NatWest Bank Account

older_wiser

Twister84 wrote: »

And I can back both of them up as I deal with account openings (for Private) but had to have training on all the new current accounts.


The bank did this so that customers could benefit from the packaged account without having a credit scored facility.


Did you know that technically, there are actually 3 variants of the Select Silver?

- One with credit scored facilities for branch based customers
- One with credit scored facilities for Private Banking customers which is the same, but they can get the cards & cheque books "Private Banking" branded
- One with no credit facilities

I applied and got the natwest current plus account this afew days later changed to the select account. I have since upgraded to the select silver but i don't have an overdraft and its the blue debit card that came with the account. Looking at your post there is no difference between a blue debit carded select account and a basic account. I do wonder if we will be the next to be excluded from other ATM machines.

abercrombie

I thought I would just add to this just to clarify for people. I spoke to NatWest today and they confirmed first of all that their Basic Account does come with a Visa however it is limited to their ATM's and also some shops, online retailers and systems like Pay@Pump wont accept the 'Online' (Blue) visa debit card.

With the 'Silver Account' according to the lady I spoke to their is only one version of the account. The card that is issued with this account is the 'Standard' (Purple) visa debit card, the account is still credit restricted so no overdrafts, cheque books etc can be obtained and from what the lady said their is no possible way that someone should be able to go overdrawn on this account so it would not be possible to be charged the daily fee for and un-arranged overdraft. However she was unable to clarify whether or not they would charge you if it was the £8 service charge that takes you over drawn.

jalexa

abercrombie wrote: »

...from what the lady said their is no possible way that someone should be able to go overdrawn on this account so it would not be possible to be charged the daily fee for and un-arranged overdraft

Thanks for a helpful post.

This is not to disbelieve what Natwest/RBS told you but I had a similar conversation with Halifax after a standing order was "bounced". I was concerned about the possibility of £5/day unauthorised overdraft fees. I was informed that standing orders & direct debits would *always* be bounced due to lack of funds in a "no overdraft" situation (incidently something I was informed Halifax don't charge for) but there was a theoretical possibility of a transaction below a store "floor limit" slipping through unchecked.

I expect *exactly* the same thing could happen with Natwest/RBS thereby incurring £6/day unauthorised overdraft charges.

Toe-Jam

jalexa wrote: »

Thanks for a helpful post.

This is not to disbelieve what Natwest/RBS told you but I had a similar conversation with Halifax after a standing order was "bounced". I was concerned about the possibility of £5/day unauthorised overdraft fees. I was informed that standing orders & direct debits would *always* be bounced due to lack of funds in a "no overdraft" situation (incidently something I was informed Halifax don't charge for) but there was a theoretical possibility of a transaction below a store "floor limit" slipping through unchecked.

I expect *exactly* the same thing could happen with Natwest/RBS thereby incurring £6/day unauthorised overdraft charges.

There are two ways that the account can go overdrawn without an authorised overdraft by using a debit card. (1) is as you said a small transaction going through under the floor limit without being checked. Or the card is used without a live auth (i.e paper ticket, ryanair use these inflight)

(2) You make a purchase on Monday and it is deducted, but by Friday it hasn't been claimed from your account with Natwest it will automatically be put back into your available balance and you can spend it, then some time the following week the money is claimed and then your overdrawn. This most commonly happens with hotels.

Either way it is entirely possible to go overdrawn on an account that has no overdraft if there is a debit card involved because of the way the it works.

coolesticeking

abercrombie wrote: »

I thought I would just add to this just to clarify for people. I spoke to NatWest today and they confirmed first of all that their Basic Account does come with a Visa however it is limited to their ATM's and also some shops, online retailers and systems like Pay@Pump wont accept the 'Online' (Blue) visa debit card.

With the 'Silver Account' according to the lady I spoke to their is only one version of the account. The card that is issued with this account is the 'Standard' (Purple) visa debit card, the account is still credit restricted so no overdrafts, cheque books etc can be obtained and from what the lady said their is no possible way that someone should be able to go overdrawn on this account so it would not be possible to be charged the daily fee for and un-arranged overdraft. However she was unable to clarify whether or not they would charge you if it was the £8 service charge that takes you over drawn.

Sadly, that is not true with the Silver account - You STILL can get the Blue Visa Debit Card which is Full-Auth/Online.

You will always get a Chequebook with this account, but the Purple Offline Card is dependant first on your Credit Score at the time of the application for the account and then how your account conduct is run if they will let you upgrade to this card in the future.

Only difference between Basic & Silver in guaranteed terms is Basic comes with the 'Basic' Visa Debit Card with no link access and it is guaranteed with the Silver and above accounts that you will get the Blue Visa Debit Card (Online/Full-Auth) and Chequebook.

There is always a possibility on the Silver or above accounts if you do get the Blue Visa Debit Card that if you run the accounts well and your credit agreements elsewhere are good, they will upgrade you to the Purple Offline Visa Debit Card.

How do I know? Easy, i've got a bad credit record and have the account.

Hope that clears things up for you! :T

Twister84

jalexa wrote: »

That's good. I have a few questions though. The Natwest account fees and charges leaflet online (today) only specifies (in respect of "unauthorised overdraft" charges (of £6/day) one type of Select Silver account. Therefore, if somehow, and there are theoretical ways that an unanticipated overdraft can arise, the "credit restricted" Select Silver account being discussed would be liable for unauthorised overdraft charges of £6/day, unlike the Basic account which the charges leaflet specifically says only incurs Returned Item Fees for the same (unlikely) but still theoretically possible overdraft.

Your understanding of this is correct:

Student Account*, Graduate Account*, Basic Account*, Select Account, Select Silver Account, Advantage Gold Account, Black Account

The charges shown in this section do not normally apply to the other accounts we offer to our current account customers. However, we sometimes allow other accounts to be operated in a way which enables the customer to give instructions for a withdrawal or other payment which cannot be met from the funds in the account. If this happens, the charges listed below under the heading ‘Unarranged overdrafts and returned items – charges’ will apply.
*Holders of these accounts will only pay the Returned Item Fee.


And also they only apply if the customer goes into an unarranged "overdraft" of £6 or more.

jalexa wrote: »

More pertinently, what most here wanted was an "all ATM" card, not a packaged account. Why not a "credit restricted" "free" Select (with its "all ATM" card)?

I'd like to say why, but I won't.

jalexa wrote: »

And where is the definitive list of the usage restrictions affecting an "online only" debit card. Pay@Pump? On train ticket purchase? Train operator ticket machines? Anywhere else?

I'm not sure if there is a list as such, but agree it would be useful to have.

stclair

abercrombie wrote: »

Hey - thanks for the reply. I didn't realise that they provided the ATM's at Tesco's too. I may just go for the Basic Account then, the only reason I would have paid the £8 was because their isn't a NatWest or RBS near me however their is a huge 24hr Tesco at the top of my street.

Do you know wether there is still the issue around the basic account card being used at Pay@Pump, Train Companies etc? I use the trains a lot so need a card that will work with their systems? I have read on numerous websites that the card appears to be read as a Visa Electron even though it is a Visa?

That information can be found in the BINs rules:

http://www.barclaycard.co.uk/business/documents/pdfs/bin_rules.pdf

Twister84

coolesticeking wrote: »

You will always get a Chequebook with this account...

Credit restricted means no Chequebook.

laurenzo_2

pmduk wrote: »

Just remember that many RBS machines in England (ie those at RBS branches) will be transferred to Santander at some stage and I assume will become unavailable to Basic account holders. I feel it's worth bearing this in mind when assessing whether the RBS ATM network meets your needs.

Can you tell me why they are being changed over please!?

Twister84

http://rbsbranchinformation.co.uk/


Not sure about the ATMs - of course the branch ones will change, but the one's in supermarkets - may not. They may just rebrand them as Natwest.