Is there any valid reason why banks in this country take so long to open a basic bank account? I applied to open a Natwest STEP account last week and am still waiting for a response from them. A credit check only takes a couple of minutes at the most, and the address check even less. So why the 5 - 10 working days?

A friend of mine applied for a Alliance & Leicester Direct Account a while ago and was told by email a day later that his application had been succesful and that he would be sent a confirmation letter and welcome pack. He thought that was it and that he wouldn't need to look for another account. 2 weeks later he got a letter saying that his application failed and he would not be offered an account with them. Again, why would it take these clowns that long to come to that conclusion? Did they not do a credit check initially?

Sorry for the rant, but this subject really winds me up.

Any account I've opened (including with NatWest who I do bank with) has been sorted at the time of application - or declined accordingly. I don't understand why you'd have to wait and as I understood, the Step account isn't one that they credit check for as it's only a basic account. Did you do this online or in person?

Online, and then went in to a branch with id and proof of address to "complete" the application. Was then told that it would take another 5 - 10 days for a decision. I think they credit check ALL applications these days, regardless of asking for credit or not. Btw, in the envelope they sent me, they included booklets with info about rates, fees etc.

I just think they could save themselves and the customers a lot of time by speeding up a straight forward process.

Weird. I've never opened an account like that online so can't really answer it but I would suggest a call to the bank to make an appointment to "open an account" as they're being so slow.

They don't all credit check for all accounts, I didn't think they did for Step as it has no credit or borrowing facilities with it at all. The other one I know like that is the Abbey, because I've got bad credit I went into the branch and specifically asked if they had an account which I could open without the need for a credit check as I wouldn't pass one and they had exactly that... a basic account. However (as I have been advised now trying to repair my credit) you get no status on your credit file for having a basic account, if you can have a current account instead it's better for your financial status.

I'm not sure that the online method of opening a bank account is as efficient as it perhaps should be.....