Halifax £100 switch reward account help?

matt1987

HoneyAndLemon wrote: »

Even if you're reports look fine to you, they can still say no. Banks dont HAVE to offer you everything you apply for.

Their reasons for not offering you another full current account could be anything. You may not have had enough credit, too much credit, you don't fit their ideal customer profile, i.e. they don't see themselves making any money from you in the future through other products based on your report and your previous/current lendings.

They don't have to give you the exact reasons they decline you either. If they did, customers would simply apply again altering the details, getting offers for accounts when Halifax won't really want them to have it.

Might not be what you want to hear, but they have every right to say no. If you don't like it you can switch to another bank and make use of their incentives.

Fair enough, but why do a credit check on someone when they dont fit the " customer profile ".?

jen245

Well you have had a look at your Equifax report, is there a Halifax search on there? I'll say it again, for the third time, Halifax, along with entire Lloyds banking group, do not use Equifax for searches. They even told you to check Experian, so why did you check Equifax? You need to get a copy of your Experian report and take it from there

HoneyAndLemon

matt1987 wrote: »

Fair enough, but why do a credit check on someone when they dont fit the " customer profile ".?

You might have fit their internal customer profile, but they still might not have liked whats on your credit report. Even if its all green, it may just not be what they want.

matt1987

jen245 wrote: »

Well you have had a look at your Equifax report, is there a Halifax search on there? I'll say it again, for the third time, Halifax, along with entire Lloyds banking group, do not use Equifax for searches. They even told you to check Experian, so why did you check Equifax? You need to get a copy of your Experian report and take it from there

Right.....

The booklet contains 3 agencies, clear as day.

The guy on the phone told me any 3 of these agencies would suffice.

Experian takes 7 days which is too long, I want this done asap.

According to Halifax call centre, Equifax is fine as they use this company, along with Call Credit and Experian.

Here is a picture of the booklet:

jen245

Screenshot of your Equifax report which shows a Halifax credit search? I know what their literature says, all banks literature says this as they don't want you to know exactly what agency they use. I've tried to help you, you don't want to listen that's fine, but I'm telling you they don't use Equifax. All of your credit reports are not the same, you could have something on you Experian report that's spooked them, something that doesn't show up on Equifax. Or it could have been the money laundering search, which they normally use call credit for, but whatever.

matt1987

jen245 wrote: »

Screenshot of your Equifax report which shows a Halifax credit search? I know what their literature says, all banks literature says this as they don't want you to know exactly what agency they use. I've tried to help you, you don't want to listen that's fine, but I'm telling you they don't use Equifax. All of your credit reports are not the same, you could have something on you Experian report that's spooked them, something that doesn't show up on Equifax. Or it could have been the money laundering search, which they normally use call credit for, but whatever.

So are you telling me that Halifax a lying to me by saying that these are the three agencies they work with, which is going to result in me having to spend more money?

There is no search history according to that report?

Im just going to have to send it off and see what they say.

jen245

No search history, means they haven't searched you Equifax file, which is because they don't search Equifax, which is what I told you in the first place.

Credit Expert which is Experian, normally do a free 30 day trial to view your credit report online instantly, just make sure you cancel it before the end of the 30 days, otherwise they'll try and charge you silly money

http://www.creditexpert.co.uk/

matt1987

jen245 wrote: »

No search history, means they haven't searched you Equifax file, which is because they don't search Equifax, which is what I told you in the first place.

Credit Expert which is Experian, normally do a free 30 day trial to view your credit report online instantly, just make sure you cancel it before the end of the 30 days, otherwise they'll try and charge you silly money

http://www.creditexpert.co.uk/

So thats something else to take up with them in the letter. The fact they dont use Equifax contrary to what it says in the literature they sent me and contrary to what a Manager in a call centre told me.

This is getting scary!

Not too sure about the 30 day trial, but thanks anyway. I would rather pay the 2 quid than get stung with a monthly fee.

pqrdef

Banks want to give away as little as possible about their methods and policies. If you knew what they were looking for, you'd know how to get round it.

They're obliged to say which agencies they use, but they don't have to say which ones they used in your particular case, nor do they wish to. If they use Equifax a few times a year, they can truthfully say they use Equifax, and then their communications will be suitably uninformative.

jen245

They report account conduct to all 3 agencies, so technically they do work with Equifax to that extent.

It's also worth noting that as you have a joint account with your partner, Halifax would have done a search on your partners file aswell, as a financial associate, so if they have anything adverse on their credit file, this could stop you from getting credit