Banks in London

In London city, generally, bank offices are open by the mornings from Monday to Friday, usually from 9.30 am to 3.30 pm. Some of them open on Saturdays also. 
 

Although there are banks all over the city, most of them are concentrated near St Paul and Moorgate metro stations, also on Liverpool street.  
 

Before attending a bank, it is very important to be sure of the kind of submission we want to make, because some services are taken care by certain branches of certain banks. Even so, all British banks offer services to companies, business and privates, such as: money exchange, fast money, money transfers, letters and foreign currency account. A nice option is to get in contact with the main office of the chosen bank and ask for the branch that takes care of the submission we are interested in.
 

Opening a bank account in London

If we are British citizens, the proceedings to open a current account in London, is some kind different from what we are used to. For example, it is very common they ask for a public service bill to verify our address. Of course, they will also request a copy of our passport. Sometimes they can ask for a reference letter not only from our last bank, but also from different banks. The strictest banks can also request an interview. Small banks and building societies are the most indulgent with requirements.
 

For students and people with no fixed incomes, requirements to get an account are even harder, but many banks offer services to get credit for college. 
 

There are two different types of accounts: Current account and savings account. The first one allows us to have a credit card and make sure that we can use it outside the country when we need to withdraw money from our account. The saving account allows us to have a record book or a debit card. 
 

Credit cards can be used as long as we don`t exceed the limit of money we have in the current account and are ideal to avoid risks when we have to pay our hotel room or our shopping in London.