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Original poster

Help! Student daughter can't open a bank account

74 replies

nakedscientistOfThigh · 10/09/2019 18:18

I would be so grateful for advice. DD needs to open a normal student account and she can't.
Last year DD tried to open a HSBC account. It was declined due to the fact that her proof of address (her childhood home) wasn't accepted. (she now has a provisional licence) DH had her put onto the water bill but they said her name was in the wrong place, i.e. not first. They declined her application. They told her to try again three months later which she did and now has been declined again by HSBC and most recently by Santander.
She has done nothing wrong. She owes no money and has never defaulted on anything. Our address is clear and we have been here 25 years, DH and I have excellent credit ratings, no problems with getting credit cards, loans, contracts etc.
DD has done one year of uni with a Monzo card and has a job in the holidays.
She has run Experian and it simply says there is not enough information to give her a rating.
Can anyone help?

OP posts:

Dandelion1993 · 10/09/2019 18:25

Is she telling them it's for a student account?

All I had to do was take my ucas letter and university course confirmation

Dandelion1993 · 10/09/2019 18:26

Is she telling them it's for a student account?

All I had to do was take my ucas letter and university course confirmation

Boyskeepswinging · 10/09/2019 18:30

It does sound like she's tried to open a "normal" current account rather than a student account. As Dandelion says all she needs is proof of enrolment. Banks don't require students to named on utility bills.

Boyskeepswinging · 10/09/2019 18:31

Sorry, to be named on utility bills.

BettaSplenden · 10/09/2019 18:36

Many moons ago when I needed to start a student account I couldn't start one with Natwest despite having a joint account with them for a few years before and no debt etc. But Lloyds gave me a student account no-one would give me a reason. Nightmare and very frustrating. Do any building society's do student accounts?

lilypips · 10/09/2019 18:49

Passport and driving license with ucas info was all DD needed.

lilypips · 10/09/2019 18:50

Who does she bank with normally? Can they not change her current account to a student account?

Kyriesmum1 · 10/09/2019 18:58

Hi why does she specifically need a student account? Has she got a bank account with anyone else? Had you opened one in her name when she was a child? I worked in banking for seven years.

If you opened her an account as a child you should be able to change that account type over.

If she already has a bank account with a bank/building society she should apply with them as she will already have had I'd checks.

If she doesn't have any accounts at all she will struggle to open a bank account without three forms of I'd. The ideal would be a passport, drivers license and a recent letter from benefits or HMRC no older than 3/12 mths depending on what the letter is for.

If she can't get an account because of credit scoring she could apply to NatWest for their basic bank account as they don't credit score on it. She can upgrade the account after 6 mths but can still have money paid in and direct debits paid out.

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 10/09/2019 19:00

Has she asked for a student account without an overdraft? If she's had no credit at all, that may be why she's declining.

stucknoue · 10/09/2019 19:02

For a student account all you need is a ucas number and a U.K. address, dd did it last week, HSBC

Workingmum8 · 10/09/2019 19:43

Does she have a passport?

Head to Nationwide and ask for the Flexstudent.

Workingmum8 · 10/09/2019 19:45

She’ll just need her 4 digit ucas code. A couple of family members have done it and had no problem. She’ll get up to £1000 overdraft in first year, £2000 in second and £3000 by the third year.

Workingmum8 · 10/09/2019 19:48

Sorry ignore my last posts. It looks like if she doesn’t already have any nationwide account she can’t open a student account if she’s in second year. But you could just try a regular account?

boomshake · 10/09/2019 19:56

Hi, I work for HSBC and have opened about a billion student accounts the last few weeks! We need ID and address verification. A provisional licence and a passport ideally. We also need the 16 digit UCAS code if they are a first year or a letter from the uni confirming course details of in any other year. We then have to run a credit search but it's not as detailed as if you were applying for a loan etc. Some account do fail the INTERNAL scoring system but we don't get given a reason for the fail to prevent applications being manipulated. Could be no landline phone number, not long at address, no prev bank account or credit history but we never know really. We can't override the system decision tho

maternityleave234 · 10/09/2019 20:00

Is she on the electoral roll?

Heart0fGlass395 · 10/09/2019 21:28

Post office account

lilypips · 10/09/2019 21:35

Post office no longer do current accounts.

DeadDoorpost · 10/09/2019 21:38

I've had a Barclays one for years while studying. All I needed was ucas letter confirming place and proof of address I think...

milveycrohn · 10/09/2019 22:00

We had the same problem with my DS, 10 years ago.
He did not have a passport or driving license (neither of which are compulsory)
My DH contacted the banking authorities who insisted these were guidelines and it was up to each bank how they interpreted them.
Bizarrely, an alternative was to have a gun license!!!!!!!
I should add that my DS did actually have a passport, but it was out of date, so not allowed.
Having just left school, he did not have a driving license.
He already had a building society account, but the student bank accounts at the time were better, because they allowed a small overdraft and it is easier (OR was) to pay from or into by direct debits, rather than use his building society account.
In the end the issue was resolved by going to a different bank, until we found one that accepted my DH documents ( who was with him) as verification

pikapikachu · 10/09/2019 22:01

Ds has just opened a HSBC student account and took passport, UCAS letter and provisional license. The only mail he gets is bank statements.

palahvah · 10/09/2019 22:06

PPs have explained what's needed, but it's worth getting on the electoral roll anyway... You never know when there might be an election coming up...

lilypips · 10/09/2019 22:09

You can apply for a passport and saver bank account from birth, a current account from 11 and get a provisional licence at 15. There really is no need for kids to hit adulthood and not have these things in place.

WrongKindOfFace · 10/09/2019 22:17

It is a pain. My best suggestion for anyone else is get your children a bank account when they are still a child as it is generally easier.

Original poster

nakedscientistOfThigh · 11/09/2019 08:50

No she tried to open a student account. I was sat with her.

OP posts:

Original poster

nakedscientistOfThigh · 11/09/2019 08:53

HSBC asked for passport, utility bill and UCAS number. She didn't have a drivers license at the time. She does now.
It was a student account and these are the IDs that we're asked for. It's all very clear on the website.

OP posts:

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