I am also a big fan of Wise but they are not a bank. NS&I like other financial institutions does not transfer money blindly to whatever sort code and account number it is given. It checks first to identify the institution and the account it is being asked to transfer funds to. So yes they will be ‘wise to Wise’.
Indeed you can, but winnings are taxable in France…
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I have just scanned through their website and yes non UK residents can hold premium bonds and a savinfs account but with a big BUT!
Its there for everyone to read and my view is that the tax implications tied to Premium Bond winnings and interest earned it isnt worth the effort. There are saving acconts in France.
I am guessing but I would have thought that until recently interest rates would have been pretty dire.
As a UK landlord it is essential I hold a UK bank account but I doubt my agent would be able to deposit income into an NS&I savings account should I choose to have one.
good news on the NS&I front. We have premium bonds in our own names as joint ownership of bonds is not allowed. As we had been through the identification process for the bonds, I was able to open a joint saver account in less than a week and without any snail mail whatsoever
4% for the instant access Direct Saver account.
4.25% for the 2-year fixed rate.
I don’t think that’s too bad.
If you’ve maxed out your Livret A and LDD and, for whatever reason, want to keep some sterling in the UK, it’s a very good option.
I rent out a couple of houses in the UK too but my agent wouldn’t be able to pay anything into my NS&I account. I transfer it over myself from my building society account. So far it’s worked very well.
We declare the interest in France and pay the tax on it in France. Just as we would with French accounts (other than the Livret A etc).
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Almost forgot. It’s backed by the Treasury so your savings are protected way beyond the usual £85k limit per account holder and per institution.
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Helenochka, Yes, I think you are right. The person who said that I should not have told them about my Wise account was not being upright. I am always up front about things. Like they say honsety is the best policy.
4% interest is not bad considering the interest rates here in France.
But what about opening an HSBC account where there is apparently the problem of snail mail?
I will try with HSBC first…
I am withdrawing and closing my account with NS&I. I suppose that I will have to declare the interest, even though it was a savings account. I think that when you withdraw savings you do not have to decalre the amount to the taxman? Am I right?
It’s better than the zero % I would get if I left my sterling in a UK current account.
But as I said it’s probably only of interest to people who, for whatever reason, want to keep significant savings in the UK.
I certainly wouldn’t bother sending over euros for the sake of a slightly higher interest rate than what I can get in France, if I was planning to bring the money back to France later.
Am sure Karen is a pillar of rectitude! Am quite partial to a bit of jiggery pokery myself but in this case I doubt I’d get away with it.
I’m not sure what you mean… a savings account normally pays interest to the account holder… and the interest should be declared in France as part of one’s worldwide income…
France allows folk to have money in a French Livret A and French LEP without needing to declare the interest… but that doesn’t set a precedent for other savings… 
You don’t declare the amount in the account. But as Stella says, you will definitely have to declare the interest in your French tax return next May. Assuming you are resident in France.
I have always declared our savings account in Yorkshire Bank, even though it hasn’t paid any interest in 15 years. Mind you, it still only has the 32 pence that we opened it with after being bludgeoned into it when we were in the bank on another matter. 
When Yorkshire became Virgin Money they started paying interest on the current account. Bloody nuisance because the rate is pitiful but I now have to go through all the process o
Edit: At that point either the The Livebox failed, or it was my computer or this site, but it was 2 hours ago and it has just suddenly appeared but I have forgotten what I went on to say.
That reminds me. As well as declaring the interest next May, Prunelle should also declare the closure of the NS&I account.
They generally just whitelist the sort codes from this list (plus building societies obv).
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/prudential-regulation/authorisations/which-firms-does-the-pra-regulate/2024/list-of-banks/bank-list-2410.pdf
If your sort code isn’t on the list it just won’t work. At least thats what other government entities did, I can’t pretend to have specific NS&I knowledge. They’re being forced to stop doing it, just as IBAN discrimination is being clamped down on more and more, there’s not really a genuine reason why anymore, as I understood there was a lot of pressure applied back in the day by the big banks scaring politicians into shutting out smaller players and it’s just stayed around.
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Yes NSII definitely do pay premium bond payments to Wise GBP accounts. We do it that way.
Helenochka, Allright, can you please tell me where do I declare this on the tax form? Under what number?
I do not have any Premium bonds. I have a savings account and another account.