Returning to the UK

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Hello Monzo Community,

Today, I have moved back to the UK from living in the United States for most of my life. I was born in the UK and lived here for 2 years before moving to the US where I lived for all my life. I am a British Citizen and a US Citizen.

Recently, I have been given the opportunity for a Degree Apprenticeship in the UK and I have managed over the last couple of weeks to sort out Accommodation, Transport & other things but not managed to sort out banking at all. It sorta flew by and I didn’t think about it much.

At the moment, I am using my cards from the US which probably isn’t the best. My US Checking Accounts I have bought over with me are Chase, SoFi and Capital One. I didn’t bring any of my US Credit Cards with me as the fees would be insane to use in British Pounds. But I have got a American Express Gold Card which is my parents and I am a extra user. If anyone is interested in seeing some US card designs i would love to show them.

I do not plan to move back to the US for a considerable amount of time and remain in the UK. So I would like to setup finances over here in the UK. I am looking at have a good Checking Account and also a Credit Card to build up my credit in the UK and some High Yield Savings Account would be great.

Thank you for any help.

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Some good digital-only options include Monzo (obviously), Starling Bank, first direct, Chase UK, and Revolut. High Street bank options include NatWest, Lloyds, Halifax, HSBC, and Nationwide. There are a few others, but these are the most widely available.

Almost all of these accounts will require proof of address though, so if you have this readily available, this will make opening an account significantly easier.

You’ll probably need to build up some credit history before you will get a credit card (with a decent limit). Capital One offers a card with a minimum of £200 credit limit. Monzo also has Flex, although all of these will depend on your income and credit report.

Having a look at some building societies would be the best bet for these. Some banks have Regular Savings accounts at around the 6.5% - 7.0% mark. As for easy/instant access savings, I’ll let someone else tell you about these. You really just have to look around and find the highest % rate at a withdrawal period that suits you (these vary from instant access all the way to 90 day notice, as well as fixed savings)

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Revolut or Wise if you’re new to the UK and have funds in the USA you’d like to move over and save on exchange rates.

They both come with ACH details to send USD to, and then convert to GBP on better rates then sending from US bank to UK bank.

Revolut does come with paid plans for different allowances. Wise has a free account but a % per transaction which might outweigh the revolut figures.

If you’re looking for a high street bank you might be better going in branch and asking about their products, each comes with their own perks.

Your digital counterparts such as Monzo, Starling and Chase UK may accept you easier than some of the high street types.

Chase here allows free ATM withdrawals from Chase ATMs in the USA if you plan to visit, the UK account just doesn’t support international payments inbound.

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Does anyone know about bringing my US Credit Score over to the UK?

I have heard of International Credit Score being available to use with some banks.

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Credit Scores aren’t really a thing in the UK, it’s just a number that different financial institutes generate based on your credit report.

Best thing to do is register on the electoral role wherever you’re living in the UK, ensure you pay any and all bills on time, and look at getting a credit card if you can.

Some new credit may not be possible on Day 1, as you have no credit history or credit report in the UK.

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I have registered for the electoral register today.

I am currently sat on my cold floor waiting for all my stuff to arrive in 2 weeks time. So got some time to visit some bank branches and look at some accounts.

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HSBC can take account of your overseas credit history. If you were a main AMEX cardholder in the US, you can use that to open an AMEX account in the UK.

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That will take a month or two to work through onto your credit file.

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Sadly, I have never took out a AMEX myself in the United States. I am a holder of my parents card.

My credit cards in the US where a Discover IT Card, Chase Freedom Rise and SoFi World Elite.

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SoFi don’t operate over here. Capital One do and may take account of your US account. Likewise Chase.

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Thanks brilliant info thanks!

It’s a shame that SoFi don’t operate over here, they have been my favourite Bank in the US by far.

It’s good to hear also that maybe Chase and Capital One might take my US accounts into consideration.

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Get your parents to do a referral for AMEX in the US and then use their global transfer service. Should work as you’ve not been here long, but if opening the US card works, I’d leave it a month or two before moving it over.

Although Discover don’t operate over here, they’re owned by Capital One, so maybe useful with Capital One here.

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I hope so. I have quite a good relationship with Discover. They where my first Credit Card and never missed a payment and used it daily at one point.

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HSBC will take your US credit record into consideration.

Have a look at https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/credit-cards/

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Chase won’t as I’m pretty sure they are massively separated

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I moved here from the US about 7.5 years ago and went through similar pain to what you are about to… I can tell you one thing - your US credit score means nothing here sadly. We had perfect US credit, owned a house and everything, and when we got here DFS wouldn’t even let us finance a cheap sofa! :laughing:

It’ll take time to build up your UK credit, but basically get yourself on the electoral roll (didn’t apply to me as I can’t vote here), get a mobile phone plan, then when eligible get a credit card. Once you’ve used that consistently for a bit, take out a small loan with a high street bank - the interest rate will be high, but the key is having the loan and paying it on time. Similarly, this runs counter-intuitive to everything you’ve been told about managing money, but choose the monthly option on stuff like car insurance, tv tax, road tax, etc. Yes you will absolutely be paying more in the long run, but see it as an expense you are paying in order to build credit quickly. We got phones right away when we moved here, financed road tax and tv tax, got a UK credit card about a year after (Natwest Rewards), then took out a loan with Natwest shortly afterward just to show payment history. We’ve now got solid credit and no issues financing what we need, but it did take time.

Some things I’ve learned: Capital One here isn’t like it is in the States. In the US it is a regular bank, well-respected and used by many (it is actually our primary US bank). In the UK Capital One is seen as more of a “credit builder” bank, often used by people with bad credit to rebuild. HSBC will be easier to open a UK account if you already have an HSBC US account, but don’t seem to be any more helpful if you don’t. Use Wise to move money over, never send wires from your US bank as the fees are high and the exchange rate they use is universally terrible. We’ve probably saved multiple thousands of pounds over the past 7 years by moving money over with Wise (my salary is paid in USD to a US bank so I have to send big chunks of money over every month…) Chase is relatively new to the UK, and seems to be operating more like a fintech over here rather than the very established brick-and-mortar legacy bank they are in the States.

All that said, we started our UK life with Wells Fargo in the states and Natwest here, but now we’ve moved our US accounts entirely to Capital One (better HYSA, credit card with no foreign currency conversion fees, easier to manage from here). Natwest is still our “primary” bank here (it is where I send my money each month at least), but we are slowly moving our daily banking over to Monzo. Monzo will do extra checks if you are a US citizen - it took me a couple weeks to actually open my Monzo account because of them - but once you’re in there doesn’t seem to be any extra hassle.

I’m sure there’s more but that’s all I can think of at the moment…

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These don’t help you build up a credit report just so that you’re aware. :slight_smile:

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This is a great guide thanks mate.

I currently am using my US Accounts as my temporary spending accounts. SoFi and Chase. But I plan to visit Nationwide today and see about opening and account. HSBC as well due to me having an account with them in the US maybe it will be easier.

I will look today at getting a phone plan with a provider today as well. Right now im using T-Mobile and its very expensive on International Roaming. So want to get that gone as soon as possible.

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SMARTY offer cheap plans that don’t require a credit check (you can just pay with your debit/credit card). There’s also some others such as VOXI, giffgaff, Lyca, and Asda Mobile.

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Just had a look and VOXI sounds quite good.

I like the idea of unlimited social media, video and music. I stream quite a lot so might come in handy. Thank you!

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