I opened a Nationwide account in the UK before we went travelling through Thailand a couple of months ago and they are great. They are the only UK Bank Account not to charge you for lifting money abroad and they give you the daily exchange rate. There is also no min amount and with the internet banking it makes it very easy to use. We just use it now as our holiday account. Their interest rates are very good and you even get good interest on your current account and about 5.5% on your savings account. All this and an annual fee.
Not sure about transfering money abroad but from what I've read on the net there are companies which can do it for a far better rate than any bank.
Lyndsay
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