

In the latter case, some banks such as Barclays and Lloyds allow account opening from abroad within three months of moving to the UK. The only exceptions are for wealthy foreign investments (which we won't discuss in this article) and for opening an account before moving to the UK. High-street banks will generally only accept your application if you can provide proof of UK residence in your name. By "high-street", we mean traditional big banks with physical branches across the country (versus online banks, which don't have any branches). Other big names include RBS, Nationwide, Santander, and Metro Bank. The biggest high-street banks in the UK are HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, and Standard Chartered¹. Without further ado, let's explore each of these paths in detail below:

Multi-currency accounts: This path provides a UK bank account without proof of address and is ideal for those wanting to open a UK bank account online from abroad.It's best for those who want low-cost, digital banking services and don't mind slightly less banking coverage. Online banks: Although the application is significantly more straightforward than at high-street banks, this path still requires proof of UK residence.

It's best for those who want extensive banking services and don't mind the fees.
