Fun With Abbey

Bren_D

I know there are existing threads, some on the first page that cover this, but I thought I would start a new thread to ask my questions and seek help, we all have different circumstances, right?

I have been with Abbey for around six years now and I've got a student account which might as well be a basic account with a £1250 overdraft attached to it, I'm a few hundred within the limit and dealing with it. The problem is the card I've got. For the last five years or so I've been left with a cashpoint card rather than something of a little more use. At one stage they wouldn't even trust me with something like an Electron if they issue them.

To be blunt I was a bit of a tool for 3-4 months. I had student accounts with Abbey, Barclays and Nat West and took all of them over my overdraft limits, cashback at M&S being my favourite trick. For some reason they would take my cards when other places wouldn't. I wasn't over the limits for very long and my parents loaned me the money to close the Barclays and Nat West accounts, ending my adventure. The Abbey account has been within limits ever since and the account has been back in credit at the start of each uni year, with the exception of last September.

But that was 5-6 years ago now and my account hasn't been over its limit since and while until now the payments haven't been as regular as they might have been, I haven't been eating into my overdraft, save for emergencies. I'm sick of the cashpoint card and being forced to carry cash on me, I need something, for want of a better word, a little pokier. I recently graduated having changed degrees and as far as the bank are concerned I'm still a student for another 12 months, so I need to go in to my branch tomorrow, tell them otherwise and enquire about a new card.

This is where you lot come in.

I could probably find out on their site, but what cards do they issue? Electron, Visa Debit and Maestro? As I've never had to enquire about cards before, how long will it take for a decision about it? I would ask how likely they are to give me a better card seeing as I have done my time with this one, but none of you will be able to tell me so it would be rather pointless.

If they say no is the threat of me jumping ship and going somewhere else to bank likely to hold much sway or will they be glad to see the back of me? I don't want to resort to making threats, but it is a better option than sticking with the cashpoint card.

Finally, how long are they going to give me to pay off the £1000 left on my overdraft now I'm no longer a student and how happy are other banks going to be to accept me, overdraft and all, if I do decided to jump ship? If that is my only option, whereabouts should I look?

A few things that might be of relevance, until I find a job my only income is coming from Amazon Marketplace and £45 a week JSA. Since my 'adventure' and despite limiting me on my card, Abbey, without being asked (the rotters), have increased my overdraft limit, I believe I had to pass a credit check with Virgin Mobile, to pay monthly by Direct Debit rather than pre-paying, although I switched back to pre-pay after a while and I forget which of the agencies annualcreditreport use, callcredit perhaps, and nothing too nasty showed up, a lack of application or search footprints being the main thing. I'll check my report with Experian as soon as I get my mitts on a Visa Debit or Maestro card. But, and this could be a big but, Nationwide turned me down for a credit card a few weeks ago. As I have had a savings account with them for over 20 years and haven't caused them any trouble I thought I'd apply for one of their cards. The amount I'll use it, £5 here or there for a bag of coffee, and the fact that I'll pay anything off straight away means there isn't much point in me shopping around for a card, I'll take whatever I can get. But I admitted to being unemployed on the application, so they might have turned me down for that rather than having a poor credit rating.

One final question, how much would I have had to screw the banks around to !!!!!! my credit rating with the overdrafts and would paying them off in full have done anything to repair any damage? I'm not the most informed person when it comes to things like this, I guess starting to lurk on the forums and trying to get some research done is a good first step to rectifying that.

Was that a long enough post? I'm sure I could waffle on a bit more :rotfl:Thanks in advance for anyone able to answer my questions.

Dickieburd

A possible option is to apply for something like Halifax/Bank Of Scotland Easycash account which gives you a visa electron debit card which I use and have no trouble having it accepted though others may disagree. You can pick up application in a branch or apply online http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/easycash.asp

Clydesdale Bank / Yorkshire Bank also have a Readycash account which comes with Maestro debit card, I believe you have to apply in branch.

I am sure you will get some relevant advice from some posters but if you are unable to get a bank account with a debit card then you could apply for a prepay card which is either Visa or Maestro or Mastercard depending who you apply to. They all have different conditions, some charge you to top up, others charge you everytime you use your card.
You would be best to google "prepaid cards" to get some idea here is one such site http://www.moneyexpert.com/CreditCards/PrepaidCreditCards.aspx these cards are only a selection of what is available.

Bren_D

Dickieburd wrote: »

A possible option is to apply for something like Halifax/Bank Of Scotland Easycash account which gives you a visa electron debit card which I use and have no trouble having it accepted though others may disagree. You can pick up application in a branch or apply online http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/easycash.asp

Clydesdale Bank / Yorkshire Bank also have a Readycash account which comes with Maestro debit card, I believe you have to apply in branch.

I am sure you will get some relevant advice from some posters but if you are unable to get a bank account with a debit card then you could apply for a prepay card which is either Visa or Maestro or Mastercard depending who you apply to. They all have different conditions, some charge you to top up, others charge you everytime you use your card.
You would be best to google "prepaid cards" to get some idea here is one such site http://www.moneyexpert.com/CreditCards/PrepaidCreditCards.aspx these cards are only a selection of what is available.

Thanks

An Electron card, whilst better than the waste of plastic I've got at the moment, isn't really what I'm looking for mainly as I'm unable to use it much, if at all, online. Having said that if it is all that the bank are willing to offer me it would do while I research which bank to take my custom to.

I have looked at prepaid cards but the fees put me off and a massive part of me believes that as I have shown the bank I'm no longer a liability they should reward my custom with at least a Visa Debit card. But whether they will see it the same way I don't know.

Dickieburd

It is always worth trying a visa electron card when there is a visa facility (but no mention of visa electron) as sometimes it does accept payment depends on retailer.

Bren_D

Well that went better than I expected. I would probably have got away with not telling the bank that my studies were over a year before they expected them to be, but I thought I might as well tell them as I needed to see them about the card anyway.

The lass I saw ordered me a new card on the spot without any argument, I don't know what it will be, as she didn't put up a fight I expect it will be an Electron. But perhaps living with the cashcard for five years without applying for a new card rather than bugging them every six months will have worked in my favour? She seemed convinced that switching to the graduate account will get me a bigger overdraft, not that I want one. But if the are prepared to extend it by £500 maybe they'll throw a Maestro in my direction?

Jamielad

Hi there,

there have been lots of post recently asking about how you can get a better bank account / debit card, and I was in a similar situation a while back so hopefully might be able to shed some light on it (well, at least on how the Natwest see it!)

I had credit problems a few years back which meant I had a CCJ on my file. I opened a basic (Step) account with Natwest about 5 years ago, but they stubbornly refused to upgrade it while the CCJ was still on my file. I believe that this is their policy - CCJ = no full account.

A month after the CCJ was off my file I applied again for a full account and got it straight away, but without a full maestro card, just a solo card. At the time my wages were being pad by cheque, and I was told that in order to get a full debit card they need to see three - six months of regular electronic payments before granting a maestro.

Interestingly, I was given a £2k overdraft after a few months (my company moved into the 21st century and started paying by BACS!) but it took another two months of electronic payments before they'd give me the maestro.

So as far as I can tell for Natwest, their rules are:

- CCJ = basic account
- no regular payments / cheque / cash payments = solo card but full account
- no CCJs / electronic wages payment = maestro
- overdrafts offered according to amount of regular payments in

Hope this helps (though of course it might not be the same for other banks)

J

Frogger

I'd recommend trying a prepaid debit card such as Sterling Card which doesn't have any hidden fees or interest charges.

stiffnuts69

Frogger wrote: »

I'd recommend trying a prepaid debit card such as Sterling Card which doesn't have any hidden fees or interest charges.

I see you have joined today so you can spam this website with your junk advertisement for a prepaid.

:spam:

Bren_D

I have been a tad slow.

I thought it was strange that having been into my branch on Friday I hadn't heard anything from the bank. Surely a different department deals with the student/graduate accounts than that which is suffering all of the delays with card issues? As my overdraft has changed and more than likely the T&Cs I would have thought that I'd have received a letter by now.

The lass I dealt with didn't have a working terminal in front of her, so she wrote down what she was going to do with my account. Something tells me that as soon as she did have a working terminal she might have struggled to order me a new card, so I thought I would call Abbey and see what has been done to my account. I would be more than happy to go into the branch again to sort things out and threaten to leave if they didn't issue me a maestro.

But the Spanish lass I ended up on the phone to could hardly speak English. Talk of student and graduate accounts was enough to confuse her, so she palmed me off onto someone from my branch, the best thing she did in the five minutes or so I was speaking to her.

This is where it starts to get interesting. The lass I spoke to on Friday didn't ask for any proof that I had graduated or that I was in employment, one of the conditions of the graduate account. I thought it was strange, but didn't question it, I was sure she'd know more about it than a newbie to this sort of thing. She also said they would add £500 to my overdraft limit. I'm certain she said add, I commented that £1,750 was a strange amount to which she didn't reply and moved on. Again as the website had said my overdraft would be 2k I assumed she had got it wrong.

As for the card, seeing a lad with a student account and a cash card, she probably assumed she'd be able to order me something better.

Which leaves me in limbo not knowing what the heck has happened to my account or whether a new card is on the way.

The person from my branch I spoke to just now questioned a lot of things the other lass had done. Apparently if I switch to a Grad account my new overdraft limit will be £500. £1,250 to £500 just like that. Nowhere on their website can I see anything that states they will more than halve the overdraft of anyone who graduates and hasn't found work before the bank catch up with them. The person I dealt with in the branch wouldn't have known that I wasn't in employment so wouldn't have known I'd be hit with the lower limit. Perhaps she assumed my limit was £1,500 and not £1,250.

They thought I was going to be a student for another 12 months, in which time a 1k overdraft would have bitten the dust, but if my account has been changed I'm around £460 over my limit and I'm sure they'll take great delight in charging me for it. The woman I spoke to advised her daughter not to contact Abbey when she graduated and to let them find her. I thought I was doing the right thing, the regular JSA payments would have tipped them off that I was no longer studying. I had visions of them switching my account to a basic one or their bog-standard current account and taking my overdraft with it as it was obvious I was no longer a student. I thought telling them would at least leave my overdraft limit in place.

So I'm waiting for a phone call to see what has happened and I'm a tad stressed about it. I should have asked the girl I spoke to on Friday to call me when she had sorted things. I can only hope that she didn't manage to get it done which might buy me enough time to get the overdraft the right side of £500 and jump ship to Citibank. This is the second or third time Abbey have messed me around, it will be the last.

The time they insisted that I had asked them for all of my new cards to be sent to my local branch was the best of their !!!! ups. That would be my local branch a 90 mile round trip away. I was without a card for over a fortnight while they sorted that one out and investigated whether I was trying to fraudulently obtain cash cards. Apparently it looked dodgy that two had been cancelled in such a short space of time. They suggested that the first replacement was cancelled rather than put me through the journey.

Bren_D

Guess what? I'm still having fun with Abbey

I went into my branch a few days after my last post determined to speak to a manger and find out what was going on. But I decided to give one of the members of staff a chance to solve things first. I like to see myself as kind, others would describe me as soft.

The lad I spoke to was far more switched on than the other people I dealt with and accused the woman I spoke to on the phone of not knowing the answer to my questions and picking a figure at random concerning my overdraft. He assured me that it wouldn't drop to £500 straight away and that Abbey wouldn't be asking me to pay anything above that back in a hurry. I don't know if he was BSing me about having to write to the underwriters to have my account switched to a graduate one and sort out a new debit card, I took his word for it. He asked me for a password for the new card, which I thought was a tad strange, said that my overdraft would be increased and told me that he would call as soon as he heard back about my account.

The second person from my branch, it is sooooooo tempting to name and shame them, that promised to call me back and decided not to.

So I decided that patience was the order of the day and sat back waiting for Abbey to contact me. Nothing was out of the ordinary when I used a cashpoint on Wednesday, but between now and then £600 appeared on my overdraft limit. Imagine my delight at returning home to a letter from Abbey dated 1st August...

"Thank you for asking Abbey for an overdraft [I didn't]. We're pleased to tell you that you now have one [I've had an authorised overdraft with them for five years]. This means you can now go £1,800 overdrawn [Is there really a need to patronise me? I know what an overdraft is], apart from interest at the authorised overdraft rate"

Interest? I think not, I was told my overdraft would be increased from £1200 to £2000 and that it would be interest free as my account would be a graduate one. I hope that is a standardised letter they send out to everyone. But when my limit changed each year as I progressed through my studies I didn't receive a letter thanking me for asking for an overdraft.

Why have they raised my limit to 1.8k and not 2k? Why have I received a letter thanking me for asking for an overdraft and not one confirming that my account has been switched to a graduate one? Are they likely to have switched it to a bog-standard current account? The strange overdraft limit would indicate that they have. If they are happy with the way I have run the account for the last five years and my credit rating isn't too !!!!!! for them to increase my overdraft by so much why are they dragging their heels about a new debit card? What will the next correspondence from them be? My statement complete with interest on the overdraft? Will I ever get a straight answer from anyone on the phone or in my branch?

Stay tuned for more fun with Abbey.