opening a bank account in the UK

hi nicolas.
i did a semester abroad in manchester. people there recommended the royal bank of scotland and i was very satisfied. they didn't charge maintainance fee for students and the staff (at least at the Manchester branch ;) was very friendly and helpful!

i can just tell you which one i can't recommend: natwest. i had so much trouble with them and didn't manage to open a bank account there for months. i must admit that i wasn't studying at that time, and on top of that changed my job a couple of times at the beginnging. surely, this did not help as i therefore had trouble to provide documentation from my employer. but ¡ was just really fed up with the way they treated me.

Hi Nicolas,

I've had a great experience with HSBC since moving out here. Would highly recommend it. The whole process was relatively easy to get the account squared away.

Can't speak much for the others. Started with HSBC and haven't really looked back.

Hi Nicolas,
In the current economic scenario where banks are closing shutters like mum-n-dad shops round the corner, one thing that you need to consider before opening an account with a bank is, are they safe.
The major banks in UK are

HSBC
Natwest
Barclays
Royal Bank of Scotland
Lyods TSB
Nationwide
Abbey

I found that Nationwide is financially very strong (at the same time very stringent). HSBC and Barclays are yet 2 other banks who managed to wade through much of the economic downturn till now without much help