Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke

Re: Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke by greghinch on Monday December 23, 2013 @10:34AM (#6954732)

I was actually at my 3rd bank trying to open an account, but without any other documentation than my passport & visa. I think it was Halifax. The guy I was speaking went in back for a bit, and per usual said "I'm sorry but without proof of address we can't open an account for you." When I started lamenting my sense of defeat to him about UK banks, he said "okay look, I'm not supposed to say this, but off the record, if you go down the street to Lloyds, they have a special process for US citizens where you can just open an account with a passport." Sure enough I went down the road, and after making yet another appointment (an appointment to open a bank account? really Britain…), they confirmed that indeed they do open accounts for US citizens with just a passport.

So I feel pretty confident in recommending Lloyds in this case.

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Re: Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke by mseebach on Monday December 23, 2013 @12:30PM (#6955374)

Lloyds is probably better than average since at least at some point they had a formal process for getting an account without proof of address. But my wife was asked for proof of address there (which she was able to provide) and my friend failed to get an account , but got one at Halifax. I have a few more secondhand anecdotes about other people who was turned away at Lloyds, but taken on at Barclay or HSBC.

I think the case is that it's a rather non-deterministic process and the outcome depends a lot on exactly which manager you talk to and what their mood is like that day.

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Re: Outrageous HSBC Settlement Proves the Drug War is a Joke by nolite on Monday December 23, 2013 @02:02PM (#6955927)

france does that stupid appointment crap too

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