Saving accounts in England to transfer money to Spain

Depends on your bank. Most will allow you to keep the account open once you've moved but most will not allow you to open a new account. Natwest and Nationwide allow a new account to be opened but you must present yourself in person in order to do so.

Best to check with your bank to see if they'll allow you to keep it open. I still have 2 savings accounts and a current account open in UK with Natwest and they know I have changed address and send me emails etc to my Spanish phone and letters to my Spanish address. Barclays, on the other hand, closed my credit card account down when I moved. 

I've got an HSBC UK current account, and last year I opened a savings account with them. All done over the phone without any problem.

Thanks for your replies - much appreciated

I would imagine if you have access to either online banking with your existing providers or the phone app, you should be able to open most standard savings accounts (including things like fixed term etc) without having to speak to anyone.

That isn't really answering the question you've asked as doing the above relies on you already having an account with them. 

I suspect a lot of people who are resident in Spain have "accidentally forgotten" to tell their UK banks of this and I'd see no reason for you to do different - especially if you retain access to a UK address which some more over zealous institutions may want (unlike the situation which Marcliff has where they have his Spanish address and use it).

The bigger challenge is opening new accounts with new providers so it arguably becomes important to sort those accounts out - and keep them open - before moving.

Yes, I fall into the category of person in your third para. Been in Spain for eight years but still retain a current account with a high street UK bank and a UK internet savings account. I use the address of my partner's daughter in the Midlands.

I look on it as my individual strike back against all the Brexidiots who voted Britain out of the EU.

We also have savings with HSBC and Nationwide, both of whom are aware of our Spanish residence, but we did have these accounts before we moved. We also, a couple of years ago, opened an account with Skipton International, based in Guernsey, which we did from here.This was effectively done online, with a bit of a faff  to prove our identities, but not too onerous. They also are perfectly aware of where we live. All accrued interest has to be declared annually to the Spanish tax authorities, together with the from 720 declaring ones international assets, even small amounts for people such as us!

Basically our uk pensions are paid to Nationwide and every two or three months I transfer them using a currency broker whom we have used for years, together with any ‘extra required from our savings. All done online and credit to Caixazvirtually immediate and visible the next day.

I still have an account with Lloyds in the Isle of Man - I recall having a look at interest rates offered by mainstream UK high street banks from their subsidiaries in the Channel Islands and the IoM and when I did that review the Lloyds IoM account was the best.

I occasionally get letters from them telling me they've reduced the interest rates but other than that it's just the annual statement but there is no money in it now as that has been transferred into various online brokerages (where I can invest in MMFs without the additional fees that Wise or Revolut charge).

It depends on the amount as to the extent it is worthwhile and the value you place on your own time but once you're invested in a distributing MMF then it's pretty simply to keep track of in the same way it is with any other interest receipts.

Hi George, have just looked ay Lloyd’s IOM, after reading your post. On the face of it, very similar to Skipton as far as interest rates etc as they have recently shaved a bit off the rate. And we are very simple souls, not high powered accountants such as yourself! And having to decide on all this ( mainly what I inherited from my mother) by myself, Skipton seemed reasonable! And they did not want minimums of huge sums as preliminary deposit, which was a plus. I did not want to retain funds here, as the Spanish interest rates are/were derisory, and the interest in one year would cover the charges to the currency dealers for sorting it all out

Again - thanks for the time that you've all taken to reply. 

We haven't moved yet and we're going to manage our time in Spain this year to remain a UK tax resident so opening a UK account won't be an issue to us. We want to keep our savings and draw down money invested in the UK. I think we're going to go for a Santander Easy access account (2% interest compared to my current Lloyds account) and a HSBC Expats account for the long term investment.

I was looking for an intermediate account with 90-120 days notice to keep the draw down money invested whilst having some availability for access. I just feel that spreading our savings allows us to have protection from bankruptcy, etc.