Every Benefit

Open a bank account

For someone new to the UK, or with no credit history. A bank account is not a benefit. The bank decides.

Do this in order

  1. 1. Check you can be here

    A bank must not open a current account for a person who is in the UK illegally. It checks immigration status with the Home Office. If an account is refused or closed for that reason, the bank should give you the Home Office leaflet.

  2. 2. Get a share code

    If your status is an eVisa, sign in to your UKVI account and get a share code. It lasts 90 days. Take your date of birth as well. British and Irish citizens use a passport instead.

  3. 3. Take proof of address

    A letter from the Home Office, a doctor, a college, an employer, a tenancy, or a bill in your name. If you have none of these, say so. The government has said lack of standard ID is a known problem, and the largest banks are piloting other ways to check who you are.

  4. 4. Ask for a basic bank account

    Start online if you can. Santander’s Basic Current Account and the Co-operative Bank Cashminder both take an application on their own sites. Santander says the basic account is for people who are new to the UK. The Co-op’s online check asks for a photo of a UK passport or a UK driving licence, so a foreign passport may still mean a branch. The other large banks may only finish the application in a branch. An app-only bank does not have to offer a basic account, so a refusal there is not the end. The legal account is free for everyday sterling use, has no overdraft, and uses a soft credit check.

  5. 5. If they still say no

    Ask for the refusal in writing, then complain to the bank. After that you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. A credit union is the other route named by government. Some of those accounts charge a fee.

Who must offer one

  • Barclays
  • Co-operative Bank
  • HSBC UK
  • Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland
  • Nationwide, including Virgin Money
  • NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank
  • Santander
  • TSB

Named by the Financial Conduct Authority in July 2026. Other banks can refuse. In that review, many branches failed to offer a basic account to people who needed one, and the firms committed to fix it.

Start a credit file

The steps that build a file, in the right order, are a £15 pack. The bank account on this page stays free.

Credit file pack · £15

Sources

Not a bank and not advice. Confirm the rule on the official page before you rely on it.