Bad credit- how will I get a student bank account?

AMB81

Hi,

I have banked with RBS for 7 years- I have always had a Royalties Gold account which costs about £12 a month.

I never used the facilities on this account as my credit rating is very poor - I defaulted on 2 accounts- settled them in 2005 and one in 2006 but they still seem to effect any credit applications I make (not many- maybe one a year). I mainly apply just to see if I still have bad credit. I do have an up to date paid o2 mobile phone bill on my credit file - this is open for about 3 years.

My problem is I gave up my job in September to go back and do nursing at Uni - I want to change my account at RBS to a Student account as no longer want to pay charges and take advantage of my student status - but I wondering will they turn down my application due to my bad credit? Would I be eligible for a student overdraft or are they as strict with student accounts as with normal accounts?

One thing which may help - I applied for all 3 credit reports recently and experian don't seem to be able to supply mine straight away- could this be effecting things?
Thank for your help

A

Horace

Not sure about your report with Experian.

Rather than sticking with RBS - there is nothing stopping you from getting a basic bank account elsewhere (to be honest it is complete madness to pay a bank £12 a month for a bank account). If you have a bad credit history though you may find that you probably won't be able to get an overdraft..you have to try and live within your means instead.

gilligansyle

Generally student bank accounts are aimed at those just leaving school who have no credit history. The idea being that they will have the expenses of living away from home, but may have to wait for student loans etc. so they are given overdrafts in a lot of cases.

Your best option is to cancel the fancy stuff on your bank account and just use it as a normal account.

Not sure why Experian can't provide you with information, but it may be enough that banks can't do an automatic credit check and have to do a manual one.

I don't know enough about the financing of nursing, (when I did it, it was a job with a salary, and lots and lots of hours!) so don't know about whether you could have or would need an overdraft.