Basic online bank account - does such a thing exist?

sherbie28

Hello,

I am looking for an online account to use for buying things on the internet, and for my cashback sites, paypal etc. I won't be paying any wages into it. Can I get something like this online? I've only ever used high street banks before. Thanks

Sillychuckie

Just beware, if you do end up keeping lots of money in there, its never a good idea to use a debit card over the internet.
Credit cards are much saver (especially Visa ones) as it is far easier to sort out any losses due to theft. The banks will sort it out if its credit (their money stolen, not yours), whereas with a debit card, they have less insentive and you might find it a struggle.
As such, I always use a credit card for online purchases.

Granted, this isn't much help to you in terms of getting money from paypal/quidco etc.
The things to look out for with these banks are that they are on the SWIFT network. e.g. Barclays, Alliance & Leicester... but NOT, Nationwide.
Some money places like 'moneybookers'(.com) require uk accounts to be registered on the swift network and I'm pretty sure I had trouble with my nationwide flex account. It should be fine for the likes of paypal though.