www.iva.co.uk

Has anyone tried opening an account with Metro Bank? They are only in London and the South East at the moment but they have a cash account and I couldn't see any mention of IVAs or BR and I was wondering if it could be another option.

We've got a branch opening in town in September so I'm thinking of trying to switch to them as they are open all day, 7 days a week!

Thanks Skippy, I will have a look at Metro Bank as it looks like it could be an option for those needing a new account

I hear that they offer brilliant customer service, but as you say the scope is geographically limited.

You'd like them Mel, they have bowls of water and dog treats in each branch!

Hopefully they will gradually expand to cover more areas.

Sounds almost too good to be true - will keep a look out if any come to the East Coast

it states on the metro bank website that "Electronic payments can be made into your Cash Account, however, they cannot be made from your Cash Account. "
So to me that means that you cant authorise direct debits, standing orders etc and therefore its more of a prepaid card account than a bank account.

Spot on sjbyron,

In fact Metro's information leaflet states that the cash account:

'does not offer an overdraft facility, direct debits, standing
orders or direct payments'.

...pretty useless then for most people.

I suppose you could open one, and then apply to be upgraded to a current account (less overdraft of course), a few Months down the line.

There is the coventry building society that offer something called callsave or branchsave money manager which is a cashcard account that allows direct debits and standing orders and can be run by post
The Yorkshire Building Society offer a cash transactor account similar to coventry
Cardone Banking and CredE which offer a debit card but not direct debits just standing orders and Barclays Bank
The Post Office are also trialing current accounts and basic accounts too

Maybe not ideal for all then.

I would still consider it if I needed somewhere for my salary to be paid into - the one advantage Metro Bank has over any of the other banks or prepaid card accounts is that they print your card onsite so you walk out with the account ready to go. It could be useful for someone who needed an account in an emergency.

Skippy I really like that idea too, its always puzzled me why, when banks issue or used to issue visa electron cards they couldnt print them on site too

Hopefully if Metro Bank can do it the others will follow suit as there's no reason in this day and age why it should take two weeks or more to open an account. If someone urgently needs an account this could be very useful.

True and totally agree,
it might be me being thick but i couldnt find anywhere, were it states if you can goto London and open an account if you live in Liverpool?

Stu

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by sjbyron

True and totally agree,
it might be me being thick but i couldnt find anywhere, were it states if you can goto London and open an account if you live in Liverpool?

Stu

I don't see any reason why you couldnt but equally I can't see why it would be worth doing it just now.

I don't see why anyone would want to do that (unless they commuted?) but I don't see why you couldn't. My nearest branch is Hounslow and the only reason I haven't gone there is I'm lazy and waiting for a more local branch!