Actually getting the bank to recognise this can be a struggle, however. When my wife wanted one, some of them were insistent that they couldn’t give them to people from overseas. Only Nationwide would let her open one.

And in the cold dark of 2025, there might not even be any banks left near you. Most of them are shut or online only. The entire Peak District area has exactly one banking hub, and that’s run by the post office after the last bank closed last year.