Archipelago Dialogues
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Opening a bank account while staying abroad
Martijn van Leer, who is studying at a Dutch university of professional education, is moving to London for a six-month work placement. He wishes to open a bank account in the UK. He steps into a Barclays Bank branch near his temporary London address to get information. Carys Davies, the bank clerk, offers advice.
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Martijn van Leer: | Good morning, my name is Martijn van Leer and I’m a Dutch student. I’ll be staying in the UK for six months on a work placement, and so I need to open a bank account. Could you give me some information? | |||
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Carys Davies: | Certainly, sir. You said you are from the Netherlands and are here to gain work experience in business? | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | That’s correct. | |||
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Carys Davies: | Okay. We’ve often had similar requests from people with temporary appointments in the UK, and they all seemed happy with our current account facilities. I’ll just get you a brochure from the rack and I’ll run through it. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Good, thanks. | |||
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Carys Davies: | Here it is, and an application form that you can fill in. Now, let’s see. I presume that this work placement of yours is a paid one? | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Yes, it is. I know that I’ll be earning £4.60 gross per hour, but I don’t know exactly what my monthly salary will be. | |||
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Carys Davies: | Oh, that’s alright for now. It means that you’ll be getting regular payments from within the UK. Will you also be having money transferred from your bank account in the Netherlands? | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Yes, I have a student grant at home, and that goes into my account with the RABO Bank in my home town. I’ve authorised my father to transfer money from that account to my new UK account, and he’ll probably transfer a bit more from his own account, I think. London is pretty expensive after all. | |||
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Carys Davies: | Yes, you’re quite right there. Food, housing … I know all about it! | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Yes, I’ve got a room close by, not large or posh or anything, but it’s already costing me £110 a week! | |||
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Carys Davies: | Well, that’s London for you. Now, coming back to our current account, you can pay for your room, gas, electricity and so on by a direct debit or standing order. We allow overdrafts of £100, we send statements of account every two weeks and we give you advice on financial matters such as investments, though this sort of advice will not be of much interest for you. And of course you’ll get our banker’s card, with which you can withdraw money from your account at any bank teller machine and you can use it in shops, restaurants and so on. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Oh that’s handy. And does it also mean that I can see my current bank balance at a bank terminal when I enter my pin code? | |||
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Carys Davies: | Yes, you can, but only at Barclays Bank terminals, not at other terminals. The other banks’ terminals will just indicate whether the sum of money still in your account is sufficient for your withdrawal. And if they refuse to pay out, you know you are in the red, but not to what extent. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Let’s not worry about that now! I suppose there is no interest on this current account, or is there? | |||
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Carys Davies: | I’m afraid there isn’t, sir. That applies only to our deposit accounts, investment accounts and savings accounts, but these are not relevant for you. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Right. That’s pretty clear so far. I’ve brought my passport, but there may be other things that you require from me. Could you tell me what else you need? | |||
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Carys Davies: | Well, your full name, obviously, and your UK address, date of birth, nationality, marital status, occupation and so on. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Occupation being a work placement student at market intelligence agency Frost & Sullivan? | |||
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Carys Davies: | Yes, that’s right. And your supervisor at this agency could act as a referee for us. The agency will no doubt provide a work placement agreement, and a copy of this agreement here showing your official status as a placement student would do for our administration. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | I’m seeing the human resources manager this afternoon, so I’ll try to sort this out too. | |||
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Carys Davies: | Fine. The last thing we need is the full name and address of your present bank in the Netherlands. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | I’ve already written that down, so that’s no problem. And that’s it? | |||
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Carys Davies: | Yes, that’s it. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Good. Now, if I complete this application form and bring in the information you want tomorrow, how long would it take before I get the account number and the card? | |||
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Carys Davies: | Normally speaking, we can do this within an ordinary working day, which is faster than most other banks. We require an initial deposit for the card of £10. Then we’ll process all data, check references and so on, and then we’ll issue all the things you need. It’s Wednesday now, and if you return tomorrow, you could have everything arranged before the weekend. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | That would be great! | |||
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Carys Davies: | Well, sir, please take the brochure and the application form home, and if you have any more queries, here’s my business card. You are welcome to call me. | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Thank you very much. You have been very helpful indeed. | |||
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Carys Davies: | My pleasure, sir. I hope to see you again tomorrow! Goodbye! | |||
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Martijn van Leer: | Goodbye! |