As an international student you will need to make arrangements to access your money and funding while you are a student. Transferring money around the world is usually fairly straightforward, but each national government will have its own rules about the ways you can transfer money and how much you can transfer. It is important therefore that you investigate this at a very early stage of your planning. The best way to do this is to make enquiries with your own bank, which will be able to advise you about international banking and money transfer.
There are a number of important things to think about though:
• You will need to have a bank account with a bank in your own country that has the facilities to arrange international money transfers.
• Once you arrive in the UK you will need to open a bank account with a UK bank. Almost every university will have branches of the four main UK banks (HSBC, Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds TSB), either on the campus or very nearby, but there are many other banks that you can use. You would be advised to find out from your own bank in your own country whether there is a particular bank in the UK with whom they have special arrangements or with whom they prefer to work. It is also helpful to use a bank near to the university, not just for convenience, but also because they will be experienced at dealing with international students and their financial needs. Some large branches may even have an international student adviser.
• Remember that it can take two or three weeks to open a bank account in the UK. The bank will need to see your passport, confirmation that you are a registered student and confirmation of your address in the UK before you can open an account. This means that you should be sure you have access to money for this time, and you might think about one of the following – using a credit card, checking that your own bank’s cashcard will work in the UK, or bringing travellers cheques with you.
• Bank systems vary from country to country and bank to bank. Do not assume that you will be able to arrange financial matters in the same ways in the UK as at home, and always check with your UK bank in good time if you need to make special arrangements.
• You will need to make all your payments in the UK – your fees, your accommodation costs etc. – in sterling.
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