The only real alternative to a UK bank that has actually launched and actually works is Monese. 20,000+ app installs in under 4 months since launch and an active community of users http://www.facebook.com/mymonese http://www.twitter.com/mymonese with plenty of reviews to read here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.monese.mon... Euro accounts will also be landing this year, and transfers to a range of European currencies are supported at just 0.5% !! Plus the account is currently free !!!!