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Question of the Week: Basic Bank Accounts
Former_MSE_Archna
Posts: 1,903 Forumite
[FONT="]Q. Following my company's liquidation I've been forced to declare myself bankrupt. I need a bank account, obviously with no credit, but all the major banks have refused my applications? Eugene by e-mail[/FONT]
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[FONT="]A: [/FONT][FONT="]Sadly, over 1m people in the UK are thought to be unbanked. Worse still is that provided you've got ID (without it it's a nightmare) you should be able to get an account. Simply go to your bank and ask for a 'Basic Bank Account', specially designed for those with very poor credit scores. [/FONT]
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[FONT="]Yet I suspect banks only offer them as a sop to social responsibility and disgracefully, unless you ask for them by name, specifically even if you tell them you've got a poor credit, they'll just give you a normal bank account form and then reject it.
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[FONT="]Anecdotally, I'd suggest trying Barclays or the Co-op bank, who tend to be more accommodating than most. See the FSA Basic Bank Accounts PDF Guide for more. Alternatively if you're lucky enough to be in an area with a Credit Union that offers a current account that's usually even better.
Click reply to discuss
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[FONT="][/FONT][FONT="][/FONT]
[FONT="]A: [/FONT][FONT="]Sadly, over 1m people in the UK are thought to be unbanked. Worse still is that provided you've got ID (without it it's a nightmare) you should be able to get an account. Simply go to your bank and ask for a 'Basic Bank Account', specially designed for those with very poor credit scores. [/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Yet I suspect banks only offer them as a sop to social responsibility and disgracefully, unless you ask for them by name, specifically even if you tell them you've got a poor credit, they'll just give you a normal bank account form and then reject it.
[/FONT]
[FONT="][/FONT]
[FONT="]Anecdotally, I'd suggest trying Barclays or the Co-op bank, who tend to be more accommodating than most. See the FSA Basic Bank Accounts PDF Guide for more. Alternatively if you're lucky enough to be in an area with a Credit Union that offers a current account that's usually even better.
Click reply to discuss
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Comments
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I wish they weren't called basic accounts.
To me a basic account would be one with a debit card a cheque book.Originally Posted by Dr Cuckoo3
Your bank and bank card does say something about the kind of person you are: Big 4 banks=sheep;),Santander=someone who doesnt mind incompetence:p,COOP=Ethical views,a campaigner:cool:,First Direct/Coventry=someone who thinks they are better than others:o,NI Bank card when living on the mainland=Aspergers
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They are basic accounts though! The word 'basic' in itself explains it is a no frills type of account. To me i'd read that as meaning it is limited in some capacity, which, evidently it is!
Most Basic Accounts come with a debit card now which is good, in the old days they came with electron/solo which suggested the holder 'couldn't get a normal bank account' - the stigma attached was awful - I remember hiding my Electron or using cash.
Point is, a basic account nowadays is almost identical to a full account (with the loss of cheque guarantee's) with the main exception being no credit/chq book and a full authorisation card. Essentially, people will not know that you have a basic account.
In my opinion, they are great cos people that would otherwise struggle can at least get paid etc! 
2010 - year of the troll
Niddy - Over & Out :wave:
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The Co-operative Bank is more ethical by a long way; Barclays invests billions in the arms trade.
Since we've no longer a right to cash payment, & are obliged to put our money in banks, the banks should have an obligation to provide at least basic accounts, & to let us know where our money's invested.0 -
I'm with the Co-op and I have a basic account which comes with a Visa Electron. No one has ever sniggered at me or mentioned anything about the stigma attached to an Electron - I guess either because they are too polite or because there is such a wide variety of cards available now they don't really notice. Anyway who cares, as the HUGE number of people who are members of this site can testify debt (and the resulting bad credit) can happen to anyone.
I don't have a Co-op branch near me, but am able to withdraw from any Link machine and deposit money at any post office which suits me fine. Its good for paying all your bills by direct debit too - so in that respect works just like a regular account.0 -
chrissie55 wrote: »The Co-operative Bank is more ethical by a long way; Barclays invests billions in the arms trade.
Since we've no longer a right to cash payment, & are obliged to put our money in banks, the banks should have an obligation to provide at least basic accounts, & to let us know where our money's invested.
The banks should not have an obligation to provide accounts. It is not for the government to regulate who businesses must trade with; their duty is purely to ensure that the trade is fair.
Banks should not let you know where your money is invested - that is often sensitive market information. If you would like to know in what markets they will invest, read their corporate statements. These are freely available, all of the major banks in the UK publish one.
Barclays does not invest billions in "the arms trade" - this is sensationalist journalism at best and rhetoric at worst. Barclays, along with HSBC and the other high street banks, invests in and provides banking services to several large aeronautical companies and defense contractors. These are large multinational companies which operate within US and UK laws.
The allegation that this is "the arms trade" is a deliberate slur attempting to incite the negative connotations of the term, which invoke images of AK-47s and shady figures breaking international laws in a back street bizarre in some far flung country.What would William Shatner do?0 -
I'm with the Co-op and I have a basic account which comes with a Visa Electron. No one has ever sniggered at me or mentioned anything about the stigma attached to an Electron - I guess either because they are too polite or because there is such a wide variety of cards available now they don't really notice. Anyway who cares, as the HUGE number of people who are members of this site can testify debt (and the resulting bad credit) can happen to anyone.
I don't have a Co-op branch near me, but am able to withdraw from any Link machine and deposit money at any post office which suits me fine. Its good for paying all your bills by direct debit too - so in that respect works just like a regular account.
Your Co-op basic account now comes with a Visa debit card. You could change your card if you want to.0 -
Interesting, isn't it, that in Britain going bankrupt is a slur and a tag that many never manage to fully shake off, even after many years. Yet in the States business people go bankrupt and they are able to dust themselves off, get sorted and start again, often very successfully without the "former bankrupt" negative connotations we in the UK ascribe.
Says a lot for their country's entrepreneurial character.0
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