Going to London... finally

[applejammy]

I posted a couple weeks ago asking about the job and rent situation in London and all that. Welp, I am about to make the move!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've got my Visa (a 2-year work permit) about 4000CAD saved up and this is equivalent to 2261GBP, roundtrip tickets, and travel insurance, so I'm pretty much set.

Comments

[boudiceaborn]

I moved to the UK as a British citizen with no UK financial history, and getting a bank account is a complete bitch here.

I eventually got a Lloyds Current account which got me a savings and checking account with a £250 overdraft. I couldn't get a credit card, even with citizenship. Most of my student friends from the US only got a bank account on the strength of their student visas. After a certain amount of time in the country (3-6-9 months) the bank said it could reassess my credit rating and might be able to increase my overdraft or open up other account options, but I haven't tested that yet.

My husband, who had a spousal visa that allowed him to work, could not get his own bank account or even jointly access mine until he had proof that he had a job. This meant that he had to use my bank account details to begin at his job, as jobs generally require bank accounts. It was a nasty catch-22.

It might just have been incompetent cashiers at my particular location, but you should go in knowing that it might be extremely hard to get your money into a UK account for the first weeks or months. I would recommend something like traveller's checks to tide you over. Most UK banks now have chip and pin style ATMs that don't accept US debit card styles, but I don't know what they are like in Canada. I was able to get cash out from my Bank of America account at Barclay's locations, because they are associated banks. That sounds similar to the BUNAC/SWAP UK thing - all those banks you mentioned are pretty reliable, in as much as any bank is now. Last year I heard that NatWest also had really lenient rules about student bank accounts (an American student got a credit card through them) but they've since changed the rules. The free YPRC is a great freebie though, you'll definitely use it if you travel outside London.

[boudiceaborn]

Shops are usually ok, although they have changed over to the chip and pin method. My US debit also had a pin, but the difference is that the card itself has a metal chip of information (in the middle of the card) that needs to be slid into a card reader, rather than the US model of having a magnetic strip with the information. Some shops have card readers that do both, but some people just stare blankly when confronted by a US card.

I had my card rejected from several holes in the wall, but also found a couple that worked with my card type.

[basilm]

I never have a problem using my US ATM card. In fact this was the ONLY way I ever transferred money from the US to the UK. I took out £200 per day and deposited the cash into my UK bank account. I recommend this if you have a US bank account that offers no transaction fee and a very low conversion fee (mine is $0 plus 1% for a local credit union, or $0 plus 0% for acapital one money market account.)