Purchasing Property at UK with Monzo

CHAPS payments are made on the same working day

Do Monzo charge for CHAPS payments?

It may be different now, but I remember being able to walk into a branch and open and account without proof of address. All that was needed was ID.

Also, I’m fairly sure my brother was able to open an account with Monzo last year without proof of address. And he wouldn’t have been on the electoral roll or documented with any credit reference agency at the time either.

Even Monzo themselves say it’s same day on their blog.

transfers made through the Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS) will usually go through on the same day (but the payment needs to be made before a certain time).

Do they even support CHAPS? According to your Bank of England link, they’re not a direct participant. Searching help in app for CHAPS shows nothing of any relevance.
Edit: yes, just scrolled up through the chat and saw this

That’s a little obtuse. Would be nice to mention this somewhere in the App’s help section, and outline fees too.

I think on balance here, Arthur is right.

It’s a little bit outdated that guide as it was written when the UK was still in the EU, but that just means the ‘outside the EU’ section applies to everyone now. And it’s quite clear that many banks require a UK address or a visit to a UK branch.

HSBC and Lloyds seem to be the main exceptions; the former I’d expect as they seem to be pretty global, but I note it still requires visiting an HSBC branch to set it up, and the latter is a special International account at Lloyds. And even in the case of Lloyds, there’s a caveat of ‘may conduct enhanced due diligence’.

I presume all these requirements fall under the umbrella of KYC and AML regulations.

tl;dr, seems the only thing Arthur got wrong was not adding “In most cases” to allow for exceptions, but the norm would certainly appear to be that a UK address is required.

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You’ll find that most banks have specialised teams or accounts designed for people living outside of the the UK - especially for wealthier customers.

Having a UK address is not a pre-requisite for a UK account. There’s exceptions to most banks requiring it because it’s not a requirement.

You’d expect extra checks in terms of proof of address history and bank statements etc. proving your address in whichever country you’re applying from. I think this is in line with AML. You most likely wouldn’t be able to open an account online. Banks need to verify who the customer is after all.

Also, a visit to a UK branch isn’t necessary. I’m sure HSBC list it as in rare cases it may be necessary, in the vast majority of cases they’d be posting account information and cards etc. to the application address.

Anyway - the short version is that a UK address absolutely not required for a UK bank account. You just need to use a bank who themselves don’t require it.

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What do you mean “as usual”?

Have you seen my posting history? I’m no Monzo fanboi.

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I would recommend speaking to Monzo before you risk losing the money :moneybag: :thinking:

I suspect not from that comment! :joy:

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@tonylam8889

Some pretty good, experienced advice here. Hope you make the right decision…:slightly_smiling_face:

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