Virgin Money Current Account

RG2015

sassy-one said:

Isn't this bank part of Richard Branson? No thank you.

Virgin Money was founded by Richard Branson but following various mergers and acquisitions he no longer has any involvement in running the company.

It does seem strange though to be prejudiced against a bank solely due to the celebrity status of its founder even if he had still been involved.

All banks have capitalist ownership so in that respect Virgin Money is no different to any other bank other than the fact that their owners are not in the media spotlight.

schiff

colsten said:

schiff said:

I've never had an account with Clydesdale.

Did you have a Yorkshire Bank one?

Not a bank account no, but I have their credit card - it was a 0% on purchases and I paid it off last month. Not cancelled. 

Wheres_My_Cashback

Lots of people jump on the hating Branson bandwagon, most probably don't even know why. I have no problem with him asking the Gov for a bail out/loan, just as dozens of other airlines have done.
Ironic that people complain about him asking for money when last week the Gov confirmed security on a £300m loan for a Hungarian Airline at a ridiculously low rate !!

colsten

sassy-one said:

Isn't this bank part of Richard Branson? No thank you.

Virgin Money is not owned by Branson, if that is what you meant

colsten

schiff said:

colsten said:

schiff said:

I've never had an account with Clydesdale.

Did you have a Yorkshire Bank one?

Not a bank account no, but I have their credit card - it was a 0% on purchases and I paid it off last month. Not cancelled. 

That is most likely why they have a record for you. 

schiff

colsten said:

schiff said:

colsten said:

schiff said:

I've never had an account with Clydesdale.

Did you have a Yorkshire Bank one?

Not a bank account no, but I have their credit card - it was a 0% on purchases and I paid it off last month. Not cancelled. 

That is most likely why they have a record for you. 

I think you may have provided the open sesame! I fished out my YB CC details and I've got a 10-figure log in and a 9-digit password! I'll report back. 

schiff

Well that worked but what a performance! Thanks colsten 
Started via the link on the Virgin home page I'm used to. Opened the application with the YB ID and password. A load of questions about how I'm going to use the account, made some of it up as I went along. Side tracked by some advice that I would get internet ID and PIN to activate my account online by post (I know I get a debit card and PIN in the post). Carried on anyway - then amazed to be told that my user name would be a user name I have only used once and that was for a Bank of Scotland account that I switched some time back! It can't be a coincidence. Eventually my accounts were opened and I have the details. My access to it will be via my YB log in details and it is apart from my Virgin RSs. 
All for £10 a year. We must be mad!

RG2015

schiff said:

Well that worked but what a performance! Thanks colsten 
Started via the link on the Virgin home page I'm used to. Opened the application with the YB ID and password. A load of questions about how I'm going to use the account, made some of it up as I went along. Side tracked by some advice that I would get internet ID and PIN to activate my account online by post (I know I get a debit card and PIN in the post). Carried on anyway - then amazed to be told that my user name would be a user name I have only used once and that was for a Bank of Scotland account that I switched some time back! It can't be a coincidence. Eventually my accounts were opened and I have the details. My access to it will be via my YB log in details and it is apart from my Virgin RSs. 
All for £10 a year. We must be mad!

But it's not the kill that matters. It's the chase!

This reminds me of the obstacle race to get that Ulster Bank savings account a few years back. How long did that market leading rate last?   

pafpcg

For existing Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank customers:  check that your customer details already include a mobilephone number!

My partner & I both completed applications for a Virgin Money Current Account each on Friday afternoon, successfull eventually, but it was a fraught experience simply because our Clydesdale accounts had a landline phone number but no mobilephone number.  I started the application process by applying as an existing Clydesdale account holder; I "logged-in" by providing my Clydesdale customer number, password & security-calculator-number; the system populated my application with my name, address, date-of-birth, etc, prompting me for details of income etc, but when I clicked on 'continue' it responded with an error message implying I had to supply a phone number - but there was no option to supply a phone number on the application screen!  I could only proceed by phoning them.  I spoke to a helpful lass up on Clydebank and in the course of a friendly natter, she updated my Clydesdale account with my mobilephone number; I had to restart the whole application process again but it proved successful.  (Note: the system didn't object to a nil mortgage and no request for an overdraft.)

When my partner started her application process by trying to add a mobilephone number first, she hit problems as soon as she started talking to the customer support person.  My partner is hard-of-hearing and hates using the telephone, so maybe the operator picked-up on her hesitancy and became much less helpful than "my" operator.  After collecting the usual security data (address, DoB etc) she demanded we supply the "telephone access key" for their automated security check which we didn't know (obviously, my partner's never ever used Clydesdale telephone banking); then she suggested using the Clydesdale account's debit card.  Let's be honest, we only use the Clydesdale accounts as interest-generating savings accounts so we had no idea if we even had a debit card; the operator transferred us to Clydesdale security-checking line but, during the 15 minutes of listening to the succession of recorded messages of 'please-stay-on-the-line', I dug through our file on the Clydesdale accounts and discovered the two debit cards (from six years ago, still in their original envelopes) - we aborted that call and tried the Virgin Money Current Account helpline again which seemed to respond quicker than the Clydesdale (within 5 minutes for each call).  Fortunately, my partner got the same friendly operator as I'd spoken to earlier and she entered the mobilephone number into the Clydesdale account without going through the full security rigmarole.  My partner's VM Current Account application then completed successfully and both our accounts have been fully funded.

Lessons learnt: 
- the Virgin Money accounts demand a mobilephone number, whereas Clydesdale Direct accounts require only a landline number.
- when calling the helpline, keep your fingers crossed that you're connected to a friendly operator!
- when accessing our Clydesdale online accounts, the new Virgin Money Current accounts are visible and funds can be transferred between them.

colsten

schiff said:

Well that worked but what a performance! Thanks colsten   

Glad I could help.

I feel sorry for their IT folks who have to keep old Clydesdale and Yorkshire accounts glued together with some, but not all, Virgin-branded accounts. They now seem to have 10 (ten!) different log ins into their various different accounts. 

schiff said:

All for £10 a year. We must be mad!

£8 🤣🤣🤣