Bank or building society?

Savvy_Sue

I'm asking this question on behalf of someone else so I probably won't be able to answer many specific questions, but if I describe a scenario please could anyone give any pointers.

I work for a small charity, and one of our clients has been awarded some compensation (£5000+). They do not have a bank or building society account, so the cheque has been sent to us. Obviously we need to pass this money on, but doing so in cash is not a viable option so they need to open a bank or building society account.

It is likely that they have either no or a very bad credit history, but I do not know which or how bad it is. Nor do I know how they currently manage their money or where any current income comes from. They are nowhere near pensionable age, if that makes a difference, and we're talking SW England if anything regional springs to mind.

I don't think internet or postal accounts would 'work' for them.

The options as I see them are:

• basic bank account
  (presumably no interest paid, few 'features', and am I right in thinking that you can't pay anything but benefits into some of these? Or is that just the basic Post Office account?)
• building society account
  (interest paid, find one with a cashcard, get cheques drawn up in favour of other people to pay for larger items. Any checks apart from identity done before opening a BS account?)
• joint account with someone they trust with a decent credit rating, with sole signatory rights
  (least good option IMO, fraught with potential problems, unless anyone knows different?)

If this is the kind of question answered by one of Martin's many articles, I apologise and ask someone to point me to it, then I can print it off and pass it to our client on Monday! If it's not, suggestions very welcome!

MarkyMarkD

If they have no credit history, your joint account suggestion may work, but if they have a bad history it won't.

I think that basic bank account is the way to go if you need to use banking facilities - e.g. standing order, direct debit. And the whole point of basic bank accounts is that they are available to those with no banking history.

If you just want an account with an ATM card, and have a bad history, a bank/BS savings account with an ATM card would do the job nicely - no credit rating required for that sort of account.

Walletwatch

The Halifax cardcash account and the Abbey no-frills current account (don't recollect what they call them) are suitable for such cases - both of them give you electron cards as well.

Savvy_Sue

Thanks chaps, that's helpful. I don't know what the client will want to do with their money, or what services they might want to use, but it's helpful to have some idea what comes with what.

Fatboy_NSS

The Halifax cardcash account and the Abbey no-frills current account (don't recollect what they call them) are suitable for such cases - both of them give you electron cards as well.

No the Abbey basic account only gives you a cashcard. For an Electron card you need a full current account.