IVA question

[cop66]

My wife and I are both in IVAs and have been paying regularly for 15months. We have a basic bank account with Nationwide but they wont give us a debit card. Why is this ?

We have applied to a few other banks but they have either turned us down for a debit card or refused an account for us.

Any advice ? It is hard to live without a debit card and cheque book, we don't want any credit only the ability to spent what is ours.

Any suggestions would be greatfully received

[Kathyan]

We are in an IVA. We had to open an account with Halifax and they wouldn't give us a debit card. We applied to Natwest and they gave us a Step account which has a Solo card (you won't get a cheque book!). Not the best but quite a few companies accept Solo now so it works for us. Try them!

[PFA]

Hi cop66,

You answered your own question....you have made an IVA - which does not necessarily mean that you are having debt problems NOW...but you may have had it in the past. Based on this information - a debit card is a payment and cheque guarantee card (meaning subject to credit check / CRA & CIFAS checks / )- to which a bank may frown upon. However that being said - it never hurts to ask.

[raymond 42]

hi,
i dont know how long you have lived in your current
property, sometimes peple have this problem when previous owners have been blacklisted becaues they had
a bad debt record.
try the co-op bank i recently opened a current account with
them, i had no problems & i have debit card & cheque
book. hope this helps, ray

[cop66]

Thanks for all the replies so far. I have tried Natwest and Co-op but they are among the many we owe money to in the IVA so have refused to give us an account. We also tried HSBC/First Direct who also said no.

We have been in our property for over 8 years.

I think it is best to stick with the Nationwide but we were wondering if it would be worth approaching our branch manager to ask even though "Nationwide" themselves said no to a debit card. Does he / she have any discretion ?

Once again thanks to all of you that have taken the time to answer and look forward to any further help

[PFA]

Simple answer ...... YES..all if not most branch managers have credit control decisions...hope you get your card tho'

[cop66]

Thanks I will try and write to him / her !

[myvesta-sean]

Hi there,
Have you thought about getting a pre-paid (pay as you go Mastercard)? This will enable you to have access to the Mastercard payment system without the need for a credit facility. There are no credit checks also so you will not have any problems obtaining a card. I have added a link for the Myvesta MasterCard below:

http://myvesta.org.uk/cashplus/

Hope this helps!