URGENT Free £100 Loophole discussion: MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

littlemissmoney

I have a recent copy of both my reports and they look fine to me, although there is very little on them. One things that worrys me though is, say my address is

Flat 1, Nice House, 100 High Street

they say I'm linked to "other addresses" namely:

1 Nice House, 100 High Steet
Flat 1 Nice House, 100 High Street
1, Nice House, 100 High Steet

etc. and might want to apply for my reports at these addresses too. Is this normal? Do I have to pay £2 for each and every slight variation on my address?!

innovate

fagun wrote:

Because if the only reason they've given for rejecting you is the credit score, they have to take you on (Treating Customers Fairly and Banking Code).

Not sure I understand what you are saying - if your credit score is too low (in their opinion), this would be a very good reason for not taking you on. As far as I am aware, no bank or financial institution has any obligation to accept you, and they don't even need to give you a reason for rejection.

newfoundglory

You have to remember, you didnt score enough on THEIR scorecard. That might easily be a check to see "are we actually likely to make any money out of you?". If they think the answer to that is no, you might easily get rejected. So in fact, you might actually get MORE points on their scale for being likely to incur charges and make the bank money. If you credit file is clean with only positive repayment history, its almost like saying your score was too high in some respects to quality for the account.

Its very much "do you fit into this little box we have made, which is our customer profile". But we have no way of knowing what this profile is.

If the offer a standard cash card, it probably means you are over-borrowed for your income.... so you have too many credit cards on your credit file, cheque guarantee cards, loans etc.

innovate

Whoopeey!! Got acceptance letter today (applied Wednesday), just have to send the signed application form and a Signature Specimen Card back to their Online Processing Team. No proof of ID requested. Going very well so far for me!

newfoundglory

i reckon they were totally flooded with applications from MSE on wednesday... i didn't apply until late in the evening, which i hope is why i havent got a letter yet!

albalad

received a letter today from barclays - including my "account application " to be signed and returned along with a "specimen signature " card.

Does this indicate that I've been accepted ? or can they still refuse my application ?

It also asks for other info , such as ......overdraft , monthly income/expenditure even though i filled all of this out on the online application , the worst part is i cannot remember the figures i gave them online !

fagun

Banks have a responsibility to Treat Customers Fairly (FSA requirement). Under the Banking Code, they also "promise that we will act fairly and reasonably in all our dealings with you by meeting all the commitments and standards in this Code."

littlemissmoney said "I applied last Sunday and got a rejection letter today. It said my credit score was "below the level that we currently accept"."

They have said her credit score is too low, not that they won't make enough money from her. By-the-by, some of the other threads highlight that they're not allowed to make excessive profits from fines - FSA, OFT, Treasury Select Commitee have all looked into this.

If they were rejecting someone solely because they're a MSEr, then that decision should be challenged. Their T&C do not mention a need to keep the account for longer than 2 months, etc. So more fool them.

littlemissmoney

So what do you think I should do about this fagun? The letter def says its due to my credit score. I don't have any debts and never have. I have never had an unautherised OD or paid any bank charges. I didn't ask for a OD on this account anyway. On my credit file Barclays only did a "Indentification Verification" so it doesn't make sense. I doubt they knew I'm a MSEer though because I applied last weekend, before the email and the rush. How do I find out the really reason because phoning up didn't help?

newfoundglory

fagun wrote:

They have said her credit score is too low, not that they won't make enough money from her.

Yes, but you are assuming that "credit score too low" doesnt mean that. Its just a score generated from the customer profile (credit file) and information you provided on your application (could be anything, or a combination, income, do you have a cheque card, employment status etc). If you don't meet their customer profile requirements within a certain tolerance you get rejected. By all means challenge the rejection, but dont automatically expect it to be overturned. I don't think barclays have to go into ANYMORE detail other than saying your score was not high enough and tell you the credit reference agency used. Thats is. But you would be wrong to assume that it was information on the credit file which wasnt up to bar. It may or may not be, but you have no way of knowing.

The profile they are looking for could be anything. Its probably not that they don't think they will make enough money off you (some banks do do this though!)

It could be something else like, does you profile suggest you are likely to need to borrow money form the bank in the future... or maybe they check to see if they are likely to be able to sell you additional products. These are just examples. Your so-called "credit score" may have NOTHING to do with information on your credit file. Its just a score genereated from factors which barclays considers important for this account.


In the case of the above, since they did not search your credit file for lending (cheque/debit card)... it suggests your application was rejected based on information YOU gave on the application. Therefore there was no need for a credit search as the application was taken no further.

innovate

littlemissmoney, you are highly unlikely to find out the REAL reason for the rejection because none of the financial institutions will reveal their scorecard algorythms/rules. Whatever anyone else says, they have no obligation to give anyone an account, and no obligation to tell you why they don't want you. I also don't think you can ask them to delete your unsuccessful application from their records (well, you can ask, but they don't need to remove it).

If you have already called them and got no further, I think you will have put this one down to experience.