Graduate Accounts 2007/8 discussion

emmaF_3

I have had a current account with Abbey national for years. I changed it to a student account 2 years ago, graduated in June 2007 so asked them to change it to a graduate account because they would increase overdraft by £500 to a free £2000 overdraft. They did this but messed up the details. So I went to another branch to get sorted as the first branch were very incompetent. They faxed the underwriters to correct the details, to again agree to the £2000 free overdraft. This was in June 2007 and they said this would expire 1st September 2007 because they could not correct the system, that I would need to call into branch again in August and get them extend it to the full year. (On their website graduate account is £2000 overdraft yr 1, £1500 yr 2 etc).
Now they are saying because insufficent activity on my account they will reduce the overdraft by £500 in 9 days time. I am claiming job seekers at the moment, (there is money going in) but worked through most of my studies.
The situation is becoming a bit of a farce, phonebanking are not much help and 1 person in the branch is trying to help but does not have alot of authority. The underwriters have the authority but I cannot deal with them direct. I think it is not very responsible to the offer the overdraft then take it away so quickly, I am actively looking for work but it will take more time to find a suitable role!
Does anybody have any advice on how to deal with the Abbey National, or of a complaints proceedure?
Thanks.

eager2save

I have a HSBC graduate account, and I'm now in my 2nd year of it, so the overdraft has been reduced to £1000. I'm a bit confused though - will I now be charged if I go into my overdraft? Obviously I will if I go over, but I haven't been informed of any changes, and £1000 is a great way of making money in a high interest savings account or ISA!

ACID

im told barclays are chargin a £5 per month fee
according to this
http://www.uswitch.com/CurrentAccounts/TopDealsGraduateOverdraft/CA_TopDeals.aspx?ref=scp%7eCreditCards%7eindex&i=1&sessionid=dwUDy961Vb3tKZXT7H%2f25jmgC8kl6m8k

they are the best if they fee is true ill opt for lloyds tsb
as i already have a natwest current account and need to open a different bank account up.

what do others think, also they offer commssion free travel currency.

Good_£_Intentions_Matt

I have HSBC stud a/c but told by letter that would become grad a/c in July. It still shows as stud a/c online. Had good service with them for over 12yrs. No major probs compared to other banks like Halifax and first direct.

Letter said that would revert to grad a/c and hence be charged for going over £1250, I think. Which is not a high enough level. It should be c1500 before they charge, in my estimation!

I'm thinking of changing to RBS grad a/c or A&L premier direct current a/c and their credit card offer too.

Q> DO you think RBS will offer me a good bal trsfer deal on credit card, as well as a good grad a/c, without doing another credit search?

I have first direct curr a/c of 550 o'draft as well as 1800 o'draft from HSBC. F Direct charge 10/mth fr just having the a/c unless you pay a lot into the a/c monthly. HSBC will charge me prob c5-10/mth I estimate from now on.

I think RBS wins hands down on pretty much all fields. The only think which HSBC may win on is that it offers loan up to 5yr post graduating, whereas RBS and others only offer 3. This may be a consideration.

Come to think of it the MSc I finished in 2006, I didn't graduate from, so I may be scuppered if RBS want graduation proof! if they settle for my prev grad in BSc Biol [2001] and PgDip [almost MSc] in E-Comm [2003] then I may be OK. I may have to stick with a grad a/c with HSBC. Maybe get rid of the f direct curr a/c o'draft and convert to A& Leic prem direct a/c and cr card! Hmmm! Choices, choices!


Fingers crossed, I'll be working in far east this autumn. I want to get finances simplified before I go.


All advice much welcomed!

Cheers all!!!

Bed time for me now! Early start.

Matt

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Post from other linked credit card/grad a/c section. I think they are very interlinked!
======================================================
TOPICS:
2 credit searches for one company but 2 products?
Reclaiming credit card charges
Graduate A/Cs
Missed payments on cr cards and Loan
Credit reports


I think the best offer now for me would be to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Get better bank a/c and lower APR credit card with same bank, Alliance and Leicester on basis that they'll do 1 not 2 searches.

Q1>
Will Alliance & Leic do 2 searches for both bank acc and cr card?
They offer cr card subject to status, what does this mean? Only prob is the 0% APR is only 9, not 12mths! 2.25% transfer fee too.

Q2>
Also they are part of MBNA group. As I already have Virgin card [also MBNA] and had temp period of missing 1 or 2 payments c 1 yr ago, would this count against me? Should I try another non-MBNA provider? I'm also claiming back credit card charges from Virgin too! Maybe this will alter their decision too!!

I need another grad acc also as HSBC charge a lot, on the plus side they offer up to 5 yr loan applications post graduation, whereas other grad acc's only do 3yr in best comparison.

grad accounts general: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/graduate-bank-accounts
grad accounts comparison:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/1091413381,96659


I have [rough figures]:
HSBC cr crd c£1600 used out of £2500 limit, 15%APR
Egg c£2900 used out of £3800 limit 20%APR
Virgin £782 out of £1000 limit 14% APR
=c£2000 unused credit for cards

Stud/grad a/c HSBC £1600 out of 1800 overdraft. Costs c 8-10/mth, fees and int
First Direct £490 out of £550 overdraft. Cost c15/mth, fees and int
=c£250 unused credit for overdrafts

CDL [career dev loan] C£4.5k, only made v small payments instead of normal c£85/mth, due to payment probs last yr!!!!! Came to agreement to paying reduced amounts over recent year. OH DEAR!
Stud Loan c£5k - deferred

Now in better paid work.

Total debts c£17k [excl student loan. Total = c£12k]
Income [gross] c£18k / 1500/mth
Outgoings c£9600 / 800/mth

Checked credit reports and they seem remarkably good c1390 out of 1500 =4 out of 5 stars! Unbelievable.

It looks like Barclays CDL have not put details on my cr reports of the CDL loan. Also my overdrafts are showing £0 balances instead of the above current figs or overdraft levels.

Q3>
What do you think my chances are of getting good deal for bal transfer and new better grad account?

skinted22

:money: I would like to change to an RBS account :money: but I doubt I will be able to pay back my overdraft to HSBC in time. Is it possible to open a graduate account with RBS when I graduate but keep HSBC open until I've managed to pay my overdraft off?
Thanks for your advice

ACID

so it barclays worth paying £5 a month or £60 a year or £180 for 3 years???

what about my current student accoutn with natwest

does that close>>

anastasiaportas

I have just tried to switch my HSBC graduate account to the RBS graduate account. After talking to RBS directly, I have discovered that you can only apply for the RBS account if you already hold a student account with them.

Unfortunately, it would seem that we are stuck with our current graduate accounts.

Martin - Can you suggest any alternative Graduate accounts that will allow you to switch from another bank?

Thought the idea all seemed too good to be true....

EmmaJ_3

anastasiaportas wrote: »

I have just tried to switch my HSBC graduate account to the RBS graduate account. After talking to RBS directly, I have discovered that you can only apply for the RBS account if you already hold a student account with them.

Unfortunately, it would seem that we are stuck with our current graduate accounts.

Martin - Can you suggest any alternative Graduate accounts that will allow you to switch from another bank?

Thought the idea all seemed too good to be true....

This isn't true at all - both myself & OH have switched from HSBC to RBS, we have both just graduated this year.

About the person who asked whether RBS would balance transfer their credit card too - they told me they would but then the system refused me, as I've just moved house (very common when you graduate!) I have a low credit score. But it'd be a case-by-case basis obviously, that's just what happened to me.

escaped_panda

I recently tried to switch from an HSBC graduate account to one with Lloyds TSB. The first time they refused me credit and the woman in the bank told me the system 'wasn't working properly' and to come back another day.

Did this and again was refused credit and told the only way I could get an account was if my parents had lloyds TSB accounts. They don't. She wouldn't tell me why they were refusing me; when I said I wanted to know she suggested looking at my credit report. Did this and as I expected eveything was fine - all details correct and it showed that I pay my credit card and bills off in full every month and always have done.

On my final visit to the bank all she could tell me was that it was 'at their discretion' even though I appeared to have everything they were asking for in order to open an account.

I can only conclude that they just didn't fancy me as a customer but have no idea why, and I don't dare try applying to another bank as when the woman was trying to 'make the system work' the first time round she put loads of searches on my credit report!!
:mad::mad::mad::mad:!!!

(You might be wondering why I didn't ask to see the manager shed some light on the situation but unfortunately this woman WAS the manager!!)

Anyway I just wondered if anyone had had a similar experience and if there's any advice on what to do next?

Cheers guys x

ACID

Barclays Any1?