Bank account in Jersey

[WorldCitizen99]

Are you satisfied with them?

The biggest drawback is that they don't do SEPA payments now.
This is despite:
-Their online documentation still including SEPA payments in the fee list.
-Isle of Man being added to the SEPA list along with Jersey and Guernsey in 2016 (and I don't see any evidence that IoM has been removed from the list since Brexit)
When I asked Santander support about this, they just say "We don't do SEPA." They didn't explain further.

So every EUR transfer to Europe costs 23 Euros and takes up to 5 business days.

 

[JohnLocke]

Strange that a bank like Santander are unable to do SEPA transfers in Jersey, wonder what regulations stops them from doing that.

 

[Marshal]

Not going into details, but from personal experience Santander is probably the worst bank in the UK.

 

[liroyb]

Not going into details, but from personal experience Santander is probably the worst bank in the UK.

Feel free to go into details.

I'll share mine, although not much experiance:
Their Jersey branch have opened my account few months ago and wait me to fund 75,000 GBP. I'm still not sure if I want to do it since their online/mobile banking looks like their were built 70 years ago.
They have sent me debit card with 2 years expiry that cannot be connected to apple wallet.
There's no RM only hotline if support is needed.

It took them 6 weeks to approve the account and lots of documentation, then they ask clients to maintain 75,000 GBP at all times. I expected more and first impression isn't great.

 

[JohnLocke]

It took them 6 weeks to approve the account and lots of documentation, then they ask clients to maintain 75,000 GBP at all times. I expected more and first impression isn't great.

did you do it already ?

 

[liroyb]

did you do it already ?

Not yet. They emailed few days ago that if I won't fund the account soon they will close it. I'm still hesitating though.

 

[uplana]

Santander has good banking worldwide. They are less complicated to work with compared to other banks but still not the best I have been using.

 

[nobel]

Strange that a bank like Santander are unable to do SEPA transfers in Jersey, wonder what regulations stops them from doing that.

Barclays Jersey, IOM etc. is the only bank where SEPA works and even SEPA direct debit is possible!

 

[liroyb]

Santander has good banking worldwide. They are less complicated to work with compared to other banks but still not the best I have been using.

Thank you for your input. Do you have experience with their 'Santander International' Jersey branch?

 

[Forester]

Not going into details, but from personal experience Santander is probably the worst bank in the UK.

Feel free to go into details.

I'll share mine, although not much experiance:
Their Jersey branch have opened my account few months ago and wait me to fund 75,000 GBP. I'm still not sure if I want to do it since their online/mobile banking looks like their were built 70 years ago.
They have sent me debit card with 2 years expiry that cannot be connected to apple wallet.
There's no RM only hotline if support is needed.

It took them 6 weeks to approve the account and lots of documentation, then they ask clients to maintain 75,000 GBP at all times. I expected more and first impression isn't great.

Santander has good banking worldwide. They are less complicated to work with compared to other banks but still not the best I have been using.

Apparently, mileages may vary.
Wherever I approached Santander, I faced a problem – ATM not accepting my card, inaccurate information, troubles with payments... But some people I know do not have these experiences.

Barclays Jersey, IOM etc. is the only bank where SEPA works and even SEPA direct debit is possible!

Generally, I'd definitely prefer Barclays over Santander.

 

[uplana]

Apparently, mileages may vary.
Wherever I approached Santander, I faced a problem – ATM not accepting my card, inaccurate information, troubles with payments... But some people I know do not have these experiences.

sounds bad, I haven't used them for a year. What you have experienced with them sounds like a no go.

 

[jafo]

Not yet. They emailed few days ago that if I won't fund the account soon they will close it. I'm still hesitating though.

The warnings are clear! I wouldn't be caught DEAD sending such unreliable people my money!

 

[Forester]

The warnings are clear! I wouldn't be caught DEAD sending such unreliable people my money!

@jafo, may I ask you politely to add some description/abstract what is this (definitely nice ) video all about? @JohnLocke publicly reminded this rule repeatedly in the last weeks... and it IMO makes a deep sense.

 

[jafo]

@jafo, may I ask you politely to add some description/abstract what is this (definitely nice ) video all about? @JohnLocke publicly reminded this rule repeatedly in the last weeks... and it IMO makes a deep sense.

OK... here I go...I thought it was obvious, but revisiting the subject, I can see how it can be confusing...
@liroyb wrote:

Feel free to go into details.

I'll share mine, although not much experiance:
Their Jersey branch have opened my account few months ago and wait me to fund 75,000 GBP. I'm still not sure if I want to do it since their online/mobile banking looks like their were built 70 years ago.
They have sent me debit card with 2 years expiry that cannot be connected to apple wallet.
There's no RM only hotline if support is needed.

It took them 6 weeks to approve the account and lots of documentation, then they ask clients to maintain 75,000 GBP at all times. I expected more and first impression isn't great.

They were NOT reliable in meeting their commitments! They took 6 weeks. Six sweet weeks and now they pressure others to act fast and deposit £75K. Like WTF???
To do something simple that costs an insignificant amount of money, they took 6 weeks. Now, something HUGE like £75K, they want the person they left waiting to do "right away." Major Red Flag!

Then we have this experience:

The biggest drawback is that they don't do SEPA payments now.
This is despite:
-Their online documentation still including SEPA payments in the fee list.
-Isle of Man being added to the SEPA list along with Jersey and Guernsey in 2016 (and I don't see any evidence that IoM has been removed from the list since Brexit)
When I asked Santander support about this, they just say "We don't do SEPA." They didn't explain further.

So every EUR transfer to Europe costs 23 Euros and takes up to 5 business days.

Then you mentioned this:

Wherever I approached Santander, I faced a problem – ATM not accepting my card, inaccurate information, troubles with payments...

So, I used two billionaires, Charlie Munger, and Warren Buffett, as examples to remind everyone that
"The toxic people (the above-mentioned banks and their bank monkeys) who are trying to fool you or lie to you, who aren't reliable in meeting their commitments; a great lesson of life is to get them the HELL out of your life. And do it FAST."

Don't send money to these people! Basically, they've primed us to see how much abuse and delay they can get away with against us. We send them £75K, and they KNOW they can GHOST us for 6 weeks or more just like they did before. "You didn't complain then; why are you complaining now?" is going to be their response.

This is NO way to treat someone who is handing them lots of money. They are either delusional, entitled, or ungrateful, and neither of those qualities is admirable or desirable.

I hope this helps to shed light on my comment.

PS. There's ALWAYS a method to my madness. Sometimes, it isn't "obvious" for one without similar experiences, but notwithstanding my approach seeming "random," I can guarantee that there is actually structure to it.

 

[cionide]

For what it's worth, HSBC Expat in Jersey opened account for me in around a week, everything online. After the account was setup one of their guys called me for an intro call. Virtual card was available immediately, normal card took a while to arrive - like 2 months.

 

[jafo]

For what it's worth, HSBC Expat in Jersey opened account for me in around a week, everything online.

It's worth a LOT!
How much money and in what currency did you have to deposit to fund the account?

 

[cionide]

It's worth a LOT!
How much money and in what currency did you have to deposit to fund the account?

You must either:

• hold a minimum of £50,000 (or currency equivalent) with us or
• have a sole salary of £100,000 (or currency equivalent)

You pick which, I think I applied as the second one and transferred some 60-70k EUR there to start if I recall correctly. The only bad thing I have to say about them is their currency exchange rate is pretty s**t especially compared to something like wise. They were all in all pretty easy to work with, very professional.

 

[Forester]

You must either:

• hold a minimum of £50,000 (or currency equivalent) with us or
• have a sole salary of £100,000 (or currency equivalent)

It is similar e.g. for Barclays there, too. (To be exact, Barclays serves international clients at the Isle of Man.)

The only bad thing I have to say about them is their currency exchange rate is pretty s**t especially compared to something like wise.

To be honest, I've never seen a private bank offering to smaller clients FX rates comparable with EMIs or independent brokers and I would not even expect it. It's today's economical reality.

They were all in all pretty easy to work with, very professional.

Nice to hear! (I admit I do not have a positive attitude to HSBC due to some experiences in the past. But I've never dealt with HSBC Jersey.)

 

[Marshal]

The only bad thing I have to say about them is their currency exchange rate is pretty s**t especially compared to something like wise. They were all in all pretty easy to work with, very professional.

That's the common issue with all big banks in the UK. If there is a choice between HSBC, Barclays and Santander one should certainly avoid the latter one if possible.

 

[cionide]

That's the common issue with all big banks in the UK. If there is a choice between HSBC, Barclays and Santander one should certainly avoid the latter one if possible.

I had a car lease in santander in Poland. They shouldn't be allowed to sell a fucking washing machine in credit let alone a rangerover...