Uaccount - Paul Lewis on Radio 4

Andrea_jardin

colsten said: Unless they are a convicted fraudster or terrorist, every adult resident in the UK has a legal right to a fee-free basic bank account. Fee-free basic bank accounts have been offered by most, of not all, current account providers since 2016.

Interesting to see how so many of these Wirecard accounts have cropped up. I guess people don't know about basic bank accounts.

WillPS

Andrea_jardin said:

eskbanker said:

The complete eradication of cash has been exaggerated but there's no doubt to me that this crisis has accelerated its demise, now that so many businesses are now cashless, with little incentive to change back again....

I feel sorry for the buskers, waitresses and charity fundraisers who won't be able to get as many coins .

A lot of restaurants allow you to tip via card now, but I tend to keep a few fivers in my wallet for this purpose as I don't trust this actually gets to the staff. That is pretty much the only time I spend cash now, oh and trips to the seaside.

Dr_Crypto

eskbanker said:

Andrea_jardin said:

Shops need to start accepting cash again as a backup.

You have that argument the wrong way round - those choosing to use accounts from small flaky unprotected niche providers need to ensure that they have proper accounts as a backup....

Indeed. I was wondering why people use these odd accounts rather than a normal account like anyone else. I originally thought it was because they made £2.74 in interest on their salary but this seems a more plausible explanation. 

colsten

Dr_Crypto said:

eskbanker said:

Andrea_jardin said:

Shops need to start accepting cash again as a backup.

You have that argument the wrong way round - those choosing to use accounts from small flaky unprotected niche providers need to ensure that they have proper accounts as a backup....

Indeed. I was wondering why people use these odd accounts rather than a normal account like anyone else. I originally thought it was because they made £2.74 in interest on their salary but this seems a more plausible explanation. 

Which of the Wirecard cards/accounts paid any interest?

Andrea_jardin

WillPS said:

Andrea_jardin said:

eskbanker said:

The complete eradication of cash has been exaggerated but there's no doubt to me that this crisis has accelerated its demise, now that so many businesses are now cashless, with little incentive to change back again....

I feel sorry for the buskers, waitresses and charity fundraisers who won't be able to get as many coins .

A lot of restaurants allow you to tip via card now, but I tend to keep a few fivers in my wallet for this purpose as I don't trust this actually gets to the staff. That is pretty much the only time I spend cash now, oh and trips to the seaside.

Do you tip a full fiver if you buy a cup of tea and scone in a seaside cafe?!

ceremony

Andrea_jardin said:

Interesting, thanks for explaining.
If you get your direct debit dates wrong, do they charge? 
Do you rely on cash as a backup or do you just use the U card? 

U Account has tiers (free, but you pay per payment/direct debit, or monthly fees where you get a certain number of transactions included). It's been years since I've had a bounced direct debit, but I'm pretty sure they don't charge for returned DDs. They definitely didn't when I set it up. They make their money by charging a percentage on cash deposits to load the card, and on ATM withdrawals. I don't use those features.

One reason I set it up was my 'proper' bank account charged punitive fees back then and I needed to break the cycle of going overdrawn because I had no money, then being thrown back into overdrawn because the bank charged me.

I'm in a better place now (but still do have to be careful with money) and I continued to use the U card because it helps me mentally to have that money somewhere I can't easily touch it.

I really feel for people who use it as their primary card, though. The cards are marketed at young people / people who are struggling financially and want a simple app-based banking solution that they can load with cash at their local corner shop. This has got to be a crippling situation for them.

WillPS

Andrea_jardin said:

WillPS said:

Andrea_jardin said:

eskbanker said:

The complete eradication of cash has been exaggerated but there's no doubt to me that this crisis has accelerated its demise, now that so many businesses are now cashless, with little incentive to change back again....

I feel sorry for the buskers, waitresses and charity fundraisers who won't be able to get as many coins .

A lot of restaurants allow you to tip via card now, but I tend to keep a few fivers in my wallet for this purpose as I don't trust this actually gets to the staff. That is pretty much the only time I spend cash now, oh and trips to the seaside.

Do you tip a full fiver if you buy a cup of tea and scone in a seaside cafe?!

Nah, because I'll have a pot full of 2p pieces...

WillPS

I feel sorry for the customers of Uaccount, who are disproportionately vulnerable and have bought in to the absolute trash Uaccount have talked up about "unbanking"; alluding to proper financial institutions being disingenuous and therefore not worthy of trust. Uaccount isn't 'unbanking', if that is even a thing, it is a bank account with a single point of failure between their customers and that bank account.

The regulator really has to tighten up on this stuff, it shouldn't be necessary at all.

I'm not saying back end service providers like Wirecard should be banned; they have their applications, but provision of white label essential pseudo-banking services should not be among them.