Why the restriction on savings accounts?

Legacy_user

Maybe I'm missing something blindingly obvious, but why would a bank not want to open a savings account for someone who is/was bankrupt?

Apart from the fact that there may not be a huge amount going into it, I can't see there is any risk for the bank.

indebtinsussex

because we're all evil :-p. I have no idea in all honestly, however, we've just opened savings accounts with our local credit union, as they dont do credit searches or anything, so it may be worth speaking to them

dojoman

No logical reason why they can`t, but for some reason most will not, unbelievable really.

MTDancer

I asked this question of the co-op bank and they said it was in line with government guidelines. The thinking behind it was if we could save then we could pay creditors. I explained that we wanted to save our tax liability!

Ineedaname

I opened a savings account with Barclays during my BR time and the Co-Op very soon after discharge.

debtinfo

i can think of 2 possible reasons, whether they are valid or plausable i will leave to your own thoughts

1. Money laundering, a bank can be held responsible if their accounts are used for money laundering, and of course being bankrupt automaticaly means that you will be more likely to behave fraudulently

2. The general ethos that if you restrict the services available to bankrupts they will be less likely to go bankrupt and therefore the bank is less likely to lose money to bankrupts in the long term

alastairq

Co-op told me there are absolutely no issues regarding BR's having savings accounts, either during BR or post-discharge.

The problem with opening a savings account with them centres on the limitations of technology.

In other words, an initial application results in a turn-down due to the adverse credit report
.

When applying, the applicant should immediately make the Customer Advisor aware of the BR [or discharged BR] so that an immediate 'appeal' can be made...usually resulting in a positive outcome.

From my own experience, I have also had no issues opening a savings account with the Post Office [Bank of Ireland, strangely...]...but this was post-discharge.


I also believe ISA's are available post-discharge, too...

debt_doctor

debtinfo wrote: »

and of course being bankrupt automaticaly means that you will be more likely to behave fraudulently

Excuse me? - do you want to explain.

wildheart83

debt_doctor wrote: »

Excuse me? - do you want to explain.

I took DI's post as being rather tongue in cheek... of course we're not likely to behave fraudulently, but it goes with the first post about us all being evil.

I had no problems opening a savings account with Santander shortly after discharge (within about 6 weeks) and also opened a savings account with Natwest during BR purely to have a back up account, but have been told by Santander that any type of current account is out of the question til BR falls off.

ManAtHome

Try the Yorkshire Building Society - they've had many honourable mentions in similar threads.

Co-op are one of the very few who credit check everybody who applies, so best avoided if you have poor credit history.

alastairq

Co-op are one of the very few who credit check everybody who applies, so best avoided if you have poor credit history.

Credit refs cannot get any worse if one has BR on them??

With Co-op, as I mentioned, make the Advisor aware of the adverse credit refs, and an immediate appeal is lodged, usually with a favourable outcome.

The Co-op Smartsaver account is handy [even though...by their own admission, it doesn't attract the best of rates].....since it can be managed online......useful for BR's [undischarged or discharged]....who may well have Co-op Cashminder accounts...any funds transfer, conducted online....is insantly with the appointed account....handy if one finds one's current account a bit short for DD's, etc?


With other companies' accounts, a transfer to or from can take anything up to three days or more to arrive........if one's current account isn't with the same company....



worth noting, perhaps??