Bank Account Rejected!

alecpr

Hi,

Long story, but here goes...

I currently have three bank accounts, a current, a savings and a stoozing, bonus grabbing account. Never had a problem opening an account in my life, no bad credit, nothing.

About 3 months or so ago I switched mortgages and that all seemed to go smoothly. About the same time I applied for a new bank account with Cahoot and was rejected, no reason was given, but it caused me enough worry to check my credit file. No problems, so I put it down to the bank not wanting my custom or at worst that I had just switched mortgage provider and forgot about it.

Just recently I applied for the First Direct current account and again was rejected, this time the rejection letter told me there was no dergatory info found on my credit file. I have sent them an e-mail saying that I was conerned about the rejection and asked for other sources of information they use in order to make a decision.

They use :

1) Your credit file
2) An application called Hunter for fraud prevention
3) An internal (confidential) scoring system

I can't find any good reason to be rejected by two banks, so was wondering if anyone out there had any idea.

Murtle

I was rejected by Cahoot, but accepted by First Direct.

Try phoning First Direct to see what the problem was, they had issues verifying my place of work....and couldn't accept me until they had completed that.

Other then that sorry, bit stumped, but they do appear to be choosy as to who they have. I had my savings account with Cahoot and they still rejected me....wasn't impressed....

alecpr

Well took your advice and called First Direct, they told me nothing wrong with credit rating, application form isn't processed until after the internal scoring (so was nothing I entered incorrectly), I was turned down based on the internal scoring :-/

I'm assuming Cahoot is the same, getting ridiculous, all I want is a current account and savings account in the same place with good online access, current three providers either can't provide the accounts I'm looking for or don't want my business (I've applied to one provider for a savings account only to be told that even though I have a current account they need more proof of identity, but they have never told me and don't seem to want to tell me what that additional proof is).

mummytofour

I wonder if its because you already have three current accounts? In general these banks like you to have your wages paid in to THEIR current account....
Hope you manage to get is sorted soon.
Vxx

alecpr

That was my thought too, I suppose if you look at my credit file you would see credit checks from at least three probably four different banks in a very short period of time, One account I opened about 6 months ago, two possibly from mortgage providers I applied too and one from cahoot which was rejected.

I don't really understand why a bank would want wages though, my wages are paid in to Barclays and Barclays barely see any money, direct debits hit the account spending money comes out and savings are transfered, they are lucky if the average balance on there is a couple of hundred quid a month. The bank that holds my stoozing/bonus money on the other hand hold a typical balance of about £800 and the bank that holds my savings hold thousands of pounds of my money.

I would have thought out of all of those options a bank would be in the worst position by taking my wages every month, the least balance, the most paperwork and only VERY rarely overdrawn for maybe a day.

But rant over, if they don't want my cash I think I'll stick with what I've got, it's only a minor inconvenience and I'm starting to think getting a new bank account is actually more stressful than living with the situation I have at the moment.

Thanks for the comments!

Hazel_Eyes_Fella

alecpr wrote:

Well took your advice and called First Direct, they told me nothing wrong with credit rating, application form isn't processed until after the internal scoring (so was nothing I entered incorrectly), I was turned down based on the internal scoring :-/

I also got rejected. I think it's prob because tehy want to know that they cam make some kind of money on you ie: O/d fees, late payements, lareg balances not transfered quickly etc. If you are too good a person with your money their internal scoring may reject you...Just a theory. As I couldn't see why I got rejected seeing as I've a very good credit score.

alecpr

Nice to know I'm not the only one, looks like I just picked the wrong banks, Cahoot and First Direct both appear to be very picky about the business they take.