Open a Bank Account
As an international student, you will normally be offered a basic bank account i.e. a current account with a cash card which enables you to withdraw cash from ATM machines, more commonly referred to as cash points. You will not normally be offered an overdraft facility or credit cards and only a few banks will offer you a cheque book or debit card.
Banks are usually open between 0900 and 1700 hours on weekdays and 0930 and 12 noon on Saturdays.
Documents required to open an account:
- Passport
- Letter of enrolment confirming your UK and home addresses (available after enrolment from the International Office)
- Your university unconditional offer letter that you received at your home residential address (the bank is looking for evidence that the university has corresponded with you at your place of residence).
- Your university/private accommodation contract for your term-time accommodation.
- A recent bank statement or credit card statement from your home bank translated in to English and containing your residential address (the statement must be less than 3 months old)
Due to increasing concerns over money laundering, the banks operate careful checks on each application before opening an account and you may find you have to wait for a couple of weeks before your account is opened. Because of this, we advise students to bring around £300 in cash and a further £300 in travellers cheques to cover you for the first month. We also strongly advise students to take out travel insurance to cover them in the case of loss of money, personal documents and travel delays. If you are bringing a bankers draft with you, it will take approximately one week to clear. Your bankers draft should be in sterling and drawn on a UK bank so that you can avoid delays in accessing your money.
Having a UK bank account is essential if you are studying in the UK for more than six months. We would recommend that you enquire as to what each bank can offer before selecting a bank.
Go to New Students: First Few Weeks