Been refused an account on a poor credit rating I don't have.

Soletraderblues

First post - I'm a bit lost to be honest.

I wanted a Ping it account (touchless payment) - applied and was turned down due to having a Cifas Marker on my bank account - ask my bank to remove cifas marker (put there as fear of suspected identity fraud) from my account and they agree and proceed, a month later Ping it still say there is a cifas marker. Asked for a Subject Access Request from Cifas - came back clean. Told by Ping it that the only way around this was to open a current account with Barclays as they wouldn't need to do a check on me as they are the same company.

So I apply for a Barclays current account in person and they tell me there is a problem with my credit rating and they can't tell me what it is, they need to investigate - by letter I am refused their regular account because of something Experion has on me and offer me a basic account for people with poor credit (which will solve the ping it problem).

I'm concerned about what is going on with my credit rating - I check my Experian account and it scores 999 out of 999 - it's completely clean, rated excellent. I have a checkmyfile account - that's all fine too. I have an appointment with Barclays to discuss, but they refused to divulge what the problem was when making the application. I just want to know what is causing this - I have paid all my bills - had a mortgage for 20 years, never had a problem with credit but I am very worried that the system is holding false information on me and I don't seem to be able to find out what it is.

[Deleted User]

Your score and rating on Experian and any other CRA for that matter means diddly in the real world.

Lenders do not look at them or care about them.

What does the actual accounts data on your credit file show?

Anything untoward there?

Have you checked your files with Equifax and TransUnion?

Soletraderblues

Yes I have checked with all the credit agencies - they show nothing of concern.
We pay off our credit cards in full each month, the only debt we have is a mortgage - never missed a payment.

shortcrust

Soletraderblues wrote: »

First post - I'm a bit lost to be honest.

I wanted a Ping it account (touchless payment) - applied and was turned down due to having a Cifas Marker on my bank account - ask my bank to remove cifas marker (put there as fear of suspected identity fraud) from my account and they agree and proceed, a month later Ping it still say there is a cifas marker. Asked for a Subject Access Request from Cifas - came back clean. Told by Ping it that the only way around this was to open a current account with Barclays as they wouldn't need to do a check on me as they are the same company.

So I apply for a Barclays current account in person and they tell me there is a problem with my credit rating and they can't tell me what it is, they need to investigate - by letter I am refused their regular account because of something Experion has on me and offer me a basic account for people with poor credit (which will solve the ping it problem).

I'm concerned about what is going on with my credit rating - I check my Experian account and it scores 999 out of 999 - it's completely clean, rated excellent. I have a checkmyfile account - that's all fine too. I have an appointment with Barclays to discuss, but they refused to divulge what the problem was when making the application. I just want to know what is causing this - I have paid all my bills - had a mortgage for 20 years, never had a problem with credit but I am very worried that the system is holding false information on me and I don't seem to be able to find out what it is.

Could it be that the CIFAS info they got when you applied for the Pingit account has effectively blacklisted you as far as Barclays are concerned? Or perhaps as a group they won’t accept applications from someone refused an account in the last x months or something like that. These are things that a front line customer service agent might not know about. A written appeal to Barclays might shed some light.

Soletraderblues

When I spoke to Cifas they said Barclays were not allowed to instantly reject on the basis of a Cifas marker that was put in place to protect the customer - I'm not completely believing that as I have read that staff have been instructed to instantly reject applications if there is a cifas marker for whatever reason. I think I might need a SAR from Barclays and all the credit agencies.

"Or perhaps as a group they won’t accept applications from someone refused an account in the last x months or something like that." I don't mind if this is the case I don't want an account with them (their customer service is appalling) I just want to use Ping it but I need to know if there is something on my file somewhere that is false information preventing me from accessing financial products.

My husband is having similar problems (we have joint accounts) - I thought if I could figure out the source it would save him some time - which he doesn't have. I 100% trust him, have access to all his credit reports and there is nothing of concern there either.

Ben8282

It's your own fault for putting the CIFAS thing on your credit files 'for fear of identity fraud' in the first place.
Have you ever actually been the victim of identity fraud or was this just paranoia?

What do you need this pingit thing for anyway? I assume you already have a current account with a bank if you have a mortgage and credit cards so don't really understand why you need the Barclays account just to get the pingit. If you want to transfer funds why not just do it by faster payment from your existing bank account?

Soletraderblues

Ben8282 wrote: »

It's your own fault for putting the CIFAS thing on your credit files 'for fear of identity fraud' in the first place.
Have you ever actually been the victim of identity fraud or was this just paranoia?

That's a bit harsh! Cifas assure you that putting protective registration on your account will not adversely affect your ability to obtain financial products - so they lie and it's my fault?

[Deleted User]

Of course it will affect you.

It adds another layer of manual intervention to any credit application you make.

Soletraderblues

!!! wrote: »

Of course it will affect you.

It adds another layer of manual intervention to any credit application you make.

We're never had trouble getting financial products - CIFAS are so adamant that it will not cause a problem (I now realise they are lying) but how do they get away with this - we paid them £25 to screw us over!

[Deleted User]

No you paid them £25 to protect you against fraudulent applications.

Ben8282

I'm trying not to be harsh but why exactly did you decide to pay CIFAS £25 for this protective registration? You must have been made aware that it would cause, at the very least, applications to be referred for the additional checks, whatever the additional checks actually consist of, to be made. That was surely the purpose of the registration.
You are correct of course that this protective registration should cause delays and additional checks but not outright refusals

In your OP you say the CIFAS marker was put on your bank account. But surely it was put on your credit files?
You say that you asked your bank to remove it. But you say that you paid CIFAS £25 yourself for the protective registation. So if you put it there, how could your bank remove it? I am confused.
It is also unclear if you were actually the victim of identity fraud or if this was just paranoia.