Basic Bank Account Thread

seivehands

Hi,
Just thought this might be useful to some people......Went inti HSBC yesterday to talk about a BAsic account, and they gave me a pack to complete. Took it in today with proof of ID / address etc, and had mucho difficulty with the nazi masquerading as a customer service advisor! Gave me a right grilling about why I wanted a basic account only, asked why I wanted another account in addition to Barclays, any problems etc - allof which I understand the reasoning for, but the manner and tone was appalling!!! I felt like a criminal (poor credit rating but no bankruptcy or CCJ's / Fraud). The upshort is they took the application off me and want to see a hard copy statement from barcalys from within the last 3 months tomorrow. So if anyone's thinking of approaching them, it may be useful to have that with you. Seems like things are gettign more hardline..

PaulW922

Acceptance of Visa Electron cards is much wider nowadays and many sites will accept them on line (not all). Anyone can of course get a pre-paid Mastercard (vsitit https://www.cashplus.co.uk) or Maestro card (try https://www.extremecred.com). These are both full chip and pin cards though there are useage fees attached. If you can only get a basic account without a debit card (such as the Halifax/BoS Easycash account which you can apply for on-line quite easily) you could use one of these cards too to effectively give you a banka ccount for direct debits and salary and a Mastercard/Maestro card for day to day spending.

Be aware though that prepaid cards do not report good or bad conduct back to credit reference agencies. They will not however sting you for huge fees for spending 2p too much!

NatWest will always do a credit check before upgrading a step account o a fulla cocunt.

benj1981

I would recommand anyone who has trouble getting an account with a debit card to apply to Citibank.

They offer a VISA debit card!!

They seem to accept most people - check out the thread.

sgx.saint

The OP on this thread has been updated to reflect the recent CitiBank information also.

Kilty_2

PaulW922 wrote:

Acceptance of Visa Electron cards is much wider nowadays and many sites will accept them on line (not all). .

Correct, acceptance is certainly improving but is still not what it SHOULD be, after all the cards are processed in the same clearing cycle as any other Visa card :mad:

I'd stay away from prepaid cards though, a lot of them have extortionate fees for accesssing your money via ATMs or some even have a fixed charge for any transactions.

PaulW922

Most pre-pay cards will charge you £1 to £2 a time for using an ATM - if you can't get anything else it is worth considering. I guess that this is the only way they can make their money - fees for this and that

extracuddley

hi. I went bankrupt a few years ago, I am no longer bankrupt. I am currantly with Norwich and Peterborough, but I am in the process of claiming back my charges. I need to open up another bank or building society. I am at the present on benefits til the end of Feb then I go back to being self employed. I hate credit cards etc, so just want a bank to set up direct debits and standing orders...any ideas which bank will accept me? I have just filled in a on'line application for citibank but I live in norfolk, so how will I be able to look after my account (if accepted). Has anyone else had the same problems?

benj1981

You can access your account online and use their telephone banking service.

They also let you use Lloyds TSB to pay cheques and cash into your account - cash does take 4 days to clear though!

sgx.saint

Thank you sgx.saint.

I have just applied to Natwest for their Step account. It was quickly done online and has been agreed.

Anytime

pigsmightfly

Just applied to Citibank for a current account and my credit is terrible so fingers crossed!

Will let you know how I get on