How to open a UK bank account

Banks and electronic money institutions that operate entirely through an app — Monzo, Starling, Revolut, Chase and others — generally verify identity by photographing a passport or national identity card and recording a short selfie video. Most do not require documentary proof of address for a standard current account, because they verify address electronically or accept a self-declared one.

Onboarding usually completes within minutes to a couple of days. You get an account number and sort code immediately in most cases, and a card in the post.

Once you have three months of statements from that account, they function as proof of address for a high street bank, a mobile contract or a letting agent. This is the standard route past the circularity problem and it works reliably.

Check whether the institution is a bank or an electronic money institution, because the protection differs. Banks are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000; e-money institutions instead safeguard client funds, which is a different and generally weaker protection. Monzo and Starling are banks; some other app providers are not.

The requirement is set by anti-money-laundering regulations, which oblige banks to verify identity and address, but the regulations do not prescribe a fixed document list. Each bank sets its own acceptable-document policy, which is why two banks can give different answers on the same documents.

Commonly accepted for identity: a valid passport, a national identity card from an EEA country, or a UK photocard driving licence. Commonly accepted for address: a recent utility bill, a council tax bill, a tenancy agreement, an HMRC or DWP letter, a bank statement from another institution, or a letter from a university or employer.

Several banks accept alternative evidence for new arrivals — a letter from an employer confirming your address, a Home Office document, or a letter from a university. This is not always advertised, and asking specifically for the new-arrival or international student process often produces a different answer from asking at the counter.

You are entitled to know why an application was refused in general terms, though banks are not obliged to give detailed reasons where financial crime checks are involved.

The nine largest UK banks and building societies are legally required to offer a fee-free basic bank account to anyone legally resident in the UK who does not have another UK account and is not eligible for a standard one — including people with poor credit histories, previous bankruptcy or no credit history at all.

A basic account gives you a debit card, direct debits and standing orders, and access to the payments system. It does not offer an overdraft, and some have limited features. There are no monthly fees and no charges for failed payments.

You cannot be refused a basic account for having a poor credit rating or no credit history. You can be refused if you already hold a UK account with payment features, or if you fail identity checks.

This right is substantially under-used because it is rarely advertised — a basic account earns the bank nothing. Ask for it explicitly by name.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme protects deposits up to £85,000 per eligible person per authorised institution — £170,000 for a joint account. It covers banks, building societies and credit unions on the Prudential Regulation Authority register.

The limit is per institution, not per account, and several brands share a single banking licence. If you hold more than £85,000, check whether your accounts are with separately authorised firms.

A temporary high balance of up to £1 million is protected for six months where the money came from a specified life event such as a property sale, redundancy payment or inheritance.

Switching current accounts is straightforward. The Current Account Switch Service moves your balance, direct debits, standing orders and incoming payments within seven working days, redirects payments to the old account indefinitely, and carries a guarantee that reimburses any charges or interest caused by a switching error.

For faster payments, PayID equivalents do not exist in the UK, but Faster Payments moves money between accounts within seconds, and Confirmation of Payee checks the recipient's name against the account details before you confirm — a genuinely useful safeguard against paying the wrong person or a fraudster.