best standard current account with debit card to apply for?

blunt_crayon

Hi,

My boyfriend opened a current account with Nationwide last year. They sent him a cash card not a debit card and when he requested a debit card they said he could not get one straight away and he would have to wait a few months. After waiting a while he tried to do this, had to go into a branch where they told him he still couldn't have a debit card. He closed the account because it was useless to him and went next door to Halifax and tried to open an account which was declined as he failed the credit check!! He does not want an overdraft or anything like that, just a basic current account with a debit card so I don't know why they declined him. He had not been applying for any loans or anything but the woman in Halifax told him it might be because he had just closed the account next door. Do they even need to run a credit check for a current account with no overdraft??

He has another current account with Barclays which is overdrawn to the tune of between £800 and £1600 depending on where we are in the month. We pay bills from this account and he needs the new account for his spending money to keep it separate. He also has a credit card with about £100 on it but has a limit of £2,500 and another credit card which has no money on it but a limit of £2,000. I have already told him to get rid of one and reduce the limit on the other so he has less available credit.

He has a good credit history and earns £30k a year so I wouldn't have expected him to have any trouble getting a debit card let alone get refused on a current account!!

Does anyone know which bank(s) would be best to approach for a straightforward current account? Would Barclays be a good bet as they can see his regular salary payments?

Thanks for any advice offered!

blunt_crayon

by the way he was declined about 3 months ago and has been waiting a while so he doesn't get too many credit checks on his file. he hasn't had any credit checks since this one.

apt

It would have been to have kept the Nationwide account for spending money and for spending abroad. His priority should be on cutting spending to get rid of his overdraft and credit card balance rather than getting debit card to make it easier to spend more.

blunt_crayon

i have a nationwide account for spending abroad so he doesn't need one.

he has been paying off credit cards, which will be closed this month. these had the highest interest rates. overdraft, at a lower rate, is next to be repaid and will be cleared in 3-4 months.

it is easier to budget for bills and spending money by keeping them separate and there is no reason why he shouldn't have a debit card. it makes life much easier e.g. for shopping and paying bills online.

apt

Having a couple of credit cards is not usually a problem. Indeed banks often prefer applicants with a small number of credit cards to those with none. Has he had a look at his credit file? Or asked Halifax why he failed the credit check? Halifax don't have the reputation of being particularly fussy, and there may be something, correct or incorrect, on the file that they or another bank would not like. Is he on the electoral roll? How longer has he been resident at the current address?

blunt_crayon

Halifax said it might have been because he had just closed the current account with Nationwide the same day. Maybe some fraud thing they were wary of? He is on the electoral roll and we had been at our current address for about 6 months at the time. Had moved 6 months prior to that so that may have put them off. We are unfurnished tenants. I will ask him to check his credit report though.

YorkshireBoy

blunt_crayon wrote: »

Halifax said it might have been because he had just closed the current account with Nationwide the same day. Maybe some fraud thing they were wary of?

They were feeding him nonsense, and he should ignore their pure speculation! Credit files are updated once per month.

He is on the electoral roll and we had been at our current address for about 6 months at the time. Had moved 6 months prior to that so that may have put them off.

Was he on the electoral roll at his previous address?...ie is there some traceability?

I think it's purely a credit scoring issue...

short time at current address
renting, not home owner
overdrawn (heavily and permanently?) at his main current account
credit card balances (recently paid off) not yet updated on his credit file
single

blunt_crayon

You could be right. We weren't on the electoral roll at the previous address as we were only there for 6 months. Prior to that he was on the electoral roll for a long time as he lived with his parents.

He is always overdrawn on the Barclays account so it could be that. When he gets paid it goes to about zero then when rent, bills, food etc come out by the end of the month it's around 1600 overdrawn. his credit cards will be paid off this month though so he will have an extra £300-400 a month going to pay off his overdraft.

Would it be worth trying to get a second account with Barclays if he explained about needing 2 different accounts? As they can see that he is earning £1800pm?

blunt_crayon

and why are they so strict on credit scoring when he doesn't even want an overdraft, just an account for his money with a debit card??

blunt_crayon

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts

Martin mentions in this that Barclays and Coop are the most lenient so guess we should try Co-op.