Am I going mad? Fighting Predatory Banking Practices

ad_interim

Your wife could apply for the Natwest Select (or the RBS Select account) and request to have overdraft control on it. They don't charge for this.

personal.natwest.com/content/dam/natwest_com/currentaccounts/downloads/NatWest-overdraft-control-leaflet.pdf

Natwest has a £150 switch incentive at the moment, if you initiate the account switch no later than tomorrow (Friday 6 Dec) when the offer ends.

personal.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/switch-your-banking-to-natwest.html

cloud_dog

FightPredatoryPractices wrote: »

Hi again born again,

I see what you're saying regarding contactless - and it's absolutely in the interest of Visa/Mastercard for their products to be used as often as possible above the interests of the banks they supply.

If you want to disable contactless, simply cut the corner of the credit card, this will break the antennae circuit. Here is an example of how to do so.

FightPredatoryPractices

Hi born again, Hi Ad Interim,

I have just ran into all the issues you've outlined here. I explained the situation and left out any emotive input I express in these forums and had it explained to me in just as clinical a manner that basic bank accounts, for both TSB and Natwest, were only available if an individual were to fail a credit check whilst applying for an account. As my wife currentley holds and account with TSB, this is, apparently, out of the question, whereas with Natwest she would have to apply for an account with the intent of securing the account she had applied for, none of which fit what we are looking for. I avoided making any mention regarding accessibility and the equality act so as not to engender any hostility in the process and in both circumstances the individuals I spoke to were very polite and afforded empathy to our situation and expressed regret they couldn't help outside the remit of the typical application process available.

I have found a list of banks who provide what we are looking for here, moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/basic-bank-accounts, all with various terms and conditions - some of which are similar to TSB and HSBC, but there are a few which would appear to allow direct as opposed to redirected application. Santander would seem to be the most promising as it has the fewest conditions on it, though I would quite like not to walk away from this and pursue TSB to the point where they at least offer to make the appropriate adjustments in line with the Equality Act 2010.

To set that precedent and to perhaps get it ensconced in policy (one can dream) so that others who face similar difficulties might not have to overcome the same obstacle would be my ultimate goal, lofty as it seems.

Thanks to both of you, and Cloud_Dog for his suggestion, it is all very much appreciated. Cheers.

ad_interim

FightPredatoryPractices wrote: »

basic bank accounts, for both TSB and Natwest, were only available if an individual were to fail a credit check whilst applying for an account. As my wife currentley holds and account with TSB, this is, apparently, out of the question, whereas with Natwest she would have to apply for an account with the intent of securing the account she had applied for, none of which fit what we are looking for.

It might be true about TSB, but it's definitely not true about Natwest (and RBS). The Select account is not a basic bank account and is available to anyone. The overdraft control is available on it on demand, so you need to call them to turn it on after you get the account. I posted the link to it in the post above.

I had the Natwest Select with overdraft control up until last year. My credit history is unblemished and I have always had very high credit rating (whatever that means).

personal.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/select_account.html

Good luck OP.