Struggling for a bank account

michael1983l

Hi I hope someone can help. I am really struggling to open a bank account up post BR. I have called into my local branch of barclays a few times now and nobody has been available to open an account. I called the co-op to double check if they accept undischarged and they do not.

The only other option seems to be the Post Office account, which they charge a monthly fee for of £5 and it has no debit card facilities.

I do not want one of these think money type accounts, had one before and they are garbage and have lots of little inconveniencies that you never seem to realise until you start using one.

Not overly keen on the idea of a Credit Union account either.

Are there any other banks at all that will open an account for an undischarged BR?

GazHatesBanks

There are no other banks with free accounts (that I know of) that will accept undischarged bankrupts.

Seems your options are limited to Barclays - can you make an appointment with the relevant person at Barclays to open an account or open it at a different branch?

Personally I used Secure Trust Bank for a while (even though it was a fee paying account) and found their service to be excellent - you can often get cashback or reduced fees if applying through a different website.

TheGardener

Credit unions are amazing - all high street banks should take a few lessons from them, I doubt they would have got in the same mess that the rest of us are paying for now if they had. However, unless your local CU is large enough to have a current account, its not a practical everyday solution.
My experience of most high Street banks is that you need to make an appointment to open an account - they rarely seem to have enough staff 'floating about' to deal with someone walking in off the Street - just call in and make an appointment - most of us have found Barclays to be fine.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

I have had a post office card account for last few years, obviously there are down falls, like not paying at the pumps and in stores and online, but I get my parents to order me stuff and then I pay them for it with cash. I get my money out that I need for weekends, (or find a local PO card cash machine to use). UPSIDES, I'm not spending needed money on bank charges, I have no more temptations to go overdrawn with my card and then have to deal with getting a small over draft to repay and prevent charges, I know where my cash is I have pay point cards I put my bills on and pay them when getting out my money so all is done I know exactly how much I have in the week to get by on, no more late DD's or early withdraws for bills.

thinkpositive1

Barclays - get an appointment and I am sure they'll sort you out.


I booked into mine just before going BR, was totally honest with them an they were brilliant / helpful and understanding.


To budget better I opened 3 bank accounts....no problem...all with visa card debit facilities and you can have paper statements sent to you as often as you want. I opted for weekly in lieu of online banking which I miss.
I was told an interesting tale that banks are obliged to offer everyone basic bank accounts but most make it so hard that they end up putting people off.

neillv6

I did what thinkmoney do, but for free. Setup 2 basic accounts with Barclays, one for income and bills and then transfered an amount that was spare into the other account. It's not easy at first as you have to tak responsibility for it yourself. But it's free and after a while becomes a lot easier

ilikewatch

I've recently set up an account with FFrees family finance - Ffrees aren't a bank and aren't licenced as a bank, but do offer a range of free and fee paying pseudo bank accounts which come with a Visa debit card and allow standing orders and electronic transfers (no direct debits as yet, but this feature is supposed to be coming soon).
The online account management seems to be pretty good and I believe that they will accept undischarged bankrupts.
I was able to open an account in 5 minutes online.

aardyvark

metro bank take on BR people coz i asked em ,
they also give you internet access.:)

michael1983l

aardyvark wrote: »

metro bank take on BR people coz i asked em ,
they also give you internet access.:)

But you can only open an account in branch, which unfortunately the furthest branch north is Milton Keynes I am afraid. So us northerners are out of luck on that one at the minute.

Tryingsohardtofloat

I second the suggestions above, phone your Barclays branch & book an appointment to open a new account with them.

I've never been able to walk into any of my banks & open an account then & there as the appointments with the appropriate staff members are booked up weeks ahead. Particularly if its a basic bank account as no in-branch advisor would earn commission from them which would make them an unpopular option so nobody is inclined to 'squeeze you in'.

Helpmeoutofthismess

Hi, the metro account is good for spending money but it would be useless as a main account, you can't set up direct debits, standing orders or even transfer money out of it . The contactless card is great though, well worth a visit to open an account if you ever take a trip to London

I hope you get something sorted soon, I second making an appointment with barclays, it's a great account!
H x