Banks wont let you have a savings account without a current account

Malory

Long Post -

I have been banking with Abbey/Santander for over five years. I have a joint current account with my husband there, as well as a savings account and a credit card in my name only.

After so many service problems that we can’t count them (how appropriate that two threads below mine there is one called ‘Santander – latest outrage’) my husband and I decided to move our Santander current account (this is our main account that our salaries get paid into) to HSBC. We already have other accounts with HSBC – I have a current account with a small amount of money in it and a savings account, and he has a business account with them– and we are happy with their service. We opened the HSBC account about a month ago and our direct debits have just been switched over. On opening the new HSBC account, I was also given a credit card. (I pay all my credit card bills in full by the end of the month so no issue with credit there.)

So I just have my Santander credit card and my Santander savings account left with Santander. I’m going to cancel the credit card and I want to get rid of the savings account because I want nothing ever to do with Santander again. However, I like the idea of having savings in a separate bank account than that of my main current account,so I’m less tempted to move money from it into my current account and spend it.

My husband has a small current account with Lloyds – he opened it with just £1 – and they seemed to be OK so I thought I would open an account with them. I went into my local LLoyds branch and I was advised to go online and open an Esaver. When I went to apply online, I was told that I needed a LLoyd’s current account. So I thought I might as well open a small account like the one my husband had. Well, I tried to apply online and was blocked from applying and told to go into the branch. So I went back to the branch where the person I saw couldn’t get the account to go through online either, and I was given an appointment to see someone in person next week. The branch worker said that my credit had to be checked. I’m guessing that there is a credit issue since I just opened a new current account and got a new credit card a month ago. (I dont have any real credit problems, such as debt.)

So I walked into my local Barclay’s branch and asked about opening a savings account, and I was told that in order to have a savings account, I need to open a current account with my salary and direct debits.

What is this? Why can’t I just open a savings account in a bank without having a current account - with my full salary - attached to it?

Hmm, I opened my Santander savings account after I was added to my husband’s jcurrent account there I wonder if I’m not allowed to have it anymore now that we don’t have the current account. I guess I better start transferring the money over to my HSBC savings account for now.

I do not like having all my money in one bank, especially since my horrible experiences with Santander. If I did not also bank separately with HSBC, there are times when, due to Santander’s extreme incompetence, I would have been seriously screwed.

Should I wait until my appointment with Lloyds next week and try to open an account with them again? Is there a certain amount of time that I should wait in between trying to open bank accounts? The guy at Barclays mentioned something about opening a bank account being bad for my credit. (As I mentioned, I have no debt. I pay all my credit card bills in full before the end of the month and do not use my authorised overdraft.)

By the way, an ISA isn’t practical for me because I am a dual UK/US citizen so I would have pay tax on the interest from the ISA to the US government. I’m just looking for a savings account that I can manage online, which includes moving money to and from accounts in other banks. Because of my past experiences, service is much more important to me than interest rate. (A high interest rate means nothing if you can’t have your money, and time spent on phone and in branch trying to fix problems costs money.)

getmore4less

I have Tesco and Egg savings accounts both have on-line access

jennifernil

Yes, I was going to suggest Tesco too. Very good internet access and FP transfers.

Depending on how much you have to save, what about a Lloyds Classic current account with Vantage added?

3% on £3k-5k, then 4% on £5k-7k.

I had no problem getting 3 of these accounts. I use them as savings accounts.

I also have 7 other sole current accounts and 2 joint ones, and my only regular income is my pension of £50 per week!

pmduk

Try a Building Society?

Malory

Hmm. The LLoyds Classic current account (without Vantage) is the one that I was blocked from. Hubby thinks its weird as he was able to get one and my credit is better than his. I may try again - maybe it's just an internet thing, although the woman at the bank said it was't - it was a problem with the account.

What happened is:

Typed in name, birthdate, marital status, address, etc.
System says to wait while being processed.
After a minute or so, system says can't process application, have to go into bank with ID

Happened with computer at home and computer in branch.

Did not get to the point of entering any income details.

jonesMUFCforever

The reason why most banks want you to open a current account when you want a savings is to facilitate withdrawals and an account to pay money into when bonds/term deposits mature.
As most banks charge for bankers cheques or CHAPS payments (and cannot initiate faster payments/BACS in branch) I think this is a good idea.

There is another reason as well the bank employee is probably targeted to open / sell a cross section of products when someone comes in to open a savings account!

jennifernil

If you want to go with Lloyds then take your ID to the branch and try again. Are you on the Electoral register? I did all mine in a branch. Only needed ID for the first.

My OH managed to open a Lloyds Classic with Vantage on-line, he is not British and not on the Register, yet he didn't have to provide any ID. I was quite surprised.

He is however already with Halifax, so possibly in their "system"

rb10

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

The reason why most banks want you to open a current account when you want a savings is to facilitate withdrawals and an account to pay money into when bonds/term deposits mature.
As most banks charge for bankers cheques or CHAPS payments (and cannot initiate faster payments/BACS in branch) I think this is a good idea.

No, it's because they want you to use them as their bank.

The reasons you give don't hold at all, the way I see it:
- 'to facilitate withdrawals' - why not just allow savings accounts to make BACS/FP to external accounts? Not difficult.
- 'an account to pay money into when bonds mature' - just keep them in the same account and make it instant access? Again, pretty simple.
- some banks will have no bankers' draft fee for those taken from savings accounts, for this very reason.

Malory

jennifernil wrote: »

If you want to go with Lloyds then take your ID to the branch and try again. Are you on the Electoral register? I did all mine in a branch. Only needed ID for the first.

My OH managed to open a Lloyds Classic with Vantage on-line, he is not British and not on the Register, yet he didn't have to provide any ID. I was quite surprised.

He is however already with Halifax, so possibly in their "system"

Yes, I'm on the electoral register and have a British passport. Will try again in branch.

missile

No idea what Barclays rules are.

LTSB certainly do not require "with my full salary paid in" to open a classic current account. In any event why is that a problem for you to have another current account? You would need a current account to operate an LTSB eSaver account.

I would suggest you should have more than one current account. I have several.

bobpat_2

Hi, my wife and I both have monthly savings, and ISA's with Barclays, and do not have current accounts with them and have never had any problems.