The ABC of Expat Banking: Why Where You Bank Matters as Much as Where You Live

February 2026

By Will Glyn

One of the first things most expats do when they land in a new country is open a local bank account. It makes sense — you need somewhere for your salary to go, somewhere to pay the bills. But beyond the day-to-day, very few expats stop to ask a bigger question: is this really the best place for my wealth?

In my experience, the answer is usually no. I often talk to clients about what I call the ABC rule: if you are from country A and you are living in country B, you should seriously consider banking in country C. It sounds counterintuitive at first, but once you understand the risks of keeping everything local, it starts to make a lot more sense.

The Risks of Banking Locally

When you bank locally in the country where you work, your money is subject to that country’s laws, regulations, and financial infrastructure. For expats in well-established financial centres like London or Zurich, that might not feel like a concern. But many of our clients are working in places where the financial system is relatively young, or where the political landscape is less predictable.

Take the UAE as an example. Dubai might be a great place to live and work, and plenty of expats build up significant savings there. But under local Sharia-based succession laws, if an account holder passes away, their bank accounts can be frozen — sometimes for months — while a local court determines how the assets should be distributed. That process may not follow your wishes at all. Your family could be left without access to funds at exactly the time they need them most.

It is not just the Middle East. We have seen similar issues in countries experiencing political instability or economic stress, where capital controls can be introduced overnight, limiting how much you can withdraw or transfer out. Greece went through exactly this during its banking crisis, with daily withdrawal limits that affected everyone with a local account.

Why International Banking Makes Sense

Banking internationally removes a lot of this risk. By holding your wealth in a well-regulated, politically stable jurisdiction — separate from where you live and work — you are essentially ring-fencing your savings from local disruption. If something goes wrong in your country of residence, your wealth is not caught up in it.

There are several key advantages for expats:

• Asset protection — your savings sit outside the reach of local capital controls, unstable banking systems, and unfamiliar succession laws
• Geographical flexibility — your account moves with you, no matter how many times you relocate
• Multi-currency access — you can hold and manage multiple currencies in one place, moving between them when the timing is right
• Institutional deposit rates — access to high-rate deposit accounts and structured fixed-return products that are not typically available through local retail banks

The Tax Efficiency of Gross Roll-Up

There is a tax angle too, and it is one that a lot of expats overlook. Many international bank accounts offer what is known as gross roll-up, which means your savings and investments can grow without being taxed at source. You may still have a tax obligation when you eventually access or repatriate those funds, depending on your residency, but in the meantime your money is compounding more efficiently than it would in a local taxed account.

The Hidden Cost of Currency

If you have ever looked closely at the FX margins your local bank charges, you will know that the costs add up quickly. Banks typically charge between 3% and 7% on currency conversions, and those fees become even more painful on larger transactions — property purchases, lump sum investments, or the sale of a home in one country to buy in another.

An international account allows you to hold multiple currencies and convert between them. Rather than being forced into a conversion at whatever rate your local bank decides to offer, you can time your transfers more strategically and reduce unnecessary costs.

Estate Planning and Succession

There is also the estate planning dimension, which ties into everything above. If you are an expat, you need to know the succession laws of the country where you live. In many jurisdictions, local law can override your will when it comes to assets held locally.

In the UAE, for example, Sharia Law can apply to local accounts in the event of death, leaving your family unable to access funds and faced with the tricky process of regaining access to frozen accounts. Banking internationally, in a jurisdiction with clear and familiar legal frameworks, can help protect your estate and make things far simpler for your family.

Local Account for Spending, International Account for Wealth

None of this means you should not have a local account for your everyday spending. Of course you should. But there is a real difference between an account for paying your rent and utilities, and a strategy for building and protecting your long-term wealth. The two should not be treated the same way.

If you are an expat and all of your savings are sitting in a local bank account in the country where you work, it is worth asking yourself whether that is really the safest, most efficient, and most flexible option available to you. More often than not, there is a better way to structure things.

How We Can Help

At Proctor Wealth Associates, we help expats around the world set up and manage international banking arrangements tailored to their individual circumstances. We can assist you with:

• Opening international current accounts in a range of base currencies
• Identifying the most suitable jurisdiction based on where you live and work
• Structuring your accounts for tax efficiency and asset protection
• Coordinating your banking with your wider financial plan, including investments, pensions, and estate planning

If you would like to explore whether international banking could work for your situation, book a call with me and we can go through the best approach together.

Will is an Independent Financial Adviser with over a decade of experience helping expats make the most of their international status.