Santander application - Have I been accepted?

tescomilk

Thanks for all the replies today everyone :T

Well I was just about to fill the Application Tracker Follow Up form but it says wait 5 Working Days but its although its been 6 days since I applied its actually only 3 working days because of the bank holiday. Not happy with the sounds of Visa Electron :eek: I honestly thought they were being phased out now. I already have a Visa Debit with my current basic account so would definately need to keep that open.

Slinger - did they guarantee an account/card upgrade after 6 months? If not than there is very little point in Santander for me. Your right too about the simple switch claims - they say they have a dedicated team and theres no terms/notes about having to go in branch. I too also asked for an OD but only while the switch of all my direct debits go through. I'm worried the OD request may have held up my application now. Hmmm will have to see what tomorrow brings?

davidhenson1

I was with Abbey/Santander for about 5 years. Had god awful credit and opened a joint current account with my partner and was accepted and we were both given those horrid red and white electron cards. Having used and abused this account for some time i wanted to upgrade the card so kept the balance high and did the usual tricks to see if i could be upgraded. Time after time if kept getting knocked back. They ask you to contact your local branch and then they contact another department, probably credit referral to check to see if you can have one. Then one day they suddenly allowed me to have one. Now my credit is shocking - 3 ccjs and 6/7 defaults! my partner has no credit problems and is crystal clean although she does now have a financial link to me. However, they kept saying no to her to have an upgrade! absolute madness. Strange bank, rude english customer service (when you get to speak to them) and generally the Indian call centre are rather helpful (well were for me). One thing to note should you ever need it, they are allowed to reimburse you 3/4 charges back throughout the year should you get any.

Hope this helps explain your chances of getting an upgrade are probably depending if the moon is full the night before!

tescomilk

davidhenson1 wrote: »

Hope this helps explain your chances of getting an upgrade are probably depending if the moon is full the night before!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Thanks but I should have made it clearer, I'm not requesting an upgrade. I have a basic account with Barclays and not Santander, hence why I bothered trying to switch via the £100 deal + £35 cashback. However if they also offer me an Electron card then a may ask how long before I can upgrade or cancel my application.

I would like a full (normal) account again, where I can build up an internal credit score but the longer this goes on the more unlikely I am to get accepted.

Today is the 4th Working Day so If I haven't heard by first thing tomorrow morning I will fill in the App Tracker Form and fire it off to customer services....

fawinds

tescomilk wrote: »

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Thanks but I should have made it clearer, I'm not requesting an upgrade. I have a basic account with Barclays and not Santander, hence why I bothered trying to switch via the £100 deal + £35 cashback. However if they also offer me an Electron card then a may ask how long before I can upgrade or cancel my application.

I would like a full (normal) account again, where I can build up an internal credit score but the longer this goes on the more unlikely I am to get accepted.

Today is the 4th Working Day so If I haven't heard by first thing tomorrow morning I will fill in the App Tracker Form and fire it off to customer services....

tescomilk, three months ago I only had two basic accounts, one with Halifax and another with Natwest. I tried to have them upgraded for a couple times and always said no. Note I don't have any adverse, just a too short credit history.

Within the last three months I was first approved for a proper HSBC Bank account with debit card and chequebook, then for a Citibank Access current account with debit card (a cheque guarantee one!!!) and cheque book too, and finally I have opened a Santander business account which comes with a full debit card (not electron) and cheque book.

My advise is that you try either Citibank, which I believe are easy, or HSBC, which I don't think are too difficult as they gave me the account after I was refused by Alliance and Leicester.

I have my business account with Santander because I needed a simple account opened from the internet, not needing to meet a business adviser, and which was free to run. If I ever need anything more elaborate I will go for an HSBC business account, but for now I am glad I got this one with Santander for a new limited company.

tescomilk

fawinds wrote: »

tescomilk, three months ago I only had two basic accounts, one with Halifax and another with Natwest. I tried to have them upgraded for a couple times and always said no. Note I don't have any adverse, just a too short credit history.

My advise is that you try either Citibank, which I believe are easy, or HSBC, which I don't think are too difficult as they gave me the account after I was refused by Alliance and Leicester.

Thanks and Congrats on your account success. I will probably try Citibank if I'm not successful with Santander.

I'm not sure about HSBC, used to be a customer until I was a NaughtyTescoMilk with them 7 years ago when I eventually closed the account (& credit card) after overdraft/late fees problems. They may not still have my records on their systems but don't think I would waste the credit check incase.

I would really like a "normal" bank account again where I can build an internal score. Only problem with Citi is they don't seem to have any branches outside London (though I could manage online perfectly well). This is strange however because I am sure years ago (when I was more credit worthy) I received a Pre-Approved Loan Letter from Citi, telling me to visit my local City Centre branch (didn't bother but was never a customer either). Did Citi close all their branches or somthing? :think:

fawinds

tescomilk wrote: »

I would really like a "normal" bank account again where I can build an internal score. Only problem with Citi is they don't seem to have any branches outside London (though I could manage online perfectly well). This is strange however because I am sure years ago (when I was more credit worthy) I received a Pre-Approved Loan Letter from Citi, telling me to visit my local City Centre branch (didn't bother but was never a customer either). Did Citi close all their branches or somthing? :think:

Thank you. I have no idea whether Citi had more branches in the past. However they say you can use Lloyds TSB branches for everyday banking. The only disadvantage I see with them is they don't offer faster payments, though they say they will be available by the end of the year.

I do all my banking with them online. As a fact I only opened the account with them for the free ATM withdrawals in the eurozone.

tescomilk

fawinds wrote: »

However they say you can use Lloyds TSB branches for everyday banking.

Bonus

fawinds wrote: »

free ATM withdrawals in the eurozone.

Double Bonus :beer:

Definately liking the sound of Citibank if Santander say no....

jenny1980_3

Ii have just been accepted for a bank account with Santander and got the same email. I applied yesterday and got another email today saying that my account had been opened and my cards etc were in the post and they were in the process of asking my other account for all direct debits etc to swap over.
At the bottom of the email was an attachment for me to print off to request my cheque book with a signature.

fawinds

tescomilk wrote: »

Bonus



Double Bonus :beer:

Definately liking the sound of Citibank if Santander say no....

But if you want the free euro withdrawals you also need to open an euro current account. With the sterling account you only get free withdrawals if you use Citibank ATMs.

slinger_2

tescomilk wrote: »

Slinger - did they guarantee an account/card upgrade after 6 months? If not than there is very little point in Santander for me. Your right too about the simple switch claims - they say they have a dedicated team and theres no terms/notes about having to go in branch. I too also asked for an OD but only while the switch of all my direct debits go through. I'm worried the OD request may have held up my application now. Hmmm will have to see what tomorrow brings?

They wouldn't commit to anything but stated that is it works. I have no confidence in anything they say after what has happened, but thats' not to say other people won't be over the moon with them though. I was going to be opening a further 3 accounts with them but that obviously isn't going to be happening now and I will be going to the local branch on Saturday to close the current account and the eSaver account.