Barclays refused me a current account!

bitterSTAR

100% of the people I know who have came to live here from abroad including those from Europe, have had no problem with opening a bank account but none of them were able to get credit.

Mrs_Ryan

The reason I ask is that I know of people who have come over here from various countries and have had stupid amounts of credit granted to them.

But, in itself, you could argue that a bank account with a debit card is a form of credit... so they have had credit. For example, I have a current account with Alliance and Leicester with a Visa Electron (it says Visa Debit on it but I refuse to call it a Visa Debit cos it isnt a real one) but when I asked for a real Visa Debit they said no cos my credit score wasnt good enough and I dont earn lots of money and own my house (thats totally ludicrous and I told them so, but I digress) so if they've got debit cards, they've got credit. It took me 5 years to get a debit card with any bank at all....

bitterSTAR

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Enjoy your black card.

Was alittle disappointed to find that the black card doesn't have contactless payments yet, even though the card is pictured with this functionality on the website in an advert (which had made me think that Premier customers were having them issued now).

Besides, it's not all about the card anyways :P

bitterSTAR

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

The reason I ask is that I know of people who have come over here from various countries and have had stupid amounts of credit granted to them.

But, in itself, you could argue that a bank account with a debit card is a form of credit... so they have had credit. For example, I have a current account with Alliance and Leicester with a Visa Electron (it says Visa Debit on it but I refuse to call it a Visa Debit cos it isnt a real one) but when I asked for a real Visa Debit they said no cos my credit score wasnt good enough and I dont earn lots of money and own my house (thats totally ludicrous and I told them so, but I digress) so if they've got debit cards, they've got credit. It took me 5 years to get a debit card with any bank at all....

I think all the foreigners I know had Electrons or Solos.

Extant

Mrs_Ryan wrote: »

The reason I ask is that I know of people who have come over here from various countries and have had stupid amounts of credit granted to them.

But, in itself, you could argue that a bank account with a debit card is a form of credit... so they have had credit. For example, I have a current account with Alliance and Leicester with a Visa Electron (it says Visa Debit on it but I refuse to call it a Visa Debit cos it isnt a real one) but when I asked for a real Visa Debit they said no cos my credit score wasnt good enough and I dont earn lots of money and own my house (thats totally ludicrous and I told them so, but I digress) so if they've got debit cards, they've got credit. It took me 5 years to get a debit card with any bank at all....

Depends on the type of debit card - Barclays offers all-auth cards to anyone, and they're not credit scored. They have no floor limit, so it should be - if merchants are following standards - impossible to go overdrawn on them. So they're no form of credit at all, really.

book12

bitterSTAR wrote: »

Was alittle disappointed to find that the black card doesn't have contactless payments yet, even though the card is pictured with this functionality on the website in an advert (which had made me think that Premier customers were having them issued now).

Besides, it's not all about the card anyways :P

According to the Barlcays website, the contactless functionality will be on all cards March 2009. http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?task=homefreevi2&value=15949&target=_self&site=pfs

milfordmadness

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Depends on the type of debit card - Barclays offers all-auth cards to anyone, and they're not credit scored. They have no floor limit, so it should be - if merchants are following standards - impossible to go overdrawn on them. So they're no form of credit at all, really.

Hi

What do you mean they are not credit scored? So if you apply at barclays you just get given an account or do you mean if you get the account you don't have separate score just for the card? I assume the card you speak of isn't chq guarantee then as this would result in a 'form of' credit.....

Cheers

p.s. Polish people just use the UK until the jobs dry up then go home again! Those that have stayed are claiming benefits - marvelous society we live in!

As they say, if you step off a boat/plane and walk into a jobcentre you're guaranteed a nice 3 bed semi and a hundred quid a week to spend! If you're Bristish you get made homeless and get nada cos you're NFA! Logic....

bitterSTAR

book12 wrote: »

According to the Barlcays website, the contactless functionality will be on all cards March 2009. http://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/BRC1/jsp/brccontrol?task=homefreevi2&value=15949&target=_self&site=pfs

Yeah I know, but they are using an image of a contactless premier card with a slogan like "APPLY NOW" on their website. That's what made me think that premier cards were getting contactless earlier.

Extant

bitterSTAR wrote: »

Yeah I know, but they are using an image of a contactless premier card with a slogan like "APPLY NOW" on their website. That's what made me think that premier cards were getting contactless earlier.

Some will be. From my knowledge of it, production will start before March, likely mid February - so some may very well get the cards ahead of time.

Safest bet, wait until March and then ask the branch to mark your current card as "damaged and replaced" - then you can use the card you have and a new one will turn up in a few days.

Extant

milfordmadness wrote: »

Hi

What do you mean they are not credit scored? So if you apply at barclays you just get given an account or do you mean if you get the account you don't have separate score just for the card? I assume the card you speak of isn't chq guarantee then as this would result in a 'form of' credit.....

We offer a basic bank account (the Cash Card account, which is not credit scored) and a "full" current account (the Barclays Bank account, which is credit scored, and can then be upgraded to the paid for accounts etc.)

We offer a basic cash card or all-authorization Visa Debit (won't let you spend unless the bank says you have funds) neither of which are scored. We then offer various debit cards which have both a cheque guarantee and a floor limit (so under certain amounts, the card will always be accepted if the bank cannot be contacted), these are all scored products.

You may score high enough for a Barclays Bank account (BBA), but not for a £50 cheque guarantee card.

People with no credit history will typically be offered the BBA with the Cash Card Account being reserved for those with adverse credit history.