Is there a current account that won't let you go overdrawn?

Dragonqueen

I have a Co-Op Bank Cashminder account for everyday banking - and that does not have an O/D or let you go overdrawn (as far as I am aware - and I have had this account since 2006). Check the Ts & Cs on their website though to be 100% sure..

pridehappy

I’m not 100% sure which one’s won’t allow you to go overdrawn, but I could imagine a prepaid card being a good option if you’re just looking for spending.

Out of the main current account providers, Nationwide Building Society are most likely to be the best as they don’t offer unarranged overdrafts but some transactions might still go through. 

The worst from my experience would be HSBC, with my son’s MyMoney account even twice allowing him to overdrawn while shopping casually in the city centre and then sending letters threatening reports to credit reference agencies (impossible for a 13 year old). 

blue.peter

FWIW, I've had a transaction rejected on my Nationwide debit card when it'd have taken me overdrawn. (I pulled the debit card out of my wallet when I'd intended to use my credit card. Yeah, I know, stupid.)

But, as others have pointed out, offline transactions can do it.

WillPS

pridehappy said:

Out of the main current account providers, Nationwide Building Society are most likely to be the best as they don’t offer unarranged overdrafts but some transactions might still go through. 

This is not true, and Nationwide themselves clarify that this is not the case:
https://www.nationwide.co.uk/current-accounts/overdrafts/

• No charges apply if you go into an unarranged overdraft. But you will not be able to withdraw cash or transfer money until your account balance is back in credit or within its limit.

Nationwide are just as (un)likely to send their members in to an unarranged overdraft as any other lender, they just won't charge the customer for the privilege if it happens to them.

As others have said, the only way to be 100% confident that going overdrawn is impossible would be to use a prepaid card (Starling's connected card for example). But you should also know there are then circumstances where you'd be unable to use your card when other debit card customers still can - as well as the oft quoted on-plane purchases there are also occasions when retailers, supermarkets in particular, lose external connectivity and fallback to using offline payments processed in batch afterwards (the telltale sign this is happening is sometimes that the transaction goes through the instant the PIN has been entered or card tapped, without a 1 or 2 second delay). I presume this is how @pridehappy's son became overdrawn with HSBC.

GrubbyGirl_2

I'm starting to think a prepaid card is the way to go.  I presume they will come with an app or something to check the balance?

prettyandfluffy

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

I'm starting to think a prepaid card is the way to go.  I presume they will come with an app or something to check the balance?

Revolut is a prepaid card that you manage via an app.  I quite like Revolut, especially for its single-use virtual card which is good for smaller online purchases. 

artyboy

MattMattMattUK said:

artyboy said:

Visa Electron cards always required online authorisation but I believe they are being phased out - is there no equivalent replacement?

It will just transition to Visa Debit, but the vast majority of transactions are online now due to connectivity being far better. There will still be some, whether due to specifics of location and time, or the way the system operates, but they are few and far between. I am pretty sure that the only offline transactions I have used in the last five years is travelling on the Tube. 

I hear you... but my point is that Electron did solve for the specific issue of preventing accidentally (or intentionally!) going overdrawn as a result of allowing offline transactions. Rare as they might be, it seems like there is nothing that provides an equivalent block once Electron is gone.

WillPS

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

I'm starting to think a prepaid card is the way to go.  I presume they will come with an app or something to check the balance?

Starling is a bank account with a normal Mastercard Debit card, you can get a Mastercard Prepaid 'Connected Card' which has its own balance on the side:
https://www.starlingbank.com/features/connected-shopping-card/

The main limitation is the Connected Card balance can't go above £200, so a payment of more than that is impossible.