Basic Bank Account Thread

Toe-Jam

stickman wrote: »

Hi all,
CUrrently on DMP have got coop basic a/c, visa debit.This card much better than the old electron badged card, however went to buy off John Lewis group and card declined as it comes up on their system as "electron". Called coop and explained and they told me that the card although badged as visa really is'nt a full visa debit card and as I am on DMP can't upgrade to full visa guarantee card. Not that I want that anyway.
Does anyone do a "full debit card facility" on a basic a/c,ie not electron linked just full debit facilities .

Thanks

RBS Step Account
Natwest Step Account
Barclays Cashcard
Lloyds Cashcard (but you can only withdraw money from Lloyds Atms
Nationwide Cashcard+ (launching in the next few weeks)

maliksss

the past three months regarding this account as CitiBank appear to have a very flexible eligability criteria for the account. Many members have successfully opened an account even with adverse credit histories. I therefore highly recommend trying to open a CitiBank account before continuing down the route of a Basic Bank Account. This account is a full account, and even offers £500 interest free overdraft and chequebook (if your eligable) and even if your not, most people are still able to open the account, complete with Visa Debit Card. Many of the features I just mentioned are not available on Basic Accounts so I again urge you to try and apply for this account first before continuing.

mania112

Evening all,

I wonder if you can help.

I currently have an A&L basic account. I've had this account for maybe 3 years and the whole time i've had to make do with only a cashcard. As you can imagine my credit rating is very poor, but (according to Experian) I am debt free.

is there another basic bank account from another provider that provides a Chip and Pin debit card. I'd like to be able to make online payments and card payments in supermarkets for example.

I don't want any credit, and i'm sure they wouldn't give it to me. After having a discussion with the manager at A&L about this, when I asked why I couldnt have a debit card he said "if you were in Tesco and you spent £50 more than you had in your account, we'd probably still pay it".

In my mind he's describing a card/account with 'credit' facilities, but surely there are banks who offer debit cards with zero credit facilites?

Many thanks

samjef11_2

mania112 wrote: »

Evening all,

I wonder if you can help.

I currently have an A&L basic account. I've had this account for maybe 3 years and the whole time i've had to make do with only a cashcard. As you can imagine my credit rating is very poor, but (according to Experian) I am debt free.

is there another basic bank account from another provider that provides a Chip and Pin debit card. I'd like to be able to make online payments and card payments in supermarkets for example.

I don't want any credit, and i'm sure they wouldn't give it to me. After having a discussion with the manager at A&L about this, when I asked why I couldnt have a debit card he said "if you were in Tesco and you spent £50 more than you had in your account, we'd probably still pay it".

In my mind he's describing a card/account with 'credit' facilities, but surely there are banks who offer debit cards with zero credit facilites?

Many thanks

Hi you can try the Halifax easycash account you get a Visa Electron debit card click here for more information.

DizzleUK

There are quite a few.

Lloyds TSB
Barclays
NatWest

to name but three. I have an A&L Premier Direct account (a Prime account) but have applied to Barclays as I want to move away from Santander and their poor service (A&L used to be really good but it's going down hill fast).

I've applied for their main current account, but will be quite happy if they offer me their basic account as there is no difference in real terms to a standard bank account.

Yes, card payments have to be authorised in real-time, there's no overdraft and no chequebook.

I hate overdrafts (the one in my sig for the joint account is my partner's doing and am working on him to agree to get rid of it asap) to me they are like quicksand once you start using one and have a modest income- almost impossible to escape again, your available balance becomes your actual balance.

I have no issues in having payments authorised right away, I don't buy train tickets or use Tesco's [EMAIL="Pay@Pump"]Pay@Pump[/EMAIL] service (see earlier posts in this thread).

And I can quite happily live without a chequebook. I've used only 1 or 2 in the last couple of years, and eventually (2018) they won't exist anyway.

So, I think something like what Barclays offer is just as good as a "full" account. I don't mind what decision they arrive at this week (I'm waiting, should be Tuesday when I get the decision) unless it's a complete decline which I don't anticipate as all that's bad on my file is a few late payment markers on my mobile contract from last year.

loopylu36

Hello

I just applied for a citibank a/c for my OH. I've had an email saying that they will post the application pack out for signature and to send a recent utility bill. Does this mean that he has been accepted for the account?

Thanks

MS_Dolphin

Hi,

Can anyone please help?

I have a limited company and need to set up a business bank account. The problem is that I have a couple of defaults. I have already been declined by Halifax/Lloyds TSB.

Can someone tell me where my best chance is for opening a basic business account. I'm not looking for any credit or overdraft just a basic functioning business account.

Thanks.

Mulligan1

loopylu36 wrote: »

Hello

I just applied for a citibank a/c for my OH. I've had an email saying that they will post the application pack out for signature and to send a recent utility bill. Does this mean that he has been accepted for the account?

Thanks

I apllied for a Citi account quite a while ago (probably getting on for 2 years now) after reading many posts here that they were quite flexible with the acceptance criteria, I returned the application pack and utility bill and bank statement but unfortunately I was not accepted (I have only had a few missed payments here and there, no defaults but gaps in my employment and moved around a bit too) but have since been with Lloyds TSB, initially with a Cash Account and then upgraded to a full current account, I even have a credit card now but with a small credit limit.

If it's of any interest to anyone quite a few people I know at work, some supposedly with VERY bad credit have this week been successful obtaining A&L Premier Accounts (I had one of these a while ago but they closed it when I was not meeting the minimum deposit when I was not working for 6 weeks!), they applied online and they got a decision in minutes, and also contract sim cards on the 3G network (not banking just thought i'd mention it too). Someone is on a mailing list for bad credit deals but unfortunately I don't know what the site was.

brit76

Hi all

So I went in to Barclays branch yesturday to open a new basic cash card account and was going through the application process when a marker/flag came up after the system pulled my details through for a previous credit card that I had with them 4 years ago, for which I paid in full at a reduced settlement figure 3 years ago after getting into arrears with them for some time.

Anyway, the guy gave me a number to call, as the department I need to speak to at Barclaycard are only open mon-fri, and I need to confrim with them that it was paid in full and to remove the marker on my file as it is preventing me opening the account, then I have to call the guy I saw at the branch and get him to check it has been cleared and then go back in to finish the application.

Has anyone else had this experience and managed to sort it out?

Also, anyone considering going to Santander, I would'nt bother, I was in their branch yesturday and one guy at the counter was going balistic at the assistant because he'd just switched his account to Santander and could'nt access his money again at the cashpoint.

Having only had my account with Santander 4 weeks (thats why I'm moving to barclays by the way) I cannot make faster payments out of my account as have tested this but can receive them into the account.

My online banking info took ages to arrive, and I had to request my pin number a couple of times, the only good thing is the Visa Debit card.

Ahhh the joys of banking!!! lol

DizzleUK

brit76 wrote: »

Hi all

So I went in to Barclays branch yesturday to open a new basic cash card account and was going through the application process when a marker/flag came up after the system pulled my details through for a previous credit card that I had with them 4 years ago, for which I paid in full at a reduced settlement figure 3 years ago after getting into arrears with them for some time.

Anyway, the guy gave me a number to call, as the department I need to speak to at Barclaycard are only open mon-fri, and I need to confrim with them that it was paid in full and to remove the marker on my file as it is preventing me opening the account, then I have to call the guy I saw at the branch and get him to check it has been cleared and then go back in to finish the application.

Has anyone else had this experience and managed to sort it out?

Also, anyone considering going to Santander, I would'nt bother, I was in their branch yesturday and one guy at the counter was going balistic at the assistant because he'd just switched his account to Santander and could'nt access his money again at the cashpoint.

Having only had my account with Santander 4 weeks (thats why I'm moving to barclays by the way) I cannot make faster payments out of my account as have tested this but can receive them into the account.

My online banking info took ages to arrive, and I had to request my pin number a couple of times, the only good thing is the Visa Debit card.

Ahhh the joys of banking!!! lol

Type Santander into the search box on here and you'll find a lot of unhappy customers!

I too am currently moving from Santander (A&L) to Barclays.

As for your position with Barclays, I think that is a perfectly acceptable stance they have taken. They're aware you've had problems with them in the past and want to make sure that you have settled up with them before letting you back as a customer.

A lot of places would have told you to take a hike. Confirm you settled the debt, give that info to the guy that needs it and you'll be fine. They might even extend you some credit (or a better account) in 6-12 months if you're good this time.