Rejected by Halifax for student account!

I have been rejected by Halifax for a student account due to my 'not high enough' credit rating. I dont even have a bleeding credit rating! I have never borrowed anything in my life nor have any credit cards. I just have got the student loan which I havent even recieved yet.

I am sure almost every student is similar to me in terms of finances and this is an account meant for students yet they have rejected me! This doesnt make sense.

Can anyone enlighten me as to what's going on?

Thnx,
Akash

Edit: Just saw your India flag. Are you an international student? If so I don't think Halifax actually offer international students bank accounts.

Are you older than 18? much older? Perhaps if you were in your 20's they'd have expected you to get a credit rating. I applied for Halifax, but it didn't work and I went into the Branch to resolve it.

What drew you to Halifax out of interest? It is a good bank, and it does have the highest overdraft available (so perhaps they assume people are appyling for the overdraft). But do you have a bank with them at the moment? If not, then they may be cautious of new customers as it's a big overdraft.

I'd personally recommend you go to your local branch. Do you need the overdraft? If not, get information about all your sources of finance (loans, grants, jobs you plan to have) and all your costs (rent, fees, food, memberships etc) and take that in (if it balances) and show them you don't need the overdraft right now (or ask for a lower one, I got £500 with them, but perhaps as I have a credit history with them) so perhaps you could request no overdraft or a small one (£100 or so).

Also, do you have a pay monthly phone? If so, this may technically be considered credit as you are using a service on credit and paying them later. If you do, take your bills in and proof of payment and say "Look, I pay my way".

If this works out, and you can get an account, you shouuld consider also getting a creditcard. But ONLY spend what you have. You can set it up online, and make sure you pay it off a day or two later. After a few purchases (buy some food, memberships etc) stop using it until the start of the next month (as they want the money at the end, and you dont want to be owing anything at the end of the month, as it could go past the collection date and you could get charged interest). Do this for the first term, go back and you should have a credit rating to show for yourself and can probably get the noramal overdraft.

If you do, and it all works out, I'd suggest you cancel your CC unless you can use it responsibly (which, for a student, basically means don't use it at all!)

lol, actually my parents have never had any problems with credit etc. My parents take great care in their finance and bank accounts (they're accountants)

Lizzielizzie, i am now a bit reassured that someone else is in the same position as me. How did apply to get you're credit report?

Also as far as I know, you only start building up a credit report after 18. So what kind of report do they expect students to have? I've been 18 for two months. Do they expect me to be some sort of house owner or something? I am sure that at least 90% of students are in the same position as me. To me

They havent even bothered looking at my other finances to see whether I would be able to make payments on an overdraft.

If the service is bad as you make it sound, you should start asking yourself why you even want an account with them. You probably don't have a bad credit rating, its just Halifax being very selective. Try another bank, I recommend Natwest their overdraft might not be as huge but their service is top notch.

It may be worth considering that youre credit rating is, I believe (but correct me if Im wrong!), based on your parents credit rating, and also where you live. If your parents have struggled with money in the past that could explain your trouble. Just an idea!

I reckon it is just an excuse, and that Halifax have offered too attractive a deal, have had too much publicity and can't afford to honour their promise of such a high interest-free overdraft limit! I think it is disgraceful, if this is the case, that they are making students feel it is their fault, and I refuse to ever bank with the Halifax Bank of Scotland in my life! I was, in fact, very impressed by the initial helpfulness of the man who dealt with my application in my local branch, and was even tempted, once the student account came through, to transfer my savings over to their bank. Now I will never touch their services again, and I recommend others do the same! In my opinion, they have made a fatal error, and lost many potential graduate customers.