Basic no fee current account needed

Jolly_Roger

My daughter, who graduated from university two years ago, has just been informed by HSBC that her graduate bank account will be effectively closed down within a month. Unfortunately, all other current account products offered by the bank require her to pay in £500 a month, which she cannot do.


Since graduating, she has been teaching English in Spain, so does not generate a regular UK income. Nevertheless, she does need a current account because in the summer she teaches residential courses in the UK and can only be paid through a bank account.


However, virtually all current accounts these days require you to either pay in a minimum amount each month or supply proof of UK income, neither of which she can do. Current accounts not requiring minimum monthly payments are available, but require payment of a monthly fee. Clearly, the money my daughter would maintain in the account would be in the region of £500 and having to pay a fee to do this would make little sense.


One solution would be to shuttle money between two accounts, but she doesn't want the hassle of doing this. So, are there any accounts out there where she wouldn't have to either pay in a minimum amount each month or show proof of a monthly income?

platterfish

Every bank offer an account which doesn't require a minimum turnover nor do they have a monthly fee. Are they closing the graduate account, or changing it to a current account?

Do you need an account that will accommodate her overdrawn balance?

If you can't find anything the hassle of moving £500 will take one minute of her time a month via online/mobile app transfer.

dr_adidas01

I think your talking rubbish there are lots of accounts out there that don't require minimum funding.

Barclays normal current account doesn't

TSB Classic account doesn't
Lloyds Classic account doesn't
Halifax Current account doesn't
Santander Everday account doesn't

There are also many others that don't require a minimum funding amount, so I've no idea where you have been looking to say all accounts require a minimum funding amount.

I'm assuming she has a UK passport? This can be used for ID to open an account. Does she pay tax when she teaches in the UK? If so ask the tax office to send out a notification of tax code this can be used for verification of address, provided its a UK address that she lives at while here in the UK.

Jolly_Roger

It was originally a student account that was convered automatically into a graduate account. It had a shelf life of just two years and would be converted to a normal current account, but she cannot fulfill the necessary monthly minimum pay in.

She is not overdrawn; they removed her overdraft when she was unable to pay in any monthly income.

BTW, basic accounts offered by many banks invariably require a UK employer's details, which she also cannot give!

platterfish

Open a savings account with another bank that has online banking and an app, you'll get this with no credit check. Or another bank account, basic ones like coop or barclays will probably accept an unemployed status.. as thats why they are there really.

Take one minute a month to fire 500 back and forth.

I think your worrying too much.

Done :-)

Jolly_Roger wrote: »

It was originally a student account that was convered automatically into a graduate account. It had a shelf life of just two years and would be converted to a normal current account, but she cannot fulfill the necessary monthly minimum pay in.

She is not overdrawn; they removed her overdraft when she was unable to pay in any monthly income.

BTW, basic accounts offered by many banks invariably require a UK employer's details, which she also cannot give!

grumbler

Jolly_Roger wrote: »

It was originally a student account that was convered automatically into a graduate account. It had a shelf life of just two years and would be converted to a normal current account, but she cannot fulfill the necessary monthly minimum pay in.

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/current-accounts
I see at least one account that is free without any minimum pay-in.

BTW, basic accounts offered by many banks invariably require a UK employer's details, which she also cannot give!

Never heard of this. Normally they ask about the income (that generally can be zero) and can ask for proofs of address. ETA: on second thought, they do ask for the details, but don't ask for proofs, and don't reject all unemployed.

agrinnall

Jolly_Roger wrote: »

It was originally a student account that was convered automatically into a graduate account. It had a shelf life of just two years and would be converted to a normal current account, but she cannot fulfill the necessary monthly minimum pay in.

She is not overdrawn; they removed her overdraft when she was unable to pay in any monthly income.

BTW, basic accounts offered by many banks invariably require a UK employer's details, which she also cannot give!

So when her current bank converts her graduate account to a current account she can then tell them to downgrade it to a basic account. I think you're making a large mountain out of a tiny pimple, there are many options for opening an account that don't have any of the obstacles that you seem to think exist.

And by the way, she's an adult, she should be able to sort it out herself by now.

YorkshireBoy

Why can't she simply switch to their "Bank Account" and say she'll be paying in £500 a month?

If she doesn't pay in they'll either downgrade to a "Current Account" or serve notice that they'll be closing the account...in which case she can pay in for a couple of months and then stop again.

You don't say how old she is but if she's under 24 the £500 per month requirement doesn't apply anyway.

All the above is from their website. Maybe she/you should read what they say on there?

Jolly_Roger

Thanks for all the positive feedback.

I shall pass on all your suggestions to my daughter, who has indeed come up against a request for employer information when looking at at least one bank offering a no frills account. Sadly, being a residential teacher on a temporary one-month contract in the UK means lots of stress for very little money and virtually no available free time for research, hence her request for help from all you very clued up people.

In theory, if she goes back to HSBC and asks for a "basic current account", is there any reasons why this would not be granted?

Just one more question: how would you suggest getting around the non-resident part of the application? Has anybody else been faced with that in the past?

Thanks.

Archi_Bald

Jolly_Roger wrote: »

Just one more question: how would you suggest getting around the non-resident part of the application?

She needs to prove her ID - done by passport. She needs to prove her address - done by HSBC bank statement, that presumably gets posted to her (your?) UK address?

So there is no problem.

Nobody needs to prove to a bank that they are employed. Many people aren't employed, but they still have an income, so there is absolutely no need for providing employer details.

Perhaps she needs to have her current account with a UK bank that is less paranoid than HSBC. Or perhaps she/you need to open your mind a bit. Given her daughter's "spanish connection", a Santander account might be a good alternative as she gets certain free use of her Santander debit card in Spain. Though I would not suggest she tries to get a Santander UK account on the grounds of living in Spain most of the time. For a UK account, you do need to have roots in the UK.

GingerFurball_2

Jolly_Roger wrote: »

Thanks for all the positive feedback.

I shall pass on all your suggestions to my daughter, who has indeed come up against a request for employer information when looking at at least one bank offering a no frills account. Sadly, being a residential teacher on a temporary one-month contract in the UK means lots of stress for very little money and virtually no available free time for research, hence her request for help from all you very clued up people.

In theory, if she goes back to HSBC and asks for a "basic current account", is there any reasons why this would not be granted?

Just one more question: how would you suggest getting around the non-resident part of the application? Has anybody else been faced with that in the past?

Thanks.

All banks will ask for that information in order to build a basic profile of their customers. It doesn't mean she needs to be in employment in order to get an account.