'Full' Current Account for working 19yr old?

pmduk

I rather suspect he was dealing with someone at natwest who isn't adequately trained. (to put it politely). If he wants to stay with natwest try their phone application service?

rb10

Natwest aren't a particularly good bank for people who keep their accounts in credit.

At 19, he'll be eligible for any adult current account - the best for those who are in credit are:

Santander - 3% interest (balances up to £20k), plus 1/2/3% cashback on direct debits
Nationwide - 5% interest (balances up to £2.5k)
Halifax - £5 Reward per month (needs to have 2 direct debits on the account)

Where accounts have a monthly funding requirement (e.g. must pay in £1k/month), then any excess required over his net salary can be achieved by simply transferring money out and straight back in again.

chambta

If they'd done their job properly there'd have been no new application and a simple 'conversion' form completed. Then it's just an internal code that changes the account to a full adult one.

System

I thought that loss making childrens / young adult accounts were automatically upgraded to full current or student accounts?

As for failing the credit check, it's unlikely that the mobile phone company would be able to tell from the account details that it can't do direct debits.

A credit card with modest limit can help build a positive credit profile - either his own bank or someone like Capital One, Aqua or Barclaycard.

Mrs_Ryan

I had the same problem when I was 18 - I had the very old Card Plus account but when I asked them for a student account because I was off to uni they said no - HSBC gave me an account with overdraft, Switch and MasterCard no problems at all - NatWest told me they expected me to carry on using my Solo with no overdraft facility until x amount of student loan payments had gone in :eek: I said the same thing... bye bye NatWest...

mumof2teens

...son has checked own credit record with Experian. He's rated as 'good'. Only details on record are that he is on the Electoral Roll and he has a current acct (haha...it's the Adapt) with Natwest.
A colleague at his work is the same age (1 mth older) and has exactly the same circumstances in every way (spookily) - went into Natwest and was put straight onto Select AC and signed up for a credit card.
'Only' difference - she's a lass.
Out of curiousity son tried applying online (as upgrade from his account, like they did in branch) got same result - refused Select. But, was offered Basic or Select Silver (£10 pcm). Got excited briefly as £10 negated by benefit of mobile phone insurance inc. However, used the online 'chat' and quickly found out that the Silver Select being offered was also 'resticted' like the Basic...no O/D, or borrowing type facilities.
Long story short - Natwest have failed!! Lost an excellent customer.
He's going to look into other banks. Thanks for all advice so far

dr_adidas01

mumof2teens wrote: »

...son has checked own credit record with Experian.

Has he checked equifax and callcredit too, as these are credit reference agencies that financial institutions use also.

As Natwest are going out of there way to be unhelpful why doesn't you son just move to another bank and get rid of them!!

iclayt

A couple of years ago I got told by Natwest in branch that I wouldn't be able to get a basic account with them, let alone a current one, until I was employed (I had a verbal job offer but was technically unemployed for another 4 weeks and wanted to set up a new account for my wages to go into in a couple of months).

Tried online anyway, just to see what would happen, and within a few clicks I had a current account, although without an overdraft. So either I beat the electronic system, or the member of staff didn't know what they were talking about...

[Deleted User]

To start building his credit history, he should try some or all of the following:

-get a small overdraft on his current account, even £50 or £100 or so will help, even if he doesn't actually use it.
-apply for a credit card, either with his own bank, or cards like Capital One Classic or Barclaycard Initial. The interest rate will be hellish, but he just needs to use it once a month and pay it off... IN FULL!!!
-instead of trying for a phone contract, get a sim only one. One-month ones can be gotten for under £10 a month, and it might be possible to upgrade it to a full contract after a few months of regular payment on time.

dr_adidas01

billbennett wrote: »

To start building his credit history, he should try some or all of the following:

-get a small overdraft on his current account, even £50 or £100 or so will help, even if he doesn't actually use it.
-apply for a credit card, either with his own bank, or cards like Capital One Classic or Barclaycard Initial. The interest rate will be hellish, but he just needs to use it once a month and pay it off... IN FULL!!!
-instead of trying for a phone contract, get a sim only one. One-month ones can be gotten for under £10 a month, and it might be possible to upgrade it to a full contract after a few months of regular payment on time.

I don't think you have read the OP's original post or updates since, as they have said his current bank wont upgrade his account to a full one only a basic account.

Basic account = No Overdraft option so your comment about getting one is not valid.

Credit cards might be an option, but as he has no credit history they will more than likely turn him down.

A sim only contract i'm not sure how this helps either as its not always classed as a contract and not always reported the the CRAs!!!