Jersey and the Isle of Man offer a huge array of offshore banking and offshore saving accounts that enable you to manage your tax affairs a good deal more simply if you are eligable to bank offshore . All the major UK banks and building societies are represented and there are one or two interesting names as yet unknown on the UK high streets that deserve a mention too. Jersey and the Isle of Man offer the security of being well regulated financial environments, the convenience of being part of the UK clearing system which means that for sterling payments at least, the BACS payment system can generally be used for moving funds around, keeping bank charges to a minimum, and generally, free. Of course faster payment channels can be used too - like CHAPS and SWIFT.
Accounts may commonly be opened in sterling, US dollars and Euros . In very rare situations these may even be run as multi-currency accounts, though this tends to be more for the current accounts rather than saving accounts . The interest rates on offer, seem to vary quite widely. For example, the best sterling savings accounts on offer from Bradford and Bingley International and the Alliance and Leicester pay 6.35 and 6.40% respectively on a minimum balance of £1k without imposing any significant time or fee restrictions on withdrawals, though these top paying accounts are 'linked' accounts and money can only be transferred out of them into another account in your name. This compares with the top sterling accounts from HSBC and Barclays paying 5.45% AER (5.75% AER for premier accts) and 6.05% AER respectively, with HSBC and Barclays requiring a minimum balance of £10K.
Looking at Euro offshore bank accounts, the Bank of Scotland International offers 4.25% on a minimum balance of 35k Euros on their Euro Guaranteed Saver account, HSBCoffer 3.6% on a minimum €20k balance, the Alliance and Leicester International offers 3.86% on a minimum balance of €5k, Bradford and Bingley International offer 3.75% tiered, on balances of €10-49.9k and Barclays offer 2.45% tiered on €15-75k.
Looking at options for US dollar saving accounts, the headline rate of 5.04% AER for the International Tracker Savings Account from Barclays on a minimum balance of U$20k compares with 4.96% AER from HSBC for their online saver account. Bradford and Bingley International offer tiered interest on their US dollar account starting at 4.75% on balances of U$10-49.9k and the Alliance and Leicester 5.2% AER on a minimum balance of U$5k for their US dollar savings account. If you can manage to keep your withdrawls to a minimum, Bank of Scotland International have a US dollar account called the Guaranteed Saver that offers 5.5% AER on a minimum balance of U$50k and a restriction of 4 free withdrawls a year.
The other high street players worth considering are The Royal Bank of Scotland who have an interesting multi-currency account, Royalties International for an annual fee of £150, Lloyds TSB whose sterling offshore current account costs just £7.50 per month, Abbey International whose sterling call account is a useful fee free option, particularly if you are looking for a linked account with an offshore bank that clears its own funds (which is necessary for linking with the BBI esaver account for example) and finally, the wildcard Lansbanki Guernsey, part of Landsbanki, Iceland's largest financial institution that is currently marketing aggressively for new customers and offers a headline rate of 6.5% on its sterling 2 year fixed rate bonds.
Having lived and worked in Australia, UK, US and Singapore, finding my way around the various offshore savings accounts and banking options has been a must. Now I hope to make it a little easier for anyone else trying to wade their way through the wealth of information. With rates and terms & conditions changing all the time, we have created direct links at http://www.offshore-savings-accounts.org.uk to all the major players' websites at an account-specific level so you can find exactly what you need, when and where you need it. There are also links here at offshore-savings-accounts.org.uk/currency_exchange.htm to specialist currency exchange companies that handle transactions much more competitively than the high street banks. There are some interesting FOREX options here too for anyone with the courage to play that game!
We have also created an environment where you can see which of these banks and building societies is currently hungriest for your business - the concept behind hungry-fish.com - helping you fish where the fish are hungry!
1 comment:
The rates have gone even higher in the offshore market recently with a number of accounts paying 6.50% and above.
Although rate is important there are lots of other things consider. It's important to find a savings account provider that will continue to deliver value to you and your savings. Make sure you get an account that meets your needs and allows you the flexibility to operate your account as you wish. It's always worth bearing in mind that unplanned events and emergencies happen and you never know when you might need access to funds.
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