British Expats offered hope as the European Commission suggests UK banks are breaching the rights of expats
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For the hundreds of thousands of British expats unable to open a UK bank account due to not having a UK residential address, things may be about to change as the European Commission suggests the UK banks could be breaching the rights of expats.
For many retired expats, the issue creates major problems as some UK pension schemes will only make income payments into UK bank accounts.
Other expats looking to shop around for savings accounts with better interest rates will also be bouyed by the news as currently they are unable to open the new account.
The new directive which will become active this month is definitely positive news, however it does not mean that banks will be compelled to offer the full range of their bank accounts and can simply offer the basic options.
Under the directive, the UK government will be required to introduce the requirement by September 2016.
The update from the EC comes as a group of expats have raised complaints to the EU.
If you're having difficulty receiving your pension income, or would like more information on managing bank accounts as an expat, enter your details via the form and we'll arrange for an expert to contact you to discuss your options.