I wouldn’t delay… best to get it sorted before 31st December in my view - who knows what lurks thereafter…
Remember that traditional Banks are the worst for exchange rates…
Just what I thought.
Dont believe everything you read.
Started application in early October and still ongoing !
5 weeks in to their complaints procedure now and no end in sight.
Hi John,
What’s the problem? Are they taking non-U.K. applications? I thought I’d found a solution!
They dont know , or won’t tell what the problem is so your guess is as good as mine.
Not possible to talk to the department either.
Told to wait and they will advise by email.
They do, every 2 weeks saying
SORRY, we know this is not what you want to hear but we have not yet resolved your complaint.
Useless.
We originally used HSBC France when we were still living in the UK as it seemed the easiest way to open a French bank account (my wife had banked with them for a long time). However their coverage in provincial France seems poor, our nearest branch was in Limoges, about three hours north of here, which was a bit of a schlep to pay in a cheque.
I think the most important thing to know about a wholly online bank is one’s degree of protection if something goes wrong. I’m sure many recall the fall-out from the Icelandic bank crash…
I have not had any problems with Barclays to date. I did receive a ‘rounf robin’ about some regulatory changes but no mention of any threat to my checking account status.
I did once use them for a currency transfer for expediency but have since set up an account with ‘Currencies Direct’ and have found them to be very efficient.
I’ve recently had a message from Currencies Direct… a bit of a surprise, as I haven’t used them for about 10 years.
Anyway, they’ve assured me that my “account” with them is still open/valid and that my future needs will be handled by their foreign branch… outside of UK after Brexit… without me needing to worry about anything.
Phew… that’s one positive thing… in these uncertain times.
I have not had any problems with Barclays to date. I did receive a ‘rounf robin’ about some regulatory changes but no mention of any threat to my checking account status.
Please read the ‘round robin’ again. It clearly states in the terms and conditions that the accounts and all savings products are only to be held by U.K. residents after April 2021. We have until then to make alternative arrangements. A bit of a concern.
IIRC the round robin only said “we may” close your account, not that they will 
Yes, HSBC entered the French market by acquiring CCF, a small French Bank. It was still branded CCF when my UK HSBC man put me in touch with them. My French HSBC man confided in me sometime last year that HSBC HQ have put them up for sale as HSBC refocusses on the Far East.
Covid seems to have put things on hold but as you point out Mark, security is all importent, especially when one doesn’t have a few decades to recover from a financial “shock”. I’ve been a bit remiss in following the old eggs in one basket adage, but HSBC France being flogged off will make me revise that.
Transferwise is another good option Damian.
and don’t forget the Affiliate link above under FOREX for torFX which will earn your favourite Anglophone forum some bunny points and help towards funding the site
EDIT: which has been updated by @James to include Revolut and Transferwise/torFX.
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Yes, indeed. I used them last year/this year and found them excellent.
I always stand to be corrected but I believe that it reassured me that my account would not be affected.
Currencies Direct also sent me that circular Stella. In future transactions will be handled via their Spanish office.
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as indeed will be the case with torFX, a sister company to CD.
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My UK bank is Nationwide. I have spoken to them and they are not anticipating any changes. I am a bit puzzled by this, but do know that because it is a building society it is not caught in the normal banking regulations in the UK (it is regulated by the FCA not the BoE) - perhaps as a mutual it is not affected by EU banking regulation either.
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Have you contacted the financial ombudsman? When I first talked to them they said they couldn’t do anything until I had a specific complaint about the service. At the time I was pointing out that if we had our accounts closed there wasn’t necessarily another UK bank that would be prepared to take us.
My pal French Franck, in banking himself, says that HSBC stands for “How Simple Becomes Complicated”. And so I found. Glad I was knocked back. I’m with Credit Mutuel, reckoned by French Franck to be ‘a good bank’.
Seems to be so. Main website in English. Phone app not, but easy and slick to operate. It would get another Brownie Point if the current a/c statement showed a running balance well as a total balance.
Another 
for Revolut. A.t.mo I use it just as an FX ‘valve’ … GBP in - € out. I’ll continue like this as long as Lloyds holds good to its ‘promise’ to me on the phone that there’s no plan a.t.mo to close down non-UK res a/cs. The chap said, “You have a UK correspondence address with us, don’t you? That’s all right then.”
There’s no reason why one couldn’t use Revolut as a regular current a/c. The FX side of Rev is very slick and instantaneous.
*News just in “” Barclays fined £26m for poor treatment of customers". Not surprised. Lousy bank. When my father died, my mother and I sat in the manager’s office, doing the necessary. It didn’t cheer us up one bit to find that instead of closing my father’s a/c and transfering the D/Ds to my mother’s a/c, they’d closed my mother’s a/c.
A deceased person’s a/c is locked, except for an allowance of [I think] <£2k for funeral costs. So my mother was in the position of having no access to banking at all for some days.
I wrote a stinker to the CEO of Barclay’s. Not long afterwards we found that that branch manager was no longer the manager … and not long after that, the Barclay’s CEO was fired, as well! Chapeau!
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I too found my application simply didn’t proceed, with no explanation and without even the courtesy of a reply to my emails. I’ll have a look at CM - thanks!
I have heard nothing from our bank, Yorkshire, but am hoping that, as it is owned by Clydesdale Bank and therefore Scottish, it might, with an eye to the future (IndyRef2?), be more friendly towards European customers.
No idea if it is accepting new accounts though.