regarding National Insurance into a new thread in Living Abroad as it doesn't belong here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055521036

Blackjack

daithijjj wrote: »

boi have branches allright, but you may need a compass and grid references to find them:P..........and when you do, they either have no cashpoint, do business transactions only etc etc. Not worth the hassle.

I said it above but i think nationwide (uk) are the most customer orientated bank in the uk.

In all fairness, theres very little you need to visit a branch for. I lived in the UK for nearly 5 years, had an account with BOI in Luton (which they've since moved to Birmingham). Never had a problem using it, was able to do all I needed online or over the phone.

I've never once been to either Luton or Birmingham for that matter, never been to a BOI branch in the UK at all.

daithijjj

Blackjack wrote: »

In all fairness, theres very little you need to visit a branch for. I lived in the UK for nearly 5 years, had an account with BOI in Luton (which they've since moved to Birmingham). Never had a problem using it, was able to do all I needed online or over the phone.

I've never once been to either Luton or Birmingham for that matter, never been to a BOI branch in the UK at all.

Well to be fair, there are plenty of things you cant do without visiting a branch either. Was just searching an archive from boards and found a post which might help the OP.......

grumpytrousers
04-08-2004, 17:05
I moved to England in 1999 and had an awful time trying to open an account - no more than yourself, I was renting and while it would take time to get my name on any household bill, the banks weren't very understanding in the short term.

Your best bet is to get some kind of letter of introduction from your own branch, works best if you're from a small town where you're actually known, such that they effectively vouch for you. Perhaps get them to sign a photocopied page from your passport or something.Go to a branch of same bank in NI, and you're half way there - i.e. if Mary in Castlepollard branch says that you're Joe Bloggs and has signed your ID, then the folks in, say, Coleraine will be a bit easier on you.

What I ended up doing was give the two fingers to barclays et al, and instead one of the girls in my home branch rang the UK branch of Bank of Ireland, introduced me, and they were happy with a Passport...



As you can see from this post, the poster allready had a boi account but without a 'friendly call' from the irish branch it would have been different. Obviously, online banking is fairly new (dont think the option was available in the late 90's) and has made it easier for customers to access accounts.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-178192.html


There may also be an issue with using boi cards abroad........was reading another thread where the boi cards wouldnt work at any atm's (obviously cash cards). Depending on the type of account 'CHAZ' has, he/she may not have a visa/maetro/mastercard attached to that account and depending on circumstance (now non-resident) this could be a problem.

Blackjack

daithijjj wrote: »

Well to be fair, there are plenty of things you cant do without visiting a branch either. Was just searching an archive from boards and found a post which might help the OP.......

grumpytrousers
04-08-2004, 17:05
I moved to England in 1999 and had an awful time trying to open an account - no more than yourself, I was renting and while it would take time to get my name on any household bill, the banks weren't very understanding in the short term.

Your best bet is to get some kind of letter of introduction from your own branch, works best if you're from a small town where you're actually known, such that they effectively vouch for you. Perhaps get them to sign a photocopied page from your passport or something.Go to a branch of same bank in NI, and you're half way there - i.e. if Mary in Castlepollard branch says that you're Joe Bloggs and has signed your ID, then the folks in, say, Coleraine will be a bit easier on you.

What I ended up doing was give the two fingers to barclays et al, and instead one of the girls in my home branch rang the UK branch of Bank of Ireland, introduced me, and they were happy with a Passport...



As you can see from this post, the poster allready had a boi account but without a 'friendly call' from the irish branch it would have been different. Obviously, online banking is fairly new (dont think the option was available in the late 90's) and has made it easier for customers to access accounts.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-178192.html


There may also be an issue with using boi cards abroad........was reading another thread where the boi cards wouldnt work at any atm's (obviously cash cards). Depending on the type of account 'CHAZ' has, he/she may not have a visa/maetro/mastercard attached to that account and depending on circumstance (now non-resident) this could be a problem.

Fair enough. I'll give you the benefit of my experience, I already had a BOI account over here, so that probably made it a bit easier. 2003, so a bit later than 1999, when the above post was referring to.
Yes, I had the account with BOI here - rang my branch here and said I was moving, was told if a reference was needed, sent off my request with a cover letter explaining and relevant bills (as outlined on BOI's UK website) to open an account and that was that - no idea if the reference was sourced or not. 2 days after sending the details, got a call and was told the account was opened and the details would be in the post - which they were and received shortly after.

After living in the UK for a while after I already had my account with BOI, and decided to see what else was available as regards opening accounts. After the same response in 2 local branches of reputable banks, it almost became a curiosity to see how many banks came with the same response - remarkably, it was the same with all I tried.
For example - first bank I went to was Clydesdale Bank. I wandered in one day, having lived in the UK for over 9 months, saying I'd like to open an account. The response was something along the lines of "we have time available on Tuesday of next week at 11.20am to interview you".

6 different banks gave me pretty much the exact same response.
I never bothered opening another account in the UK - simply, it was far too painful, and way too much hassle.

As mentioned, I've never been to either Luton or Birmingham, but still managed to have a fully operational account with BOI.

And, I never had an issue with any of my BOI cards, be they the UK ones using here, or the Irish cards being used in the UK.

I'm just telling people what's work for me and what might be handy for them.




I don't work for nor have I ever worked for BOI by the way.

daithijjj

Blackjack wrote: »

Fair enough. I'll give you the benefit of my experience, I already had a BOI account over here, so that probably made it a bit easier. 2003, so a bit later than 1999, when the above post was referring to.
Yes, I had the account with BOI here - rang my branch here and said I was moving, was told if a reference was needed, sent off my request with a cover letter explaining and relevant bills (as outlined on BOI's UK website) to open an account and that was that - no idea if the reference was sourced or not. 2 days after sending the details, got a call and was told the account was opened and the details would be in the post - which they were and received shortly after.

After living in the UK for a while after I already had my account with BOI, and decided to see what else was available as regards opening accounts. After the same response in 2 local branches of reputable banks, it almost became a curiosity to see how many banks came with the same response - remarkably, it was the same with all I tried.
For example - first bank I went to was Clydesdale Bank. I wandered in one day, having lived in the UK for over 9 months, saying I'd like to open an account. The response was something along the lines of "we have time available on Tuesday of next week at 11.20am to interview you".

6 different banks gave me pretty much the exact same response.
I never bothered opening another account in the UK - simply, it was far too painful, and way too much hassle.

As mentioned, I've never been to either Luton or Birmingham, but still managed to have a fully operational account with BOI.

And, I never had an issue with any of my BOI cards, be they the UK ones using here, or the Irish cards being used in the UK.

I'm just telling people what's work for me and what might be handy for them.




I don't work for nor have I ever worked for BOI by the way.

I didnt mean to suggest anything like that blackjack, apologies if it came across that way. I was just sharing my experience also. No doubt things have changed over the years. When i moved over there, mid to late 90's, they told me that there was a transaction charge every time i used my card in the uk and if i wanted money wired across i had to pick it up at a location in london, cant remember now, not much good to me at uni in birmingham and wasnt really a good option long term. Perhaps they have adapted more these days and the OP can sort out something like yourself. It would have saved me alot of hassle if they did this a few years earlier.

Chaz

Problem is - I cant see a UK employer paying salary into an Irish account. Perhaps they might - but would not think so.

For the record Llyods bought the UK TSB and became Llyods TSB in the UK.
They now actionally own Halifax who are owned by bank of scotland Ireland.
The UK government own 70% of Lyods bosi and halifax.


To Repeat halifax here is not completely separate to halifax in the UK-they are the same company actually now owned by llyods who bought halifax's parent bank of scotland who owned bank of scotland Ireland.
The whole entity is now 70% owned by the British government.

Ulster bank is owned by Nat West in the UK.

muffinhead

daithijjj wrote: »

I said it above but i think nationwide (uk) are the most customer orientated bank in the uk.

Also, with Nationwide you can withdraw your cash or pay for things commission-free when back in Ireland with the cash card or Visa Debit card, whichever you're offered.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/foreigntransactions.htm#i

daithijjj

muffinhead wrote: »

Also, with Nationwide you can withdraw your cash or pay for things commission-free when back in Ireland with the cash card or Visa Debit card, whichever you're offered.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/foreigntransactions.htm#i

Yea, i remember seeing different things advertised by them over the last few years and thinking to myself i should really get an account with them, in comparison to other banks they really stand out as a 'friend' of the customer.........this new change to apply from may 09 is just another one to add to the list......no charges for drawing euros from a sterling account is good, mind you, if you go into any post office in the uk you can draw out commission free euros also but the new introduction from nationwide saves you carrying alot of cash on your person............ive rarely heard a bad word said about nationwide uk.

stepbar

A lot of people seem to forget (whilst not having a "live" branch network anymore) anybody with a BOI UK a/c can do any transactions in the local post office. There are over a thousand Post Office ATM's which are all linked into the BOI ATM network. My suggestion would be to open an a/c in the North and work from there.