which banks upgrade on behaviour?

sunflower_2

my halifax account was downgraded as I didnt use it for quite a while.
it is now a "cardcash" with visa electron, although i still have the authorised overdraft of £1000 on there...

i asked for it to be put back to a full current account and they did a credit check, which i failed
(this is due to serious financial problems i had previously following divorce).

anyway, i never go over my overdraft limit and have regular payments going in throughout the month

but as far as i am aware, the halifax always credit score when you apply for an upgrade, even if u run your account perfectly :-[

are there any banks that actually base their decisions on account behaviour?

whereas if i opened a basic account and ran it without any problems they would consider upgrading me to a full current account?

jonesMUFCforever

i asked for it to be put back to a full current account and they did a credit check, which i failed
(this is due to serious financial problems i had previously following divorce).
If you mean there are adverse comments on your credit files then opening a basic account with another bank normally means no chance of upgrading for at least 12 months. If the advers info is still there (eg ccj or arrears info on loans etc) then you will have no chance to upgrade.
Eric

Alan_T_2

my halifax account was downgraded as I didnt use it for quite a while.
it is now a "cardcash" with visa electron, although i still have the authorised overdraft of £1000 on there...

i asked for it to be put back to a full current account and they did a credit check, which i failed
(this is due to serious financial problems i had previously following divorce).

anyway, i never go over my overdraft limit and have regular payments going in throughout the month

but as far as i am aware, the halifax always credit score when you apply for an upgrade, even if u run your account perfectly :-[

are there any banks that actually base their decisions on account behaviour?

whereas if i opened a basic account and ran it without any problems they would consider upgrading me to a full current account?

Halifax historically used to auto upgrade accounts. I'm not sure if this has stopped or not.

I do know if you apply for the account to be upgraded a credit check will be undertaken. I know Halifax will also take into consideration the existing relationship you have with them so it may be worthwhile to appeal the decision. I believe that there are leaflets in the branch regarding the appeal process,

hopefulfooluk

Hi Sunflower,

HSBC is the only bank that upgrade accounts based on your behaviour rather than by using external credit reference agencies. All the others run a credit score when doing it as using the "CRA is king" attitude is far easier and cheaper for banks than hiring people with authority in branches these days.

HSBC though is the exception so if you open a basic account there and run it well for 6 months or so, you should have no problems getting a decent card.

Cheers,

Chris

sunflower_2

thanks v much for the info - i will giv HSBC a try

funkymonkey

Halifax - my scummy bank - have a habbit of only ever letting you have things when you have a reasonable amount of money in your account, so every time i do a SBT of 3K or more i ask them to increase my over draft and after a year of asking every couple of months it was only when i had 8K from a loan in there that they would upgrade me to a current account!

want to move but smile turned me away

louise1234_2

I used to work for Abbey National about 2 years ago & they did upgrade on behaviour, although it was quite strict. (And done by computer) As well as not going over limit it looked at average balance in month, using card etc..

Nick99

Funny thing; every time the sun is shining I meet my bank manager standing in the High Street handing out free umbrellas. Whenever it starts raining again he goes around grabbing them back!

Sounds like a fable? So is the idea of having a bank manager you can actually meet!

BenL

Abbey do upgrade accounts. Every month a score is made of how you operate your account and the facilities offered to you can change.

Its a simple thing to do if you meet the criteria for the upgrade.

Ben