Hi all,

I was recently informed that the bank account I used when I lived in the UK was closed by the bank (it was a student account, and I think I should have upgraded it some time after finishing my degree, but I came back to Venezuela and forgot about it). Anyway, the bank sent me a letter by post notifying that they were closing my account and needed the details of another account to transfer my money there. I could give them the details of my bank account here in Venezuela, but currently our currency is very weak and unstable and there is a strict exchange control, so it's more convenient to have an account in a foreign currency (preferably euros or pounds).

Due to local regulations, the operations of international banks here are very limited and it's very difficult to acquire any foreign currency legally (however, it's not illegal to have a foreign bank account in a foreign currency, do online banking, etc.) So, I need to open a bank account in an international bank that can accept pounds, either keeping them as pounds or converting them to euros or dollars (preferably euros). But, being here in Venezuela, I need to be able to open it and use it through internet (of course, having the possibility of using ATMs in other countries when I travel).

BTW, I didn't have a huge amount of money in my UK account and I wouldn't get money in the new account regularly, so I'd need an account with permissive conditions. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

I don't know if they offer service where you live, but ING Direct and PCFinancial are good choices here.

Thanks for the info, dugan.

I checked ING Direct and even though they don't seem to have any office here (and they don't have a website with the domain name of my country), they seem to be a good choice. I'll check the benefits and conditions of each type of account they offer and see if it's possible to open an account with them from here.

BTW, Ally seems to be another good choice according to a couple of reviews I found. I'll check it too.

Cheers!

Could you not ask the bank for another, non-student, account to transfer the money into? I don't know how the law is regarding these things but if you can prove you are who you say you are then there is a possibility you can just have a bank account in the UK if you want it. They, presumably, have your real identity so there isn't much of a money laundering risk involved, for example?

I'm not sure, but I think I'd need to be living in the UK and I'd probably need to receive money regularly in this account (at the moment, I only receive small amounts when I do translation jobs for a company based in the UK, and that's not quite often). I'll ask them anyway, but they didn't mention it in the letter they sent me, so something tells me it's not possible (otherwise they'd probably have offered me the option of opening another account before closing the old one). I think the decision to close it was related to the fact that it doesn't have too much money and it doesn't receive money regularly, so it's not a good deal for them to keep it. Gonna call them at the beginning of this week to see what they say.

It;s worth asking as you're a legitimate customer -- you're not trying to "game the system" here but trying to do things properly. I admit I think there will be problems and misunderstandings but it's worth asking as if you don't you could be doing something illegal anyhow for all we know (doubtful, but moving money has a lot of rules).

Might help, or not.

I don't deal with conventional banking anymore. Just credit unions. My motorcycle shop account is done through my local credit union in town.

Take it easy. Are you sure this is not a scam ? Try contacting the bank by phone, a number you find on official websites.

If it wasn't a lot of money, just tell them to wire you the money. Do any countries nearby have better banks ? and back accounts in other currencies ?

I lived outside the UK from 1999-2013. Before then I had an account with Natwest. It was easy enough to transfer that account to an offshore account with Natwest. I used both their Online Banking and ibanking services.
When I returned to the UK 2 years ago I moved my accounts back to an onshore account (with another bank).
jdk

Friend, be extremely careful about "that letter that they sent you," unless and until you can confirm that the letter (even if it arrived "by post") is legitimate. There are many ways that any bank can send money to you, and it is even plausible that they would close an account that appears to have been abandoned by its owner. Nevertheless, do not assume that any letter you receive, even one claiming to come from a bank that you did in fact do business with, is not part of a "con." "Trust, but verify."

Thanks for your suggestions and recommendations (and sorry for the late reply!).

I'm almost sure the letter is legitimate since when I opened the account, they told me it would last only until a few months after finishing my masters. Anyway, I'll phone the bank using one of the numbers shown on their website, just in case.

I haven't been able to open a new bank account on an online bank yet since Ally does not allow opening accounts from outside the U.S., and the Spanish ING Direct website asks for a Spanish ID. In the meantime I'll phone my former bank in the UK and ask them if it's possible to open a new account with them (which I doubt since I'm not in the UK at the moment) and have my money transferred there. In case it's not possible, I'll ask them to transfer my money to an international account of a close family member, and after I open a new online account, I'll ask her to transfer the money there. It will give me some time to research online banks options.

Thanks for the Credit Union link, rokytnji. I'll check if they allow opening accounts from outside the U.S. and what requirements they need.

Cheers!