Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Do you know whether they report or file customer performance to Exquifax, Experian and Call Credit? Savings accounts are not normally on the CRAs.

Sorry for the delay (missed your post) - They do not report to CRA's, no.

[PlanB]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Sorry for the delay (missed your post) - They do not report to CRA's, no.

Delay? My post was nearly nine months ago. I could have had a baby in that time

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Delay? My post was nearly nine months ago. I could have had a baby in that time

ahem, sorry - that is rather bad isn't it

* I mean the delay not you having a baby

[ScabHunter]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

OK, here's a breakdown of my day in London which has hopefully resulted in me obtaining a new savings account.

The Aldgate branch is easy enough to find, on Commercial Road, Whitechapel, and is easy to reach by bus. I used a No. 15 from Regent Street. You could also just get the Underground to Aldgate East as the branch is well within walking distance.

When I entered the branch this morning, at around 10am, there was no-one else in the customer area, just two Indian gentlemen behind the protective glass which is typically found in banks. I told one of them that I wanted to open a savings account, and he pushed the form through the trough underneath the window.

Now, have you ever seen a branch of a bank with no pens in it? If not, visit this one! Oh, dear. Problem number one. I had to take the form into the nearby Ladbrokes betting office and fill it in there, making it look as though I was filling out betting slips! Never mind, form filled in, problem solved. I took it back to the branch, and gave it to the same teller who had given it to me.

I was immediately asked for identity documents, which I had obviously made sure to take with me. The passport and proof of address were photocopied, and passed without incident. The only potential difficulty was the need to provide an employer's address, but that was overcome in exactly the way the manager had told me in his email. A self-employed can just put their own address, and an unemployed person would simply write 'unemployed' in the first line. Neither of these states are a barrier to getting the savings account opened.

After the identity documents had been processed, I waited for the interview which takes place in an office behind the counters. The important point to make about this is that the bank officials are not trying to catch you out or find a reason to reject the application. As long as you can pass the identity check, they want you to have the account, and the questions are just to try to establish a relatively regular usage pattern for monitoring purposes. I didn't find any of the questions unreasonable or difficult to answer.

I don't live in London – I live around 70 miles away. They did ask about that, but when I told them I was a regular visitor that was accepted readily enough. I don't look or sound Indian and I don't have an Indian name (although I do share a birthday with Mohandas K. Gandhi, but that wasn't mentioned!), so that is not an issue. They told me I would get the cheque book and the debit card, so as long as that happens it will prove that credit scoring is not a factor either.

I can also confirm that it is possible to credit the account at NatWest branches without being charged, although apparently that is not automatic. It should be, but it seems that there are incidents of NatWest branches not being familiar with the Bank Of Baroda, and attempting to charge people for deposits. I was told that if you are going to be depositing money regularly at one branch, it is best to get it arranged in advance, and then there will be no problem.

I paid in £150 to get the account opened (£100 minimum), so it is now just a case of waiting for the paperwork and the card and cheque book to come through the post. I don't anticipate any problems, but I'll update the thread with any further developments.

So far, so good.

SH

PS What an amazing coincidence it is that both Niddy and myself should post at exactly the same time earlier today. When I was sitting on the park bench and saw his post come in, I assumed it was a direct response to the one I had just made. Obviously not!

PPS PlanB is useless at arithmetic. 17th August 2011 to 30th April 2013 is a lot longer than nine months, and I don't think many of the ladies would relish a pregnancy which lasted for that length of time!

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Thanks SH - thorough feedback, just what we like.

Hoping my wee plan also works, and debtors can get a full debit card with cheque book

[PlanB]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

PPS PlanB is useless at arithmetic. 17th August 2011 to 30th April 2013 is a lot longer than nine months, and I don't think many of the ladies would relish a pregnancy which lasted for that length of time!

In which case I could have had two babies in that time

I may be "useless at arithmetic" but I'm clearly clued up on birth control

[ScabHunter]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Just to update this thread with the latest development – Less than half an hour ago a letter came through confirming that the Bank of Baroda have opened my account. All of the account numbers, sort code, IBAN etc. have been included in the letter, so it should now be official.

I still don't have the cheque book or bank card, but that is not an issue as this is exactly what the manager said would happen – letter of confirmation first, followed by cheque book, and then the card possibly in three to four weeks time.

I shan't open the Champagne Ovaltine until everything arrives, but so far the bank have been good to their word and I don't expect any problems.

SH

[ScabHunter]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

A further update -

Yesterday, my Bank of Baroda Net Banking login details arrived via email, and logging in confirms the existence of my account and the £150 which was paid in to it.

Don't read this the wrong way – the Net Banking portal is extremely primitive. You cannot use it, for example, to pay bills or make payments out of your account. I would not recommend using the Bank of Baroda account as your main account unless you were absolutely desperate, that is, you couldn't get a half decent basic account in the High Street. If you can only get one of the absolute junk basic accounts such as Metro (they claim to be innovative – the only innovation is to have products which are worse than the others) or Nationsnide, which don't allow electronic payments, then you can apparently set up Direct Debits on a Bank of Baroda saving account. It doesn't seem to be possible through the online banking portal, though.

The best way to use this account is as a saving account, replacing the useless savings accounts which come attached to the better basic accounts such as Co-op Cashminder. That way, you will get a cheque book and a second debit card, and somewhere to store your savings where they will earn just a little interest.

Today, just around an hour ago, the cheque book arrived through the post. Here are some shots of it, taken with my cell phone as I don't have a scanner.

All that is left now is for the debit card to arrive, and for me to successfully credit the account through a NatWest branch without being charged, and this project will have been a complete success.

SH

[Deepie]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Well done SH.... If you want to see if it works...

You can write me a cheque for £ 150.00......

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Excellent. Thanks for testing this out.

Can't believe it's been up here so long and you're the first to experiment it. Thanks

* I wonder if there business accounts are as easy to open as that'd be a godsend to many

[Pixie]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Some of us don't have any savings to open a savings account...

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Some of us don't have any savings to open a savings account...

It's a current account but they call it savings account. Lol

[ScabHunter]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Well done SH.... If you want to see if it works...

You can write me a cheque for £ 150.00......

Sorry Deepie, you have to maintain a balance of at least £100, so the most I could write out for you would be £50. I tell you what, if you can walk some fish and chips up to where I live, and still have them piping hot when they get here, I'll write you a cheque for £5 18s. How does that sound?

Excellent. Thanks for testing this out.

Can't believe it's been up here so long and you're the first to experiment it. Thanks

I know, I find that absolutely incredible. Especially when you consider the people who can only get poor basic accounts because of bad history elsewhere. How many members here have got a bad history with this bank?

* I wonder if there business accounts are as easy to open as that'd be a godsend to many

My research into business accounts is now almost complete. I'm currently exchanging emails with one bank and one building society, just to confirm some final details. The Bank of Baroda current account is the same for businesses as it is for individuals, so it should be as easy to open, but you need to maintain a balance of over £500, and the charging is relatively heavy on current accounts. Unless you desperately need to be able to write cheques, there are better and cheaper options elsewhere which also require no credit check.

Some of us don't have any savings to open a savings account...

I know, Pixie, and I really do wish I could get you that well paid full time position that your abilities obviously deserve. I was thinking, though, about what you said before. About the NatWest branch closing in your area and not being able to fund the account. I don't think that would be a problem for you, because the Cashminder online portal should allow you to make a bank transfer into the Bank of Baroda saving account. Drawing money out should also be easy as you can use the debit card for free at any Visa cash machine. It is just a case of having £100 that you know you can keep in savings, otherwise I think you could go to Manchester and make this work.

It's a current account but they call it savings account. Lol

The terminology is odd, I agree. They call it a saving account because it pays interest, but the extra facilities you get with it are unique (and having researched all 317 UK banks and over 50 building societies I can tell you it is unique). Whatever they call it, it is an extremely useful resource for those thwarted by the High Street denial machine.

SH

[ScabHunter]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

Another update needed here – The day after my cheque book arrived, I also received a paying in book. Today, I went into the NatWest branch to see if I could credit the account without being charged, and everything went as smoothly as it could. I put the cash and the paying in slip through the trough underneath the teller's window, and they just processed it without even hesitating.

In London, the manager had told me that there just could be an issue, as some NatWest branches had not been familiar with the Bank of Baroda. In that case, he said, just get back to him and he would make sure that branch would be made aware of the arrangement which exists.

I doubt whether there are many Bank of Baroda customers in the town where I live. It doesn't have a huge Indian population, and it is not close to any of the branches. Still, I had no difficulty in paying in money.

All that remains now is for the debit card to arrive, and the manager told me at the time that it would take three or four weeks. That was on 30th April, so we are still right on schedule. Everything has happened exactly as they said it would so far.

SH

[Pixie]

Re: Savings Account with ChequeBook & Debit Card

I know, Pixie, and I really do wish I could get you that well paid full time position that your abilities obviously deserve. I was thinking, though, about what you said before. About the NatWest branch closing in your area and not being able to fund the account. I don't think that would be a problem for you, because the Cashminder online portal should allow you to make a bank transfer into the Bank of Baroda saving account. Drawing money out should also be easy as you can use the debit card for free at any Visa cash machine. It is just a case of having £100 that you know you can keep in savings, otherwise I think you could go to Manchester and make this work.

Thanks SH but I don't have a spare £100 to transfer.

I'm quite happy with the Co-op account...and I never go to Manchester!