Kroo bank discussion

Shakin_Steve

I had to wait about a week until my account was opened. No big deal as I'm sure not many people will be using it as their main account just yet. No problems moving money in or out, although the largest amount is only £200 so far. Debit card arrived after four days, I haven't used it yet, only spent from apple wallet. I don't visualise keeping large amounts in the accounts at this point, maybe some time in the future if joint accounts become available.
3.33% on a current account is not to be sniffed at.

Ballard

Al Rayan just upped their rate to 3.12 gross and I was mulling over using that account again before I had the Kroo email about their increase so I won't bother with Al Rayan at the moment.

A question that has probably already been answered in this thread but I didn't see in the pages I checked... They say that they don't charge for overseas transactions. I don't think that this is explicitly clear whether they take a margin on the rate that Visa set. I'm leaning towards it being a good travel card but I'm not 100% sure. I already have a few such cards but another one wouldn't hurt. Has anyone any experience of this?

26.3 Debit cards are only issued for current accounts in GBP. When a card or mobile transaction is in a foreign currency, the amount of the transaction will be converted into GBP using an exchange rate set by Visa. This is our reference rate. The reference rate for a transaction will be the rate that applies on the day the exchange takes place, which may be after the day the card transaction takes place. Amounts due to us must be settled in GBP

mouseclick

Just so people know, Kroo do a hard credit check (as opposed to a soft credit check) with TransUnion when you apply for an overdraft. I was sent an immediate email by Credit Carma as soon as I hit the submit button. The search said:

Hard search detail

Kroo Bank Limited (Cosmos)

Kroo Bank Limited (Cosmos Cr Bsb Cca)

Purpose Checking credit application

You can see which banks do which here. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6422051/list-of-banks-with-hard-vs-soft-searches-for-current-accounts/

Nick_C

A lender does a credit check before agreeing to lend you money?  Shocking. 

mouseclick

Nick_C said:

A lender does a credit check before agreeing to lend you money?  Shocking. 

No, it's not at all shocking, I expected it. All banks do credit checks, that's the entire point of a credit check, I thought everyone understood that! It''s just the type of search that is different. Check https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6422051/list-of-banks-with-hard-vs-soft-searches-for-current-accounts/ to see which bank does which. Kroo does a hard one when approving overdrafts but a soft one when opening an account. Overdrafts are invite only

masonic

mouseclick said:

Nick_C said:

A lender does a credit check before agreeing to lend you money?  Shocking. 

No, it's not at all shocking, I expected it. All banks do credit checks, that's the entire point of a credit check, I thought everyone understood that! It''s just the type of search that is different. Check https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6422051/list-of-banks-with-hard-vs-soft-searches-for-current-accounts/ to see which bank does which. Kroo does a hard one when approving overdrafts but a soft one when opening an account. Overdrafts are invite only

It should come as no surprise that a hard search is done when applying for credit. The banks that perform a soft search will be those who do not routinely offer a credit facility (overdraft) to customers when an account is opened.

You should have been informed in the terms before applying that such a search would be done.

mouseclick

masonic said:

You should have been informed in the terms before applying that such a search would be done.

Thanks. Yes, I agree, but Kroo doesn't make the type of search clear. I asked them in their webchat and they still didn't make it clear in their response.

So I am only posting to inform others what type of search is done as Kroo is new. Some people may not wish to have a hard search recorded if they plan to apply for a mortgage later. Anyway, I passed the credit check and got the overdraft. No big deal for me.

In contrast, though, Halifax did not do a hard credit check when they offered me an overdraft and I accepted. Both Halifax and Kroo were aware of my high credit score beforehand because their Android Apps have a feature that shows my credit score.

Ballard

There's been a lot of negativity around Kroo, and they're not perfect, but for simply depositing some cash and earning interest they're not bad. I'd previously really liked Al Rayan but not only are their rates slightly lower but their transfers in and out take hours against Kroo's faster payment method.

I did notice that the narrative for March's interest showed it being for February again but that's not the sort of thing that's worth getting worked up about.

masonic

mouseclick said:

masonic said:

You should have been informed in the terms before applying that such a search would be done.

Thanks. Yes, I agree, but Kroo doesn't make the type of search clear. I asked them in their webchat and they still didn't make it clear in their response.

So I am only posting to inform others what type of search is done as Kroo is new. Some people may not wish to have a hard search recorded if they plan to apply for a mortgage later. Anyway, I passed the credit check and got the overdraft. No big deal for me.

In contrast, though, Halifax did not do a hard credit check when they offered me an overdraft and I accepted. Both Halifax and Kroo were aware of my high credit score beforehand because their Android Apps have a feature that shows my credit score.

Halifax keep the results of the credit search they perform when you open your account, whether or not you take up an overdraft. This enables you to open other products (multiple current accounts, credit cards etc) and add things like overdrafts without the need for an additional search. But they do not let you open any account that typically comes with a credit facility without an initial search. Kroo do not perform an initial search, so there is no option to refer back to one when you apply for your first line of credit.

As a rule, if you are being told an institution may conduct a credit search, then it is a hard search. This is always to be expected when applying for credit, but there are cases such as Halifax where they avoid doing repeat searches.

You seem to be confusing the "View your credit score" facility some Credit Reference Agencies provide as a packaged service for certain financial institutions to offer to their customers. This is purely to give you convenient access to the information. It is for your informational use only, and is not used for checking your credit worthiness by the institution offering the service. A credit score is a fairly meaningless number calculated by the Credit Reference Agency itself, and should not be confused with the credit scoring done by lenders, which will use various different criteria and weightings. You can generally get a better service for free by going to the CRA direct, although for Experian the MSE credit club is a good option.

mouseclick

masonic said:

Halifax keep the results of the credit search they perform when you open your account, whether or not you take up an overdraft. This enables you to open other products (multiple current accounts, credit cards etc) and add things like overdrafts without the need for an additional search. But they do not let you open any account that typically comes with a credit facility without an initial search. Kroo do not perform an initial search, so there is no option to refer back to one when you apply for your first line of credit.

As a rule, if you are being told an institution may conduct a credit search, then it is a hard search. This is always to be expected when applying for credit, but there are cases such as Halifax where they avoid doing repeat searches.

You seem to be confusing the "View your credit score" facility some Credit Reference Agencies provide as a packaged service for certain financial institutions to offer to their customers. This is purely to give you convenient access to the information. It is for your informational use only, and is not used for checking your credit worthiness by the institution offering the service. A credit score is a fairly meaningless number calculated by the Credit Reference Agency itself, and should not be confused with the credit scoring done by lenders, which will use various different criteria and weightings. You can generally get a better service for free by going to the CRA direct, although for Experian the MSE credit club is a good option.

Thanks. I have the Experian app plus Clearscore, Credability, Totally Money and CreditKarma, I am also in the MSE credit club and use CapitalOne's Creditwise facility. I notice now that several of my bank accounts started to offer similar services recently. For example, the Halifax app show my TransUnion score. Kroo uses TransUnion too but gives a range of 10 rather than the exact figure. Zopa calculates a 1 to 10 score based on Equifax. 

So I am not really getting the two mixed up, I assumed Halifax and Kroo have access to live information at any time because they display credit info in the app, so surely they can see it as well. My Halifax account was opened in 2013, that was the last time they did a full credit check. I was offered the overdraft in 2021, and they didn't do a hard check. I assumed they would have relied on more updated information rather than information that is 8 years old.

I assume Open Banking also helps banks decide whether or not someone can get an overdraft. Experian use this for Boost. Incidentally, I don't plan to use the overdraft because it is not a cheap way to get credit, but I like overdrafts on each account in case I ever make a mistake. I'd prefer to pay interest than have a transaction bounce.