Basic Bank Account Thread

saintscouple

saintscouple wrote: »

Well we went in to branch last week to apply for an upgrade with the bank manager, he went through the system and it was reffered by telephone and then declined.
I forgot at the time, but called them today about internal credit score and was told we had a CPD 99 on our account and this is calculated not by how we run our account, but information they receive from credit reference agencies.

Since opening the account 6 months ago we have run through at least £1000 a month, have several direct debits all honored and never overdrawn, no charges.

Not sure now if it's worth going back to Natwest, where we still have our Step account open, plus a full account with a cheque book, but no overdraft.
It's just where we live we only have a Lloyds nearby, and the nearest Natwest is 8 miles aways in a town centre, which is a great inconvinence when having to pay in cheques.

coolesticeking wrote: »

It is a mixture of your internal behaviour with Lloyds TSB and also what they see from the credit feed they get each month - It applies more to the Classic and above accounts as the Cash Card account will always be CPD 99.

Most people find with Lloyds TSB who have the Cash Card account its easier to re-apply from scratch for the Classic account as it's very rare for them to upgrade a Cash Card account as you have found.

To be honest, why not keep both open? You can send Faster Payments to and from both Lloyds TSB & NatWest. That way you can keep paying in cheques without going miles just to do so.

Success!

Went to the branch to pay some money in, when the branch manager was at the side of till. I said to him to expect us back in a few months to have another go at upgrading the account, to which he replied he has 5 mins, lets go and check now.
Went through the same process, application was referred, he called the number and the person on the other end of the phone was asking usual questions i.e homeowner = no, savings = no. But this time the branch manager started telling this other person how well we have run the account, stating the money we have coming in, aprox £1500 a month.
To my surprise, he put the phone down and said to me 'we're in!'.

Excellent, so forms signed, etc and classic account opened, even already shows on the internet banking.
The branch manager said to come back in another 6 months to talk about an overdraft and credit card!
Not worried about that for the time being, but feels so good to have a full current account.

Thanks for all your advice and support.:T

coolesticeking

saintscouple wrote: »

Success!

Went to the branch to pay some money in, when the branch manager was at the side of till. I said to him to expect us back in a few months to have another go at upgrading the account, to which he replied he has 5 mins, lets go and check now.
Went through the same process, application was referred, he called the number and the person on the other end of the phone was asking usual questions i.e homeowner = no, savings = no. But this time the branch manager started telling this other person how well we have run the account, stating the money we have coming in, aprox £1500 a month.
To my surprise, he put the phone down and said to me 'we're in!'.

Excellent, so forms signed, etc and classic account opened, even already shows on the internet banking.
The branch manager said to come back in another 6 months to talk about an overdraft and credit card!
Not worried about that for the time being, but feels so good to have a full current account.

Thanks for all your advice and support.:T

That is fantastic news! :T

pmduk

Well done saintscouple!

sparklysaver

Just opened a Co-op basic account over the phone - they had a go at trying to get me to take a standard current account (and even tried to talk to me about a premier account - even though I currently have NO income!!:rotfl:) but I got the basic one eventually. It was all set up over the phone because I'm on the electoral roll & gave them my Natwest bank account details. Bit annoying having to deflect what was basically sales patter despite stating at the start of the call that I knew exactly what I wanted, but it wasn't hard sell and everything was completed within 10 minutes.

Now, as soon as my new debit card arrives, I just need to make myself take the card for the Natwest current account with that shiny overdraft facility out of my wallet and store it in a safe place so I'm never tempted..... :A

Thanks to Martin & this website for pointing me in the direction of basic accounts though; for someone with as little willpower (and currently as little money ) as me I'm confident it's going to be a budgeting godsend.

pixiemel

Hi, I'm a newbie to this forum but wanted to say thanks for the helpful basic bank account posts. I am in the process of setting up a DMP through CCCS and needed to find a new bank account. After being refused by First Direct and Smile, I was accepted by the Co-op for a basic bank account. The FSA table of basic bank accounts was particularly helpful. Now looking forward to tackling my debts head on!

Thanks again

yenool

I currently have a natwest step account and I'm concerned about the changes re: cashpoint use.

Can anyone recommend another basic account to apply for? I have a couple of credit cards with 18month good history but also a millon defaults on my file, so I have been rejected for an upgrade to a standard account with natwest and rejected for a student account with 2 other banks.
I'm looking for an account with no overdraft, a visa debit, online banking and easy access to cash.

Also, I can't go with barclays (or any related company) because I have an unsettled default with them and I don't want to get stuffed with the off-setting rules.

seeya23

yenool wrote: »

I currently have a natwest step account and I'm concerned about the changes re: cashpoint use.

Can anyone recommend another basic account to apply for? I have a couple of credit cards with 18month good history but also a millon defaults on my file, so I have been rejected for an upgrade to a standard account with natwest and rejected for a student account with 2 other banks.
I'm looking for an account with no overdraft, a visa debit, online banking and easy access to cash.

Also, I can't go with barclays (or any related company) because I have an unsettled default with them and I don't want to get stuffed with the off-setting rules.

just open a First Reserve account you get visa debit with it and you can take money out any where just send the money from account to your first reserve account job done when the changes come in about cashpoint use

System

yenool wrote: »

I currently have a natwest step account and I'm concerned about the changes re: cashpoint use.

Can anyone recommend another basic account to apply for? I have a couple of credit cards with 18month good history but also a millon defaults on my file, so I have been rejected for an upgrade to a standard account with natwest and rejected for a student account with 2 other banks.
I'm looking for an account with no overdraft, a visa debit, online banking and easy access to cash.

Also, I can't go with barclays (or any related company) because I have an unsettled default with them and I don't want to get stuffed with the off-setting rules.

Are you having a Knee-jerk reaction to the changes around the use of the Debit Card ?

Have you checked where you will still be able to use the Card ?

It would seem to be the wrong idea to try changing accounts with the credit history you describe.

book12

yenool wrote: »

I currently have a natwest step account and I'm concerned about the changes re: cashpoint use.

Can anyone recommend another basic account to apply for? I have a couple of credit cards with 18month good history but also a millon defaults on my file, so I have been rejected for an upgrade to a standard account with natwest and rejected for a student account with 2 other banks.
I'm looking for an account with no overdraft, a visa debit, online banking and easy access to cash.

Also, I can't go with barclays (or any related company) because I have an unsettled default with them and I don't want to get stuffed with the off-setting rules.

Try Nationwide Cash Account or Co-op Cashminder.

yenool

BAA1 wrote: »

Are you having a Knee-jerk reaction to the changes around the use of the Debit Card ?

Have you checked where you will still be able to use the Card ?

It would seem to be the wrong idea to try changing accounts with the credit history you describe.

Why? There are other basic accounts available for people with poor history and I do not believe I should be restricted in withdrawing my cash because of a bad history, I'm after basic banking facilities, not a credit or overdraft account.

As far as I can tell, something like 75 to 80% of machines are 'link', and when these changes kick in I wont be able to use those; only natwest/RBS ones.