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When I was 19, I tried to open a checking account. Amazingly, I was declined. For a bank account. I didn't ask for credit, in fact I had no credit history at al
by byuu 13y ago
When I was 19, I tried to open a checking account. Amazingly, I was declined. For a bank account. I didn't ask for credit, in fact I had no credit history at all. I was apparently so unworthy that they didn't trust me to give them my own money. I never understood that, as I figured they'd just bounce a check anyway if I lacked sufficient funds.
I'm much older now, and have a bank account, mortgage, credit cards, and all that jazz. Just a silly anecdote that it's actually possible to be too poor to be allowed to have a bank account.
- DanBC 13y agoYou didn't ask for credit. They make money by giving people credit. You wouldn't have made them any money. You also didn't have any credit history. That's something that young people could be taught: "How to get a good credit rating, without being stupid and getting into tens of thousands of dollars of unpayable debt". The UK has the concept of "basic bank accounts" which are needed so people can have state benefits paid to them. These accounts don't allow debt; don't have credit or debit cards. (Except HSBC I think does issue a debit card with its basic account and other banks probably do to?).
- taejo 13y ago> You didn't ask for credit. They make money by giving people credit. You wouldn't have made them any money. In South Africa, banks are desperate for young customers and all of them have no-fee high-interest savings accounts for children, no-fee checking accounts for students, and so on. On university open days and orientation days, all the major banks have a large presence encouraging students to sign up for these. Most customers never switch banks after opening their first account, so it's highly worthwhile for the bank to be attractive to customers who've never interacted with a bank before (especially if they have money to save as children, so are likely middle or upper class, or are attending university, so have future earning potential). I'm surprised this is not the case in the US (Wells Fargo quite happily gave me a no-fee checking account just after the financial crisis began, when I did an internship in the US -- I assumed the reasons were much the same).
- gambiting 13y agoI have a bank account with Santander in the UK. The account doesn't have overdraft(I specifically said I don't want one) and I was also given a Visa Debit card with it. It is silly that I have to pay fees for it(5 pounds ~ $7), but as far as I am aware no bank in the UK offers account that don't cost any money to run, which I personally don't understand.
- xioxox 13y agoSorry, but what do you mean? There are plenty of accounts in the UK where you don't have to pay anything, as long as you don't go overdrawn. I have an account with the Halifax which actually pays you £5 a month if you pay in over £1000. Most of the major high-street banks have a free account and there are basic bank accounts which are mostly fee-free available in many banks. In the UK, you usually don't pay fees to withdraw cash, either.
- gambiting 13y agoWell I might be completely wrong, I checked 4 different banks and the cheapest one was Santander, and not a single one was free. In any case - I absolutely hate Santander, would switch in a pinch - any recommendations?
- DanBC 13y agoI have a "basic account" with HSBC. All banks and building societies should be offering something similar. It has no fees, so long as I don't go overdrawn. It had a regular cashpoint machine card, which they've just replaced to be a visa debit card. It has online banking.