Without fail, the one reoccurring issue that came up time and
again, were problems people were having in opening their first
bank
account in London. The first rule of thumb with obtaining
an
account in London I cannot stress often enough - PREVENTION IS
BETTER THAN THE CURE.
That
is - where possible, before you leave home, get your bank there
to help you in
setting up an account with a bank in London BEFORE getting on
that flight.
Do
not assume that the banking system in London is the same as back
home. Systems
have been in place in the UK for hundreds of years, and whilst
the front-end may give the allusion
of being technologically up to date (ie: with ATM's dotting every
street corner) I can assure you that
opening an account in London is akin to buying a house back home.
Everything in triplicate, time
consuming and highly stressful.
Aside
from the multiple form filling, they will ask for your proof of
ID (take your passport), NI
Number
(which you won't have yet), job details (which you may or may
not have yet) and a bill addressed to
you at your London property to prove where you live (eg: gas bill,
rent receipt). Even you have
found a flat, chances are you haven't been there long enough
to have received a bill yet - so this is
a real catch 22. Getting your landlord to verify your tenancy
with a letter can help.
Take
whatever documentation you can lay your hands on to prove your
credit worthiness - in this
instance the more information you take with you the better. Getting
a reference from your
employer, and especially one from your bank from home will do
wonders.
Yet
why deal with the hassle? At least one or two banks from your
home country
specialize in helping travellers set up accounts in London, so
get them to do all the hard work!
Accounts generally take up to six weeks to set up, and you will
need to make a
relatively significant deposit into your new account - normally
around the equivalent to
£500.00.
When
opening an account in the UK, avoid weekends and after 3 pm. The
larger
banks and central branches are generally open weekdays between
9.30am
and 4.30 pm. Some will open on Saturdays but for general
transaction
purposes only.
Banking 
