Help! I have lived in France permanently for 8 years and my UK HSBC account, which works very well as most of our income comes from the UK, has my French address. What I need is another UK Sterling account that carries my daughter’s UK address and is not linked to my French address. My HSBC branch cannot help as my profile lists me as a non-resident, which is true. There has to be a fix…doesn’t there?? I need it to have a UK PayPal account fo sales. Am I trying tomdo something illegal here???
In the UK we've had a few "challenger" banks lately.
I was watching monese to add Euro currency to their account (for my move to France) but not yet they say.
Note also there are NO checks here, just a passport needed. The compensation scheme may be a little convoluted as they "sit" on top of a traditional supplier.
I see the only requirement is EEA citizen. May be of help to you:
Who can open an account with Monese?
If you're at least 18 years old and live in the EEA (European Economic Area), you can open an account with us, regardless of your citizenship or financial history. Yes, you read that right. Anyone with an EEA address can apply.
How can I get a Monese account?
You need an invite to join Monese at the moment. Leave your email at the bottom of the page to get one. Once you have an invite it's easy! Just download the app and it will take you through the sign-up process. You simply need to be ready to take a photo of your ID document and another of yourself. The app will take you through the whole thing, and you'll have a fully-functioning UK current account in a matter of minutes.
This topic is also useful to me. Though I have no UK account, only a French one. I will need a UK account to do some work there and be paid from there without needing to transfer into euros.
The last time it happened my employer had to pay £45 to her bank just to transfer 300 to my french account. Huge waste of money and it put her off employing me again
Jeremy and Stephanie Godwin may be able to help you, Pauline. English and French qualified accountants -- for people just like you. Based in La Baule. http://transmanche-accountancyservices.eu/
Very helpful information, Gerard. Thank you. And yes, this is the problem, as all my tax affairs are dealt with in France now. I deliberately removed myself from the UK tax system only to find myself with this unexpected problem. I think perhaps a visit to a good French accountant might be an idea.
If you transaction are over a certain amount over the year, Paypal will freeze your account and ask for proof of address etc in the UK. If you are non-resident you could end up with funds frozen for an indeterminate amount of time. This happened to me when I tried to set up a non-resident French account.
The thing is they are very wary due to stringent Money laundering rules.
It might be easier to set up a business bank account (not personal) . The business would be based at your daughters address, and then set up a completely separate business paypal account. Obviously your income would then be liable for UK Tax.
thanks, Elaine. Worth a try but have my doubts.
It is exactly what I want, Sarah, but my French personal PayPal account is linked to my French Credit Agricole Account and it won’t let me add my HSBC Sterling bank account to my business account !! I don’t understand it. Pethaps I should start another new PayPal account.
I have a french paypal business account that links to my Santander UK account (which is registered now under my french address) and I have no problems. When I wish to buy in sterling it simply converts for me and when I want to pay in euros it is better because I dont get the UK bank fees for foreign transactions. I can also receive money in sterling in that account - it usually sits there and asks me if I want it converted into euro or not.
Maybe I am not understanding your problem but I would have thought this is what you want?
would your daughter put you on her account or open a Paypal one to be in joint names, you can eventually somewhere sometime link both your family. somehow as I ask I suspect not, but the UK Gov has recently I believe, told banks they must allow UK nationals who live abroad, to open accounts with them, so Try HSBC UK, as you are already an HSBC Fr account holder. Tell your French bank you want to open a UK account, but that inevitably will involve a person to person visit to a UK branch to sign necessary paperwork, copy of French account details and proof of French address, EDF Bill etc. I have accounts in both countries, but of course started off in UK then added the French account once over here a few months. That was all back in 2008.
I was still in England when I opened my Credit Agricole account in France -- CA Britline, which has fluent, sometimes mother-tongue English speakers. I don't know, but maybe they offer the same, or similar service the other way round? Google CA Britline. Good luck.
It’s because I’m a writer and have paid for print runs in Sterling…so want the revenue from sales in Sterling also. That’s the reason.
It does make sense to a certain extent but why must it be linked to a UK account? as I said you can pay via paypal in any currency and be paid by an account in any country in euros so why complicate things? Plus as a French business (AE included) you need a dedicated FRENCH bank account to use for your business (as AE it can be a standard personal account but it must be seperate from your day to day account and it must be French)
Hi there…what I want to do is to link my French PayPal acccount to my UK Sterling account via a PayPal Business Account, but French PayPal won’t let me use my UK HSBC bank account. Does this make sense?
Why can't you use the standard PayPal account?, I use mine, linked to my French account, for sales througout Europe for my business. When you send money via PayPal you can choose which currency you wish to be paid in and for example my UK customers pay with a UK £ bank account but PayPal will conert to euros.
Likewise although mine is a UK account, when I send money to my family or buy something in the UK via PayPal I can send in £ no problem