UK Banking Link Options for Expats with no UK Address.

Wise will do those things you mentioned. I have got a UK Account with Wise for my private pension. 

www.wise.com

Steve 

Thanks for replying so quickly. Funnily enough, I opened a Wise account yesterday. I called NS&I to see if they would accept from or transfer to a Wise account and they said no. I may just give it a try with a a few quid.

Cheers,

J

Hi Jopper999,

Do you have Wise's multi-currency account?  Mine is set up for Sterling and Euros, so I give UK payers the UK IBAN details, where I receive credits in Sterling, and use the EU IBAN for my Spanish direct debits, where payments are made in Euros.  Coventry Building Society in the UK were happy with paying Sterling to my UK Wise account.  Unless NS&I has given you another reason why they won't pay to Wise, it would be worth you double-checking that you have given them the UK IBAN.

Kind regards,

Kim

Thanks K.

I am going to do a 'test deposit/withdrawal' to see if it works or not. I do have the multi-currency account but this is the one NS&I said they wouldn't accept ... but the person I spoke to didn't seem sure.

J

I have the same set up as Kim, a UK Account with UK IBAN and an euro account with an EU IBAN. No problem with any of my private pensions being paid in. Some private pension companies will pay directly into a Spanish bank account. 

Steve 

I don't see that it's NS&I's business who you bank with, so long as the account has a UK IBAN (since Brexit, many UK financial institutions are not licenced to deal outside of the UK).  You can download the details from your Wise account (the UK IBAN will start with "GB") - I'd just phone NS&I again and give them your Wise UK details.  If they still say they can't make payments to your Wise account, I'd ask for a specific reason for refusal.

Good luck!

Good to know.

Just NS&I to check then. Will report back.

J

Hi J

As with the other replies, I too use Wise including their currency conversion - I see no need to use anyone else (eg Currencies Direct). You can choose to have physical and/or virtual cards.

But Wise have no banking license either. However they do pay interest on your account.

I've no experience of NS&I.

Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve,

Wise doesn't have a banking licence because it's not a bank.  Wise and TINV, trading as Wise Assets, are regulated in the EU and UK as follows:

Wise Europe SA, is a Payment Institution authorised by the National Bank of Belgium, incorporated in Belgium with registered number 0713629988 and registered office at Rue du Trône 100 bte 3, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, with passporting rights across the EEA.

TINV EUROPE AS is authorised and regulated as an investment firm by the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (Finantsinspektsioon) under activity licence number 4.1-1/174.

Wise Payments Limited is authorised as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with registration number 900507.

TINV Limited is authorised to carry out investment activities by the FCA with registration number 839689.

Kind regards,

Kim