Which current account to go for?

Tabasco

I have had a Halifax Cardcash account since god knows when. My credit history has been pretty boring but got improved throughout the last year or so. Even managed to get myself an Egg and Barclaycard. At the same time I got the cards, I thought it would be nice to have a proper debit card.

Unfortunately Both Smile and Cahoot denied my applications....I would prefer a proper bank account than the credit cards...nevermind.

Now, it has been 6 months since I applied, my hands are itching to try again. I have not missed one single payments on my records (as far as I know) and definately none in the last 6 months. I have £3000 on the cards which are still on 0%. Currently salary is around 18.5K.

My questions are:

1) Which company will likely to approve? (Smile sounds good and A&L Premium Plus gives you interest free O/D and good interest rate)

2) Which will give me an answer straight away? (I know Smile sort of let you track the application)

3) Which will give me some kind of interest free O/D. It doesn't need to be huge but I would feel safer knowing I won't get charged £25 for a £1 overdraft. I am sure you know what I mean.

Thank you!!!!!
Simon

Darryl

Simon

I'd first suggest that you get a copy of your credit records from both Experian and Equifax, so that you can see what maybe made Smile and Cahoot denied your applications (although Cahoot can be fussy about who they give accounts to anyway). They cost £2 each.

Also, see Martin's article on Your Credit Rating. This has a few tips on how you make your credit records better.

I'm not saying this is the problem, but it is a good first step I'd say.

Hope this helps

Darryl.

Tabasco

Darryl wrote:

Simon

I'd first suggest that you get a copy of your credit records from both Experian and Equifax, so that you can see what maybe made Smile and Cahoot denied your applications (although Cahoot can be fussy about who they give accounts to anyway). They cost £2 each.

Also, see Martin's article on Your Credit Rating. This has a few tips on how you make your credit records better.

I'm not saying this is the problem, but it is a good first step I'd say.

Hope this helps

Darryl.

Hi Darryl,

Thanks for the reply. I did have a look at the file (a while ago) but nothing was wrong. If any, I would say it's 'not enough' history. I remember seeing some searches by the companies mentioned and my company (investment) credit record searches. No mention of why Smile rejected.

I may order a paper one anyway. Only £2.

Do you know which bank would likely to accept me though?

student100

Mmm dunno. Almost any bank would accept a student with income much much less than yours for a current account, so I would expect that they should accept you no problem. Although I suppose the only reason they offer student accounts in the first place is because they hope to secure customers for the future. So I don't know

monty58

I used to be with Nat West and my wife was with Midland. When we moved here 17 years ago we wanted to ditch both. 'Which?' did athing on current accounts then so I went with what they said. I've been with them ever since and I've never regretted it. I'm talking about the Nationwide. They do online but still have branches; they are still a 'Which?' best buy and they don't charge any extra for using your plastic abroad unlike other banks which do. Online only isn't good; there's nothing beats talking to a member of staff face to face and I don't mean a call centre in India. I've dealt with Alliance + Leicester before; I won't ever be again!

Darryl

Tabasco wrote:

Do you know which bank would likely to accept me though?

Simon

A bank that I suspect would accept you straight away is HSBC; but I can't vouch for their customer service record, and their accounts don't meet your interest free overdraft/in-credit interest requirements.

You might try the Alliance & Leicester Premier Current Account (not Premier Plus). This more than meets your requirements in terms of interest rates, etc; but I can't say I was impressed with their customer service when I banked with them a few years ago.

Other banks like Citibank also meet your requirements, but have a poor reputation for customer service on these and other chat boards.

If no interest free overdraft is required, plenty of banks could be suitable, but I think monty58 makes a good suggestion in Nationwide. Their low 6.75% overdraft rate won't charge you very much for the odd few pounds overdrawn some months (as long as you agree a limit with them first - it's not automatic, and they charge £15 for unauthorised ODs plus 23.9% interest :eek: ).

As they say... the choice is yours...

Hope this helps

Darryl.