OOo err that was a bit of a shock, but at least you do now have an Account and Lloyds did used to have some advantages for Students, such as low interest loan rates to pay back Student borrowings for a couple of years after you leave College or Uni. Mind that is speaking from my experience with lLoyds back in 1982 to 1985 - about 20 years ago!!! So check, don't rely on my 20 yrs old experience!!

However, if you feel that you have done nothing wrong, other than not tick a particular box which may have asked whether you had ever applied to Smile before; And you have personally had no other complications in the interim period; And Smile's Student offering is better than Lloyds, then you can go back to Smile and ask them to reconsider, pointing out that you have had no other complications, if that is in fact the case, simply or merely an oversight in not ticking their box.

The problem these days, Banks have gotten into so much trouble lending or giving Current Accounts to dodgy customers who have defaulted, the Banks just seem to jump a mile if there's any whiff that everything is not on the straight and narrow and upfront.

Still we all learn from our experiences.

Nevertheless Good Luck

thankyou for the words of wisdom :)

Smile ended up declining me at the last minute because i failed their internal fraud checks (!) apparently because i was declined 2 years ago for a co op acocunt they decided not to give me an account now. Which doesnt seem very fair does it?

I went to LLoyds and opened a silver account. :)

Good, yes I am sure you will be very happy with Smile, as long as you behave in a sensible and appropriate manner, then they will with you.

Just remember, during your hazy, crazy Student days try not to borrow money unless it is absolutely necessary. Everything borrowed has to be repaid and casual jobs may be very hard to come by in the short term for the next year or two, until the world has got through its' current economic problems.

So money borrowed can become a millstone, unless one has a regular and reliable income stream.

Saying that, you can still have fun and be sensible. Have some great years and I do hope you are successful in your chosen path

thanks for the reply! think i must of been worrying over nothing, im so shocked but i had another message today requesting proof of my student loans and course details (its a student acc) so they can calculate the correct overdraft, i rang a chap at CS to ask what would be best to send, and i also asked him if i had passed the credit score or whether it hadnt been dione yet, he said it has been done and ive passed, they just need the proof of student loans to release the account, im so happy :)

Could mean any number of things, such as a lot of Banks prefer to have parental addresses, rather than Student digs addresses, due to the temporary nature of residence in student disg, there one year, gone somewhere else the next in many cases. Or that Smile have a problem with their computer systems. Or that Smile's Credit Reference Agency has a problem with it's computer systems.

I don't have a Smile Bank Account, but other people that I have heard with ordinary Smile Bank Accounts have seemed pretty pleased with the service they have had from Smile, so I think you will not be kept waiting too long.

It could be that Smile and it's Credit Reference Agency have no previous Credit records for your 6 year old house, if no-one at that address has ever applied for a Bank Account or Credit from that address previously.

I know individuals only build up a Credit Reference when they do take out Bank Accounts and/or take Credit or Borrow, when individual details are then entered onto a Credit Reference, as super good, good, indifferent or bad generally.

Individuals are of course always linked to one or more addresses. So I would guess if there had been a succession of bad debtors at a particular address, the address itself would have built up something of a reputation, or if good Credit references had always applied from an address, the opposite would apply presumably.

So it is possible that as it is possibly your first Bank Account, you do not have any Credit Reference by which the Agency can judge you, say to advise the Bank whether to give you a Current Account, and possibly an overdraft or not and for how much etc., or whether to advise that they can only provide you with a Savings Account. That is an Account where you can deposit and save money and make withdrawals, but only from and up to your Savings Credit Balance.

All of these things are risks when a Bank decides to give a new Applicant a Current Bank Account and whether to issue merely a CashCard, or a Debit/Cheque Guarantee Card, as to whether a new Applicant is likely to get into debt and default or be a good Bank customer, earning lots of money for the Bank, or rather indifferent neither lending nor borrowing and paying off any credit cards on the due date, so never incurring interest.

hi everyone, tonight ive applied for a smile student account, im about to start my second year at uni and think its time i had a go at applying for one!

So i have a message in my enrolment messages stating

Thanks for taking the time to apply.

We're afraid there's going to be a short delay with your application because we can't put your address through our credit reference agency at the moment.

Don't worry though, we're working on it, and we'll get our decision to you as soon as we can. Keep an eye on the 'application tracker' for your next message.

Thanks
smile

what on earth does that mean? i live in a relatively new house (6 yrs old or so!) could that be it?