Great 'Work in a bank? What should we know' Hunt

PJHilder

exel1966 wrote: »

Or it could be nothing to do with your external credit report, but based solely on your internal Barclays credit worthiness. Most of the major banks have their own internal 'scoring' systems based upon customer profile which are not related to any of the CRA so called credit ratings. These internal 'scores' are based upon number of accounts held,how long you've banked with them, amount of funds passing through each account and the regularity of those transactions, your past banking history etc etc. Maybe you should ask Barclays first as to what your internal rating is.

Yeah I asked what the score was based on and he said it was based on the answers I gave, i.e employment etc. I've not used the account for a while as an account with neither debit card or internet banking is next to useless for me at the moment. He did mention trying again in a month as he had someone in the same position who was turned down and then a month later accepted without any changes in circumstances.

One thing I'm not sure is correct is when giving my outgoings I mentioned paying £800 a month clearing my card which I used to pay for travel etc. The problem is I also gave what I spent as travel etc as an extra expense so in affect I'm doubling my outgoings. Don't know if that would have made a difference too.

regularsaver1

so although you have a relationship with them, you hardly use the card/account - hence this could be the reason why they have declined it.
They are going to look at the activity of your account.

billycasper_2

I used to work for nationwide in one of their call centres, to be honest it was a good place to work. The people were great, even the managers were helpful and encouraging.
like all banks/bs though the focus is on attracting new business and we had targets to achieve.
1, When you ring for anything and you are going through the security questions, giving details of direct debits for instance. the advisor is looking for credit card or loan payments (especially if your popped on hold because the system is running slow) This is then a que to introduce nationwides "better" products.
2, The method of introducing "services to benefit the customer" is by introducing it in friendly conversation "building a rapport with the member" this is called.

so when you book a large cash withdrawal for instance you may in conversation mention its for a holiday and this then is a que for insurances, credit cards etc...
I found this a bit dis ingenuous, being interested in what someone has to say not because you care but because your looking for a sale opportunity.
The focus is more and more towards sales of other products rather than service but all banks are like this.
3, At time of leaving if you wanted to claim a charge back dont mention the oft case or the recent court case. This merely gets you a standard letter and you will have to wait until all this oft stuff finishes, instead tell them you have been in hospital or you have been made redundant or you had an accident etc.. The advisor cannot guarantee a refund but can forward it to the relevant department via a e-form and these are some of the cases looked on favourably.
also 1st time offences are also looked on favourably.
its important to
be nice !!
customers who are rude and/or shout generally dont get very far.
dont continue to use these reasons as they do check, and dont say you cant feed your kids when you have a dd out to sky digital for £50.
The better advisors WILL try and help you
nationwide are no different in the grand scheme of things but the staff were well looked after.

any how
enjoy

Kavanne

billycasper wrote: »

dont continue to use these reasons as they do check, and dont say you cant feed your kids when you have a dd out to sky digital for £50.

'I can't possibly look into paying off my overdraft' says the customer spending £60 a month on Sky. Makes me so :mad:

billycasper_2

yeah , you would get people complaining about not being able to pay charges or overdrafts yet direct debits for mobile phone companies and sky and even qvc were always affordable.

dunstonh

Kavanne wrote: »

'I can't possibly look into paying off my overdraft' says the customer spending £60 a month on Sky. Makes me so :mad:

I have seen that so many times over the years. Cant afford to do this or that yet they have just got back from their third spanish holiday that year and have the big telly and all mod cons.

On the news a few weeks back they had someone complaining about how hard it was for them to pay their mortgage and they were really struggling. Behind them were shelves of DVDs and xbox and PS2 games galore. There must have been thousands of pounds worth. How can you find sympathy for someone like that?

Mark7799

Agreed. It was something I saw very often in my banking days. I quite often was in the position of telling the customer that they had the funds available to pay for their house insurance OR their Sky TV but not both. Watching them think that through was almost excrutiating and suggesting they then sat down and considered what they could really afford seemed tantamount to asking them to give up their first born.

PJHilder

regularsaver1 wrote: »

so although you have a relationship with them, you hardly use the card/account - hence this could be the reason why they have declined it.
They are going to look at the activity of your account.

Yeah. Seems to be a bit of a catch 22 for me. I don't use the account as it's completely unsuitable, even internet banking would be an improvement but as I don't use it they'll hold it against me when it comes to upgrading.

regularsaver1

PJHilder wrote: »

Yeah. Seems to be a bit of a catch 22 for me. I don't use the account as it's completely unsuitable, even internet banking would be an improvement but as I don't use it they'll hold it against me when it comes to upgrading.

But do you have a relationship with another bank that you do use - as if this shows on your credit file there could be hope. any credit cards or loans too?

ShelfStacker_3

Mark7799 wrote: »

Agreed. It was something I saw very often in my banking days. I quite often was in the position of telling the customer that they had the funds available to pay for their house insurance OR their Sky TV but not both. Watching them think that through was almost excrutiating and suggesting they then sat down and considered what they could really afford seemed tantamount to asking them to give up their first born.

Well, you try suggesting to someone they give up unneeded luxuries in the interests of long term financial help. MSEers would probably take that line for sure, most people wouldn't, therefore proving that not only are we all generally superior to everyone else, but that most people generally don't have their priorities straight. I personally have it set in stone that letting a DD for anything bounce is not an option, and plan accordingly, many people probably don't.

In general though it appears that it's played down, especially with prior marketing of credit cards and loans as great ways to buy useless sh*te you don't need, that you don't need all this crap. Banks would be more than happy to let people try and juggle both the Sky and their house insurance, and even happier to watch them fail and rack up default charges and interest.

FWIW, I've noticed that HSBC actually have a page recommending trimming back on useless crap on their website (and a leaflet in branches), and have an MSE-style budget planner available. They've probably bought Martin off...