Santander Student Bank Account 2019 .BEWARE!!

greyhound_lady

Just a word of warning 're the above.
My son applied online for this account. He starts uni this Sept.
His application was declined. No reason given. He already has an incredit Nationwide account.
He made an appointment in branch ( Hammersmith) for today 20th Aug, to discuss this with an advisor. He went with his father to facilitate the meeting.

1. The branch advisor had contacted him by phone prior to the meeting to confirm his attendance.
2. Once he arrived, he was informed that the Hammersmith branch doesn't " do" student accounts......
3. She went on to explain that because he has no credit history, that is why his application was declined. Unless he already had an existing account with Santander ( or we did), his application would be declined regardless.

I'm dumbfounded at this. He is 19 years old. Having a credit history is not something most will have, nor do I want him in debt at his age!!.

So, any student looking to apply for this account, BEWARE...

As a PS. He went to Nationwide where he already banks, and they have given him another account. However they too said that if he hadn't already got his existing one, his ( lack of a )credit history would also see them decline him.

How on earth are students supposed to get accounts as offered?? Nowhere does it say you have to be an existing customer.....

[Deleted User]

You can start building credit history (not debt) from 18.

Get on the Electoral Roll.
Get a credit card, use it for normal monthly purchases and pay if off in full each month after the statement is produced.
Get a SIM-only phone contract
etc.

colsten

greyhound_lady wrote: »

He is 19 years old. Having a credit history is not something most will have, nor do I want him in debt at his age!!.

Having a credit history, i.e. be known to credit reference agencies (CRAs), doesn't mean you have to have (been in) debt.

Anyone over the age of 18 can build a history with a CRA but it seems quite absurd to decline an application for a student account because the student doesn't have a credit history. Are you sre though that your son doesn't have one? What sort of account is it he held at Nationwide? If a current account, they would normally report this to the CRAs on a monthly basis.

System

greyhound_lady wrote: »

Just a word of warning 're the above.
My son applied online for this account. He starts uni this Sept.
His application was declined. No reason given. He already has an incredit Nationwide account.
He made an appointment in branch ( Hammersmith) for today 20th Aug, to discuss this with an advisor. He went with his father to facilitate the meeting.

1. The branch advisor had contacted him by phone prior to the meeting to confirm his attendance.
2. Once he arrived, he was informed that the Hammersmith branch doesn't " do" student accounts......
3. She went on to explain that because he has no credit history, that is why his application was declined. Unless he already had an existing account with Santander ( or we did), his application would be declined regardless.

I'm dumbfounded at this. He is 19 years old. Having a credit history is not something most will have, nor do I want him in debt at his age!!.

So, any student looking to apply for this account, BEWARE...

As a PS. He went to Nationwide where he already banks, and they have given him another account. However they too said that if he hadn't already got his existing one, his ( lack of a )credit history would also see them decline him.

How on earth are students supposed to get accounts as offered?? Nowhere does it say you have to be an existing customer.....

I wouldn't believe too much of the what the Santander lady said - she probably couldn't be bothered appealing the initial refusal.