Your bank account in Guernsey

Which banks take clients from off the island

Investec Bank (Channel Islands) offers a current account in 14 currencies, sterling, euro, US dollars and Swiss francs among them. To open and keep it the bank asks for a balance of £25,000. Deposits with Investec in Guernsey or Jersey are expressly not covered by the UK's FSCS. The bank's website blocked access when we checked, so these details rest on its own product factsheet; we found no public page setting out its country rules.

Butterfield offers sterling fixed-term deposits in Guernsey from £100,000, for terms from one month to one year. Its Island Saver account is for Channel Islands residents only. The bank does not publish a private banking threshold.

Skipton International, the Guernsey subsidiary of the British building society, is known for savings accounts. For many readers it is still not an option: its restricted list names countries whose residents it takes no savings or mortgage applications from, and every EU country is on that list. Residents of Norway, Iceland or Switzerland are not caught by it. Sterling balances below £10,000 also earn nothing there, and business products are for existing customers only.

Guernsey's deposit protection

The Guernsey Banking Deposit Compensation Scheme has existed since 26 November 2008. It pays up to £50,000 per eligible depositor and bank, wherever you live, and normally aims to pay within three months. Unlike Jersey, Guernsey keeps an overall cap of £100 million over five years; if that is not enough after a large failure, payments are scaled down.

Companies are not covered. Trust accounts only in exceptional cases, such as charitable trusts registered in Guernsey. And watch the brands: a brand and the bank behind it share one limit. Hold money with NatWest International and with the Royal Bank of Scotland International and you have £50,000 of protection in total, once. The comparison across all the islands is in deposit protection on the islands.

Guernsey and the CRS

Guernsey has applied the CRS since 1 January 2016; the first reporting ran in 2017. The island last recast its CRS regulations in 2025, and the tax authority reminds banks of the deadlines every year by bulletin. Your account is reported to your country of residence, and that is where you declare the income. More in the CRS and the islands.

Alderney, Sark and moving there

The Bailiwick of Guernsey also takes in Alderney and Sark. If you want to live there or on Guernsey itself, residence, tax and cost are covered in our Guernsey island profile and on the page about Sark. As an island resident you face different, far more open rules for an account than clients from outside.

Who Guernsey suits

Guernsey is a banking centre for people with a clear purpose. If you want to hold a six-figure sum in several currencies, Investec gives you Swiss francs, euro, sterling and dollars under one roof. If you want a sterling fixed-term deposit and reach Butterfield's threshold, it is a solid address. For a plain everyday sterling account without living on the island, the international accounts in Jersey and on the Isle of Man are usually the more direct route.

Whether Guernsey works for you depends heavily on where you live, because some banks' lists exclude whole groups of countries. So always go in this order: country list first, then the threshold, then the fees. Check the bank's eligibility page for your country of residence, and you avoid most refusals.

Sources: Investec Bank (Channel Islands): Current Account factsheet; Butterfield Guernsey: Savings; Skipton International: Restricted countries; Guernsey Banking Deposit Compensation Scheme: Leaflet 2026; States of Guernsey: FATCA and CRS