Nationwide driving me mad

jrstreeter

I hope someone can help me.

I'm seeking to apply for a nationwide flexaccount with a debit card but they will only offer me a cash card. I've queried this over the phone with Nationwide because:

a) I have already had a debit card with HSBC for 10 years.
b) I'm willing to use Nationwide as my main account.
c) I have a monthly salary of over £2000 usually with over £4000 in my main account and would want to set up a savers account with over £20,000 in it and would like a credit card (surely a good customer for them).
d) I have a credit score of 889 well into the good range, after talking with Experian about my report they can see no reason why it would be refused on credit grounds
e) I have no debts and have not had any since my student loan repayments which were repaid in full years ago

Despite this they still will not offer me a debit card or give a specific reason why it has been refused. They just say 'it's what the system is coming up with'. They are pretty unhelpful over the phone and rather disinterested.

I'm not even that bothered about the £75 offer as I'm keen on the card for overseas use.

They've recommended that I phone their new business team on monday but they did not sounds hopeful.

I just can't fathom it, I'm a 30 year old adult with all the above and it seems like a fairly basic account.

If anyone has any advice I would be so grateful as I'm tearing my hair out.

Baldur

For ATM withdrawals abroad, the Cash Card may actually be better than the Debit Card, since, as it's a Cirrus card, it does not attract the 1% VISA fee charged for Debit Card transactions outside the VISA Europe region.

I had the opposite problem to you when specifically applying for a Cash Card account as a backup for my full Flex Debit Card account, Nationwide decided to give me another Debit Card account instead.

opinions4u

jrstreeter wrote: »

I have a monthly salary of over £2000 usually with over £4000 in my main account and would want to set up a savers account with over £20,000 in it and would like a credit card (surely a good customer for them).

Offering a credit card to non-customers or nearly new customers is high risk. Same applies to a full facilities debit card.

I have a credit score of 889 well into the good range, after talking with Experian about my report they can see no reason why it would be refused on credit grounds

With the greatest respect, Experian don't lend money, so their view isn't remotely helpful.

If Nationwide choose to cherry pick customers with a lower risk, that is their business decision to make.

I have no debts and have not had any since my student loan repayments which were repaid in full years ago

So you have a limited credit history?

Despite this they still will not offer me a debit card or give a specific reason why it has been refused. They just say 'it's what the system is coming up with'. They are pretty unhelpful over the phone and rather disinterested.

Their credit scoring system has come up with the decision. Computer says no. What do you expect the people you talk to be able to do?

(Computers do, statistically, make better lending decisions that humans).

I'm not even that bothered about the £75 offer as I'm keen on the card for overseas use.

If you didn't arrange to switch salary and direct debits then they (or rather the automated scoring system) probably don't believe that you will use them as your primary bank. Their overseas transaction fee is a loss-leader - they don't want people who will only use the account overseas.

If anyone has any advice I would be so grateful as I'm tearing my hair out.

Don't move your account to them?

(Sorry if it's not what you want to hear, but it could be fairly close to accurate answers).

jrstreeter

Opinions for you

All banks need new business

I did ask to make it my main account and switch salaries and all direct debits and standing orders. I judged this would be worth while given the overseas beenfits.

I don't have a limited credit history, I have used a credit card occasionally over the years always paid in full on time.

On the credit scores issue I think humans make the best decisions supported by systems but not totally ruled by them, given what I explained to them i'd of thought they could look into it further and give a decent explanation of why I'm 'too high risk'.

Why should I want to go with them? Maybe I shouldn't if their staff are insufficiently empowered or helpful. But that requires a judgement on the percieved costs and benefits.

With the greatest respect of course.

KarenBB

Sounds like the computer makes the decision without human input, unfortunately that seems to be the way things are these days. If the people in the call centre don't deal with account applications they wouldn't be able to do anything other than tell you to call the team that do deal with account opening on Monday, even if they can't tell you why you were declined they might be able to tell you how to appeal the decision so a human can look at your case.

Years ago a man I worked with applied for something like a catalogue (sorry it was years ago and I can't remember details) but he was declined. He was up in arms because he'd never had a loan, never had a credit cards etc... But because he hadn't had any of tose he didn't have a good credit history - he had no credit history. I've no idea how things work but I wonder if just using a credit card occassionally is enough. But as you've said you dod have a debit card now and I don't know if that adds to it.

glider3560

jrstreeter wrote: »

All banks need new business

Nationwide are not a bank.

jrstreeter wrote: »

On the credit scores issue I think humans make the best decisions supported by systems but not totally ruled by them, given what I explained to them i'd of thought they could look into it further and give a decent explanation of why I'm 'too high risk'.

To be honest, the scores given by Experian and the like aren't a very good measure of what you'll be offered. Banks/building societies have their own requirements and scoring methods. Nationwide are known for having particularly stringent requirements.

opinions4u

jrstreeter wrote: »

All banks need new business

Although perhaps they would be more successful if they focused on looking after existing customers, but that's a different discussion.

New customers are, generically speaking, higher risk. That's why banks cherry pick their new customers (or rather restrict their facilities to some new customers until a clear business relationship has been established).

As a building society Nationwide also have responsibilities to their other members by ensuring that new business attracted is not going to put returns to savers at risk. They are, after all, pretty poor already!

I did ask to make it my main account and switch salaries and all direct debits and standing orders. I judged this would be worth while given the overseas beenfits.

Thanks for the clarity. It wasn't clear from the first post.

I don't have a limited credit history, I have used a credit card occasionally over the years always paid in full on time.

This should help, but using a credit card "occasionally" is relatively limited.

On the credit scores issue I think humans make the best decisions supported by systems but not totally ruled by them

I used to underwrite loans and mortgages. I said much the same at the time of having those decisions taken away from me. But the reality is that cases that were declined by the system and offered after a subsequent appeal by the customer were massively more likely to go in to default. If the original decision (by a computer) had been upheld the bank wouldn't have lost money and the customer wouldn't have had their credit history trashed.

You seemed to like computerised credit scores when provided by Experian though.

, given what I explained to them i'd of thought they could look into it further and give a decent explanation of why I'm 'too high risk'.

The reason is the credit scoring system that they use. To give anything like a detailed reply would actually undermine the inegrity of that system. Frustrating, perhaps. But true.

Most staff probably wouldn't be able to anyway.

finder

Hey

I know how annoying that can be. When I first applied for the Flexaccoung a few years back I did not have any debts either and had some savings too. On top of that, I had a fully fledged account with somebody else, including the debit card facility.

When I went to the branch and I applied for it I was also rejected when, as I said, any other bank would have happily taken me. The impression I have is that NW credit scoring system seems to be more obscure/stricter than other institutions. Do not expect people in branches being able to let you know why you are not meeting their criteria. But that 'unhelpfulness' in this regard is typical of most people you will find in other banks too. I am not saying they are to blame, this is just a fact.

What I would suggest is that you go for the cash card account while obviously you keep banking with your current institution. Try to get some money in for a few months and use the card to withdraw money here in the UK or abroad. And then reapply in a few months. That is what I was suggested when I came accross the problem. However annoying it may be, it did work and they upgraded my account to a Flexaccount in 6 months or so.

You mention that you want the account for overseas expending. Well, the cashcard will give you free withdrawals (although you won't be able to use it online) and that is one of the main benefits why, in my case, I got the account:

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/foreigntransactions.htm

and read the 3rd question in the Q&A section.

Good luck

JoseChungsDoomsday

I feel your pain, the co-op bank is just as bad. even tho I have a current account with them I just can't get a credit card!

horngkai

I applied to Halifax twice for the rewards account and got rejected saying that my credit scoring was not good. However, I can see no search of my credit report on experian from them...Not sure whats the basis of them rejecting...

Nationwide accepted me straight away though....