Is it possible to live without a Bank account?

[PaulSB]

I suppose I shouldn't say it's impossible but in my life it would be impossible. Take today, I'm going to a music festival this evening, first act 5.00pm and the last act finishes at 11.00pm. The organisers do not permit food and drink on to the site. Water taps are provided for refilling an empty bottle which may be carried into the site. There are food and drink stalls all of which are cashless.

I'll be leaving home about 2.30pm and back after midnight. OK, I could go without food and drink but do I want to? Yes, I could picnic in my car as it's raining all day here.

I'm sure one could survive on cash only but at what cost to one's way of life?

 

[cougie uk]

Isn't everybody entitled by law to a basic bank account nowadays regardless of credit history or pay?

You do need proof of ID and address, so homeless people can't get one.

I don't think so.

Why should a bank have to service anyone's account if they didn't want to ?

Say you robbed a Lloyds Bank. I doubt they'd be happy to see you again.

 

[oldwheels]

Not the way card authorisation works. The first bit is usually just a pre authorisation check. Funds aren’t actually taken till after the fuelling.

My bank statement shows a debit of £100 followed by a debit for the fuel and then a credit of £100.
This does suggest to my simple mind that £100 is indeed taken but I have been wrong before.

 

[oldwheels]

So presumably anyone hard up that's waiting on their pay going in at the end of the month has had it then? I remember the days of being down to very little left in my account and only going in for a tenner's worth at the end of a month.

That would appear to be the case. The assumption seems to be that if you can afford a car £100 is not likely to be a problem.

 

[PeteXXX]

Technically this is paid into a bank account an withdrawn at the post office "bank"

Yes, but it'll be the PO Bank so those with no account could get their ££.
Do Pension Books still exist?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I am certainly seeing more and more small shops with signs saying "Card Only"

and since the pandemic most of the shops that were "Cash Only" have now got cards
AT first the local chippy was cash only - but they have changed and - to be fair- it does seem to make things work better at busy times

Only place that seems to be staying cash only is my wife's hairdresser - which is weird because her husband owns the LBS next door and he says he can;t remember the last time someone paid in cash other than teenagers needing a puncture fixed!

for some reason my wife often forgets to get some money out of her account and I end up going to the cash point to get some from my account after I drop her off and get some money out to give her when I pick her up
not sure why this keeps happening

 

[Electric_Andy]

That would appear to be the case. The assumption seems to be that if you can afford a car £100 is not likely to be a problem.

I've seen many warnings of this on social media and from friends. but every time I've used a card to buy fuel in the past year (which is every time) I have never seen a charge and then a credit on my statement. I only ever see the amount taken out for fuel, and that's with both Tesco credit card and Lloyds debit card? Maybe only some banks do it, or is dependant on your bank balance/history or something?

 

[vickster]

My bank statement shows a debit of £100 followed by a debit for the fuel and then a credit of £100.
This does suggest to my simple mind that £100 is indeed taken but I have been wrong before.

What petrol station is it? Tesco check the £100 is available and it shows as pending but not debited, only the actual amount. Maybe other petrol supply companies are different (and it's nothing to do with the bank).

I'm off to Austria tomorrow, taking plenty of cash, was always a very backwards country when it came to accepting bank cards outside the big cities especially, maybe Covid has changed things and I'll come home with loads of Euros (well I may not as I'm sure I can still spend them on cake)!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I've seen many warnings of this on social media and from friends. but every time I've used a card to buy fuel in the past year (which is every time) I have never seen a charge and then a credit on my statement. I only ever see the amount taken out for fuel, and that's with both Tesco credit card and Lloyds debit card? Maybe only some banks do it, or is dependant on your bank balance/history or something?

Yes - this is what I see - I believe they do a reserve thingy to check the card out but then cancel it as soon as you pay

I actually had a problem with a faulty pump some years ago - in those days it only reserved 1p but this one didn;t recognise the reply from the bank and resent it several times
at which point the bank blocked the card due to unusual activity - which stopped the card working on any other pump as well!

luckily I had another card available - as I always do for exactly this sort of reason - if one card gets blocked for unexpected reasons then I have another which is not related to the first one
Normally a credit card from xxx and a debit card from yyy.

 

[fossyant]

We had some cash for Amsterdam, and did spend it, but asked first if it was accepted. Nearly everything we paid out was by cash card. Same in Spain.

Many folk don't even take a card out with them now, either phone or watch. Having been in a few places where connection was rubbish, I always take a card as backup.

 

[PeteXXX]

I was in a shop in Kirkwall, Orkney, that had an Internet radio playing in the background.
When I asked if the owner preferred cash or card, he said that if the radio was playing, he could accept card payments. If not, it'd have to be cash as the internet was down...

 

[oldwheels]

What petrol station is it? Tesco check the £100 is available and it shows as pending but not debited, only the actual amount. Maybe other petrol supply companies are different (and it's nothing to do with the bank).

I'm off to Austria tomorrow, taking plenty of cash, was always a very backwards country when it came to accepting bank cards outside the big cities especially, maybe Covid has changed things and I'll come home with loads of Euros (well I may not as I'm sure I can still spend them on cake)!

This is an independent local garage but their supplier is Gleaner who may call the shots. No idea if Gleaner is an offshoot of any bigger company but all fuel in west Scotland used to come from the Esso depot in Bowling when it was operational regardless of the name.

 

[oldwheels]

I've seen many warnings of this on social media and from friends. but every time I've used a card to buy fuel in the past year (which is every time) I have never seen a charge and then a credit on my statement. I only ever see the amount taken out for fuel, and that's with both Tesco credit card and Lloyds debit card? Maybe only some banks do it, or is dependant on your bank balance/history or something?

This is Virgin Money who show this on my account.
I do have another card with a separate bank but not tried it yet as it is really only for use if the main working one has a problem.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I think the problem with the reserve amount applies to people who are near their limits

If they pop into the petrol stations (other fuels are available) to stick a quick £20 in to keep them going until pay day
then the pump will sometimes reserve £100 and take the £20 out of it

However, if the £100 reserve takes their remaining funds down to a low amount - say £10 - then a bill for £30 comes up for payment via DD then the bill might get refused because funds are not available
When in reality there are enough funds - but the extra £70 reserved hasn;t been cancelled yet

This can obviously lead to problems with the billing company imposing extra charges and possibly a black mark on your credit rating - all of which only affects people who are only just managing (mostly) because other people don;t run their limits so close
and these are the people who can least afford to have unnecessary extra charges applied unexpectedly

 

[Alex321]

I don't think so.

Why should a bank have to service anyone's account if they didn't want to ?

Because the law sets out the very limited grounds on which they may refuse a basic account.
"
22.—(1) A designated credit institution must offer a payment account with basic features to any consumer who—
(a)applies for a payment account with basic features on or after 18th September 2016; and
(b)meets the eligibility criteria set out in regulation 23."

Say you robbed a Lloyds Bank. I doubt they'd be happy to see you again.

That *might* come under section 25(2) depending on how the robbery took place.

But if it did not fall under that section, and the customer meets the other eligibility criteria, they cannot refuse.

"
25.—(1) A designated credit institution must refuse to open a payment account with basic features for a consumer where it would be unlawful for it to do so, including where opening the account—
(a)would be contrary to the Fraud Act 2006(2)
(b)would be contrary to the Money Laundering Regulations 2007(3);
(c)would be contrary to section 40(4) of the Immigration Act 2014 (prohibition on opening current accounts for disqualified persons)(5);
(d)would breach a requirement or limitation imposed by the Authority on the designated credit institution under Part 4A(6) (permission to carry on regulated activities) of the Act that prevents it from accepting new customers.

(2) A designated credit institution may refuse to open a payment account with basic features where it considers that the consumer’s conduct in relation to the designated credit institution’s staff amounts to the commission of an offence under—
(a)section 4(7), 4A(8) or 5(9) of the Public Order Act 1986(10);
(b)the Protection from Harassment Act 1997(11);
(c)section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 (threatening or abusive behaviour)(12);
(d)Article 9 of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (use of words or behaviour or display of written material)(13);
(e)the Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997(14)."