Why can't Mum get a debit card?

pfpf

hello.

A&L earlier in the year and today Lloyds TSB. both have rejected Mums application for a bank account that gives a Visa DC.

my Mum is now 70 years old and for a few months i have been doing her grocery shop online for home delivery.

problem is she currently only has an Electron card (or similar, co op bank account) and Tesco do not allow this card as a payment method.

i am currently stuck having to use my card although strangely Tesco will deliver to Mums address. the hassle then is Mum giving me the cash and then having to deposit it into my account, overall a real pain.

Mums income is £1000+ PM, she is in a rented bungalow.

i think her current bank has said they can try and upgrade her account but it would require new account number etc and she is reluctant to change the account as she has DD's and money going in and all that would need to be swapped, hassle she doesnt fancy and i dont want her to have any hassle either.

she doesnt want an overdraft or credit card, just a debit card. i just dont know why they wont give her an account when the only money she will spend is whats in her account, which she will fund monthly in cash.

so what are the likely reasons she keeps getting turned down for accounts that give a full debit card and does anyone have suggestions as to which bank may be the best one to try?

i am reluctant to persuade her to try another bank unless i think there is a good chance of her getting the Visa DC she/we want.

thank you.

System

pfpf wrote: »

hello.

A&L earlier in the year and today Lloyds TSB. both have rejected Mums application for a bank account that gives a Visa DC.

my Mum is now 70 years old and for a few months i have been doing her grocery shop online for home delivery.

problem is she currently only has an Electron card (or similar, co op bank account) and Tesco do not allow this card as a payment method.

i am currently stuck having to use my card although strangely Tesco will deliver to Mums address. the hassle then is Mum giving me the cash and then having to deposit it into my account, overall a real pain.

Mums income is £1000+ PM, she is in a rented bungalow.

i think her current bank has said they can try and upgrade her account but it would require new account number etc and she is reluctant to change the account as she has DD's and money going in and all that would need to be swapped, hassle she doesnt fancy and i dont want her to have any hassle either.

she doesnt want an overdraft or credit card, just a debit card. i just dont know why they wont give her an account when the only money she will spend is whats in her account, which she will fund monthly in cash.

so what are the likely reasons she keeps getting turned down for accounts that give a full debit card and does anyone have suggestions as to which bank may be the best one to try?

i am reluctant to persuade her to try another bank unless i think there is a good chance of her getting the Visa DC she/we want.

thank you.

I don't get this? You say you have applied to both A & L and Lloyds right? And you say that your mum's current bank have offered to attempt an upgrade but your mum doesn't want to change account no. But you would have to change account no. if switching to a new provider - as has been attempted.

The best chance you have is with your mum's current bank.

UNDERGROUND

YorkshireBoy

UNDERGROUND wrote: »

I don't get this? You say you have applied to both A & L and Lloyds right? And you say that your mum's current bank have offered to attempt an upgrade but your mum doesn't want to change account no. But you would have to change account no. if switching to a new provider - as has been attempted.

I think the idea was to fund the new A&L or LTSB account with the grocery money each month (via transfer from Co-op or even cash withdrawal/deposit), leaving the Co-op account to continue to pay the DD's.

pfpf

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I think the idea was to fund the new A&L or LTSB account with the grocery money each month (via transfer from Co-op or even cash withdrawal/deposit), leaving the Co-op account to continue to pay the DD's.

correct. Mum has all her DD's and pension payments going into her account and doesnt want the hassle of having to swap all that. but that account does NOT have a card that allows online shopping with the likes of Tesco, although she can use it to buy things in shops, i think its an Electron or co-op's equivalent.

we are looking for an account with a card soley for online purchases. the account would be funded in cash monthly with at least £500.00.

i still cant get my head around why banks would refuse an account when she isnt borrowing money, only spending funds already in the account.

southernscouser

Get a copy of her credit report from Experian and Equifax mate. There is a link on here somewhere to get these for free by signing up to their 30 day free trial! Just make sure she cancels before the 30 days or up or she'll be tied into a monthly payment! You might even be able to go through Quidco.

The credit report will just make sure there is nothing untowards on there.

Is she on the electoral roll?

Has she moved recently?

Any debts etc?

southernscouser

pfpf wrote: »

i still cant get my head around why banks would refuse an account when she isnt borrowing money, only spending funds already in the account.

Could be her age, where she lives, or maybe what I asked above! :think:

Get the reports and it will give you a clearer picture.

System

Sorry, didn't grasp what you were asking for.

Good advice from other posters :rolleyes:

Regards

UNDERGROUND

taless

Hi pfpf, just 2 suggestions:

1) Your bank suggested an upgrade to the account, but this will require a new a/c no. Is it possible for them to apply for a new account, but NOT close the current one down, so that your DDs will not need to be transferred? It is possible to have 2 current accounts with the same bank.

2) You said that LTSB rejected her application. Which one did she apply for? Is it the Classic account or the Cash Account? I find it quite unbelievable/unacceptable even that LTSB wouldn't accept her for a Cash Account. The Cash Account gives her a Visa Debit card, so she can perform the online Tesco's shopping, but it won't allow her to withdraw cash from non LTSB cash machines (which isn't a problem, as stated in your post). Could you confirm with LTSB again and ask for the Cash Account?

All the best & let us know how things go.

Mikeyorks

pfpf wrote: »

i think her current bank has said they can try and upgrade her account but it would require new account number etc and she is reluctant to change the account as she has DD's and money going in and all that would need to be swapped, hassle she doesnt fancy and i dont want her to have any hassle either.

If you've tried a couple ..... and you don't want to try any more ..... then the choice is Hobson's (that's not a Bank:p ) ..... as above?

I've fairly recently had to do the same for my Mum .... and switch accounts / DDs and all input payments (3 lots of pensions / War Stock dividends etc). It's not something she could have done - but if you can get the accounts online (set up online banking in her name) it's not such a daunting task. In particular if you can get them to keep the accounts separate rather than merge them - then you just close the one you've moved everything from when you've finished.

But don't, whatever you do, accept any form of switching offer from the Bank in respect of the DDs - do it yourself, it's much easier and less hazardous to sanity. Any letters / paper DDs - I just (150 mile round trip) used to complete and then bung them in the post for her to sign - if I wasn't going down there. The only work she has to do - is register her existing account for online banking - then you take over and do the rest from your PC as though you are her.

Once you've achieved it all - you can just leave it to run and ignore the online bit. In my case I've put most of Mum's money into online accounts (she had the worst paying ISAs / savings accounts imagineable) - so I manage it - do the necessary transfers from current to websaver and back in respect of her liquid cash. If you do go that far - don't set up any bill transfers / SOs or whatever to any account you own. Any money my Mum has to pay me I insist on as a cheque, in order everything has to go via her current account and there's a full audit trail. Equally don't suppress paper Statements - they all go to her and I check she ticks all the entries off every month. She's 87 and it's taken her a little while to realise how her current and 'close to hand' websaver accounts interact .... but I think we've just cracked that, and I've more than doubled her annual interest which, to be fair, wasn't difficult.
Problem is I turned her into a taxpayer, as a consequence, so I now have to d/w that as well.

pfpf

taless wrote: »

2) You said that LTSB rejected her application. Which one did she apply for? Is it the Classic account or the Cash Account? I find it quite unbelievable/unacceptable even that LTSB wouldn't accept her for a Cash Account. The Cash Account gives her a Visa Debit card, so she can perform the online Tesco's shopping, but it won't allow her to withdraw cash from non LTSB cash machines (which isn't a problem, as stated in your post). Could you confirm with LTSB again and ask for the Cash Account?

thanks. i too am surprised she coudlnt get a basic account.

the cash account would be ideal. i'm afraid i dont know which account she/they tried to open. i just told her to ask for a "basic account with a visa debit card", but i guess the agent could have been trying to open anything. i really should have gone with her

i'll tell her to pop in again when she's in town next and double check.

taless

Good luck! Remember it is Cash Account. Just say that, don't mention anything about the Visa Debit - it comes as standard. Do go with her next time, the bank staff may be trying to attract her to a Classic account...!