Ageist? Can there be any other reason?

pfpf

hello.

My mum applied for a A&L current account today, and straight up i'll be honest, i did it for her for the RaF money(for her). no shame in that .

she is 69 and has no debt AT ALL, with no credit cards either.

she has a reasonable income and no adverse credit history, she is from the generation that paid for things if they needed it and rarely bought things if they only 'wanted' it.

i digress...........having applied for the account (with no overdraft or CC) she was flatly refused within about 2 mins via email, even though the mail said "having carefully studied your application...etc etc"

is this purely ageism? did i miss something in the T&C's? Mum is certainly "over 21"

she agreed to pay in £500.00 per month as required.

whats the general concensus out there regarding older people and Current accounts?

its the fact that mum didnt apply for an overdraft thats got me stumped, my sister, who is on benefits while looking after a disabled daughter got the account accepted within minutes.

so, what gives?

thank you.

sgx.saint

From what you have said, perhaps it is just the fact that your mum has no credit history.

Having no history is viewed by the banks as being just as bad as having an adverse credit history.

That's the only reason I could think of based on your original post.

Have you thought of ringing A&L and asking them to look into it?

chesky369

I'm 62 - bit younger than your mum - and had no trouble in getting the AL account. But I am still employed full time, is your mum retired?

iceicebaby

Mty mum has had same problem with A&L, she is under 60 and does not work .

Think they may lose points not necessarily because of their age but beacause shes not in work.

seven-day-weekend

I think sometimes they like at least the possibility of you paying a salry into the account.

Zebedee69

pfpf

I think this is a "No Credit History" issue.

Alot of people who never had credit or a bank account have difficulty in later life as they have no history. Banks are very wary of people like this, either your a person like your mother who just never had cards or loans and came from a different generation etc. Or you could possibly be trying to cover adverse history under a new name. There are also Money laundering issues too.

Best thing to do is talk to the bank. If you bank with A & L yourself then maybe you could both go into the bank and set an account up with you as a person they can vouch for.

Cant personally see an issue with what money is paid in once its a fairly frequent sum ie: Pension, Wages etc etc.

My 2 Cents. If your having probs opening a bank account in her name in one bank then you will have probs with all the banks.

margaretclare

I've had a current a/c with A & L, changed from them, am now with Smile, I'm 71. I've had absolutely no problems at all.

Think it may be the absence of a credit history here which is the problem rather than age. After all, if you're on pensions income it's not going to stop, is it, only with your demise. Not like someone in work who may be made redundant.

A & L are one of the banks that you can deal with over a PO counter therefore should be more suitable for pensioners - I used my A&L debit card to post parcels etc, no problem. I really do think it's the 'no credit history'.

Margaret

anniecave

my mum is (now) a pensioner and has been with a&L for ages. I wonder if it's the lack of history here, and also I've read somewhere they're less likely to accept you if you say you will just pay in £500, rather than saying you will be paying in £532.23 or any other number over £500, as if you are paying in an exact £500 a computer may be programmed to check for this and suspect you are just doing it for the cash.

masonic

From what I remember of the application form, you not only have to fill in how much you will pay in per month, but also your annual income. If your income does not amount to more than the £500 per month funding minimum (i.e. £6000), I was under the impression you were automatically refused.

pfpf

thanks for all the replies.

Mum is retired but with an income that easily outstrips the £500.00pm amount we entered.

thing i didnt mention above was that she does have an Abbey basic account that all her pension goes into, but with no DC, chequebook etc.(her choice)

apparently she had a CC with this account up until earlier this year when she closed it due to non use.

she has bought things through catalogue(sp?)type places before, but i guess thats the extent of her credit history.

no A&L branch near by, so i think we will just have to forget this one.

thanks again.