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Unable to get a bank account
 

Had applications rejected by 4 different banks in the last week due to my terrible, terrible credit rating.

Any alternatives if a bank won't give you an account?

Try a local credit union

Unless you have CIFAS markers, you should still be able to get a basic account.

Go in to a branch, with your Photo ID and Utility Bill and explain you don't have a very good credit rating and could you open a basic account. If they try and get you to apply for a full on current account, explain that you've had 4 recent rejections and you just want a basic.

You should get one that way.

There are prepaid bank accounts which you can pay for...

Explain to them that you do not want any credit, just an acct that will accept DD.

They will do a soft CC and not a full one..........

If you live in London Try Metro bank

Natwest, Co-OP and Barclays are also good but make sure they are not doing a full check or you will get rejectd

in fairness mate if you went back through my posts you will see i was asking the self same questions when i 1st came on board with stealth

i feel your frustration

i had everything in place and yet without a bank account what can you do

other than risk it all on just using the pp and sending the balance of the account to someone you know who can withdraw it... which obviously wont hold with the locals here orr pp as it wont be a very successful venture

but as said i came here i had everything set up and no bank would entertain me due to my status.. recently self employed, turned self unemployed claiming no benifits no jsa nothing... no bank would entertain me either
but you just try and try and try... as said explain to a bank you need somewhere for your jsa if unemplyed or somewhere for your wages to be paid into...you dont want or need any credit or overdraft or any addons

next thing i know i have 3 new bank accounts 1 has already offered me a £1000 overdraft limit

you will find an account

i also recommend regestering with experian to check your credit score out for yourself, dont lie on the application give honest findings and addresses where you may have lived over a set amount of years and you will see whats gone on... other than what you already know as you say you know your credit is poor
since i went through experian they linked me to accounts that they recommended i should try... indeed i gained 2 new accounts through that simple process

experian are doing a free 30 trial right now so i would get on it

be patient it will happen

and when it does dont get cocky keep grounded

trying to think of other advice i can offer you but just keep it up and you will be ok
i had nothing when i found stealth and im doing well for myself again now

have you not exhausted any other road you could try like friend or family member perhaps... i once had a relatives account linked to pp when i owed them borrowed money that i wanted to return doing that was a great way of getting them paid up and quick as i didnt have to handle the money or i would have spent it :lol:

good luck with it

sorry mean to add...
try and keep it real as possible with setting up a bank account as you dont want to mess around going that route...but im thinking you could try and change your status settings around slightly... if your unemployed say your employed and what your earning :typing: it might help make the difference

I think a Basic account could suffice? You'd have to double check though.

(Q) Which banks have you already tried?

If you live in London, Metro Bank is a good alternative if you havent already asked them.

As a last resort you can get a prepaid bank as suggested above. Do a quick google search to see what the fees are of each bank. There are some which are not recommended for stealth so report back if you need help in deciding. Perhaps TurboMan can make a recommendation as you both seem in the same predicament.

If you knew in advance your credit rating was poor, why did you not think to check the forum? I do hope you have not gone & gotten 4 markers on your file now after the banks said No. Trying 4 banks in a short period is problematic even with OK credit.

You could have got advice above and been the owner of new accounts.

:peace:

Steady on young Jedi.

Secure trust back doesn't work.

Always test ideas before giving out free advice. The OP could have wasted time and money on slack advice. Think...then speak.

Post deleted . thanks

Your preferred reply should have been the banks you have at your disposal.
Hopefully they do work for stealth.

:peace:

Please delete my post if it's going to be an issue though, I cannot edit it myself :peace:

call halifax and coop up on the dog and bone

easycash and cashminder accounts they will almost give to anyone not bankrupt

The banks at my disposal are Smile (online bank, part of Co-op), HSBC, Natwest & Barclays. Don't think they will be of any use to the OP though as I'm not in the same boat. Mine are all full Current accounts.

HTH

Secure Trust used to work - any idea whats changed

Used it recently (1 month ago) to confirm bank account with 2 small deposits OK. Haven't traded on the account yet so haven't had the need to withdraw to it.

Do I need to change to another bank account & will this screw up the account at this stage

^ They no longer accept withdrawals in mismatched names. This is the view of many.
You may be lucky. Let us know how you get on when you've made a number of successful withdrawals.

first thing i would advise is to stop applying for bank accounts until you get SOLID advice from here, Your kind of shooting yourself in the foot.

have you tried Halifax or bank of Scotland easy cash, if not try them, they will have no effect on your credit rating and you should get one.

good luck.

Report back for further help if needed, i know a trick or two.

I can confirm Halifax were good for me but I had to make an appointment and go in to the bank. But they gave me a second account with no problems online a few months later.

I would also try finding out what banks are linked through ownership, which you can find if you search their names on google.

Natwest were good online but do not say you are not working unless you are in the bank or if you want a second account off them. I think I just needed driving licence and a bankcard and the details off them OKd the account online.
I have not tried their owners RBS but may be worth a try, as I am sure they are looking for new accounts with the state they are in.
I think RBS just had a sale fall through so they may be lax when opening new accounts.

Co-Op were also OK online but others have been refused online and then sent a form for a basic account, which still works.
Their online banking is crap but they are getting Lloyds online banking soon so that should be better.

Lloyds TSB had to go into the bank to make an account but you will have to be quick, as they are selling off some of their banks to Co-Op

If anyone has been bankrupt then the only bank that will entertain you is Barclays. Seen it on the news the other day, as the other banks stopped offering accounts to bankrupts.

Barclays I had to make an Appointment and go into the bank to open an account.

I tried yorkshire bank a while ago but did not have much luck but it may work for you.

Bank of scotland I was going to try them next but they are also part of halifax and Lloyds TSB, which I have accounts in both of them.

Banks tend not to check if you are working or even ask where you are working in most cases, they just want to know how much you earn per month and per year and you do not need your wages to go into their bank.

Some banks will even pay you money if you are willing to transfer a direct debit from another bank. and you do not need to transfer all direct debits, as they can do just the one and leave the rest alone. Sorry I can't recall what it was called to do that but it is often worth asking in a branch.

Goodluck

Made first withdrwel today - went through within the hour. Used real address not paypal address & transposed a couple of letters in my real name on the paypal account.

Will keep you posted - will try again same time next week

you have added your real address in the "add bank" section on a stealth PP account ?

Sorry didn't make it too clear - Stealth is in a name similar to mine (2 letters transposed) with address of a demolished building. Bank account is in my name & address.
Secure Trust have accepted first withdrawel

seriously, opening checking and saving account will result hard pulls in your creditscore in US? i never knew that! thought only credit card application is hard pul!! if it's true i should stop opening bank accounts now as we plan to buy a house soon!

i just opend 3 accounts with boa and one with ing direct. that will be 4 hard pulls? and somebody said ing can't do the name mismatch? if i go to local credit union, to ask for an account without credit, just basic, that will then be a soft pull?

what about the walmart money card/checking account? are they useable?

The entire thread is related to the UK.....

How about making your own thread in the Subscribers' Forum for indepth discussion.

:peace:

i see, thanks guys, i will start a separate thread:cheer:

Anyone tried Yorkshire Bank?

About 2 years ago was my last time and it worked fine

I made a new savers online.
Added the £1 top open it but never got the 1p from paypal.

it either doesnt work anymore....OR...I sent the 1p from paypal too early and the savers hadnt been activated

give it 48 and try again

well i would say tuesday.

i know some one whos using them right now but they have had there account a while too.

Now i'm unsure if this has already been mentioned in the thread as i cant be bothered reading it all :)

But i think the law in the UK says we can open basic bank accounts no matter how bad our credit rating is. I think this is one of the reasons why basic bank accounts where created in the first place.

I say go back to a bank and explain. I found santander and barclays to be good. I have bad credit ratings and i still gained accounts in those banks.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for all the responses :)

I was turned down by Barclays, Co-op and Santander because of poor credit. Halifax also turned me down but have offered me an Easycash account, which should be opened by the end of the week.

And I can't believe I didn't think of this before but I already have a bank account that I don't remember ever using with PayPal, the reason I didn't think of it bfore was because the debit card attached to the bank account has been used.

So, do they view debit cards and bank accounts as different things? If the actual bank details (account no & sort code) have never been used, could I try that even though the debit card has been? I'm willing to let it be disposable just to see if it would work!

No luck on yorkshire...waited 3 days. Nothing.
Called paypal and said they would look into it. Still nothing.

Im using the first 8 digits of the "account number" + the standard sort code. Still nothing.

Im guessing there is nothing useful for YBS and stealthing.

very true. however, Santander flatly refused me, but everywhere else gave me accounts. I can understand why people find it so difficult to open basic bank accounts though, seeing as only Barclays and the Co-Op actively advertise these sorts of accounts on their websites. Saying that, it's not exactly difficult to google "natwest basic bank account" or "uk basic bank account" either.

Has anyone tried the PAYG option for ClearC*sh ? I almost signed up a moment ago but thought I would ask here first. They say they give you a unique account number (so I am guessing not a reference number) and accept direct debit and no monthly fees if you are happy to pay a percentage for transactions (or free if you pay a tenner a month).

Far better options available.

Be aware that p/p do not like certain banks and use of these will draw unwanted attention to your account. Do not for a moment think they don't know which bank you use, the can identify it from the sort code.

Stick to the High St banks for best results unless you really know what you are doing.

Trouble is I have a few bank accounts already. I have 2 current, 1 basic, 1 savings, and 1 business. The last one I got was the basic one, only 5 months ago, didn't want to have to open another so soon. Just thought the PAYG option might be good to save the hassle/risk of having another bank account, 2.5% on a transaction is not too bad. Do you know if anyone has been successful with using them for verification ?

The number of accounts you already have barely scratchs the surface of what is possible in terms of the number of accounts you could have from the High St if approached in the right way.

I have never used the type of accounts you mention and never would but there have been reports of mixed success with them.

Thanks again. If I were to sign up with Natwest for another basic bank account, 5 months after the last time, would that be wise ? If so, do you know if they require all the sign up info again or do they just say "yep, have another account" ?

Nat West are pretty good with existing customers opening new accounts. Just be sure not to open too many too quickly and be able to justify why you need them if they start to ask questions.

However my advice is don't have all your eggs in one basket, there are other banks that are just as good. Spread them around. It's not difficult, just takes a little planning and opening the right type of accounts i.e. not CURRENT accounts.

Ok i just applied for a new bank with HALIFAX - easy cash account. I have 7 days for their response. Lets see what happens.

I have lloyds barclays at the moment and I hope they will provide me with a new account, my credit score is not amazing and perfect too.

I have over 25 accounts now in total spread around... all with high street banks. All I will say is on account number 6 at a certain bank they ask questions, be prepared for an answer!

what do you say when you open 20th account ? with a bank. They check you tho.