The expansion of the European Union has seen rising numbers of people come to Britain to begin a new life. Figures released by the Home Office reveal that 427,000 people from the eight nations that joined the EU in 2004 successfully applied for work between May 2004 and June 2006. And while many believe the real number of people entering the economy to be much higher, many high street banks believe the influx of immigrants from these countries will provide good business.



A large proportion of immigrants entering into the UK are Poles, although there are people from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia coming into the UK too. For those people moving to the UK to find work, setting up a bank account is crucial, but many migrants face problems in this area as most cannot provide proof of a permanent address, such as a utility bill or credit card statement - documents that are normally required to open a current account.

However, several high street banks have recently addressed the issue of bank accounts for immigrants, with many banks recently launching accounts that cater specifically towards new arrivals. Applicants only require one form of identification, such as a passport, to open an account, but they do come at a cost.

Lloyds TSB, for example, introduced its Silver account in April to meet the rising demand for bank accounts from new arrivals. The account is subject to a monthly fee of ?7.95, but providing customers can deposit at least ?500 each month into the account, the fee is reduced to ?2 a month until October 31st. The account provides customers with a Visa debit-card, European travel insurance, mobile phone insurance, roadside assistance and Sentinel card protection. The account also offers a money transfer card which customers can credit with funds to send to relatives back home. A spokesman for the bank said of the new account:

"Over 100,000 new current accounts were opened last year by Polish customers alone. We have already recruited a significant number of Polish speakers across the country and are continuing to recruit more to meet our objective of having a Polish-speaking member of staff in every one of our key stores that's near a Polish community."

HSBC's immigrant account - known as Passport - offers a 24-hour multilingual advice service as part of its account, as well as a debit card and discounted international money transfers for sending money home. The account fee is ?60, which is paid in advance but applicants can opt to pay ?6 per month instead. The account doesn't offer an overdraft as the customer won't have built sufficient credit history in the UK but HSBC claim that account holders will be invited to upgrade the account to a regular current account after having the account for one year.

The Welcome account, operated by NatWest, was launched in January for Polish migrants. The account consists of two parts: a current account in the UK and a money transfer account for sending money home. Account holders are required to nominate a family member or friend in their home country who is issued with a cash card to access funds transferred to their account. However, the card cannot be used to make purchases.

While many migrants might struggle to meet the criteria that high-street banks require to open a , there are at least options available to help foreign customers look after their money. Many banks have embraced the influx of migrants by adapting much of their in-branch literature into foreign languages to help prospective customers understand the banking options available to them, while banks have also recruited significant numbers of foreign-language speakers across the country to help meet the banking needs of foreign customers.