www.iva.co.uk

anyone with thinkbanking and any background regarding Freeman Jones?

I am at the stage to sign some paperworks but before I do I would like some background regarding the above mentioned companies..

Anyone has dealt with them, or any useful background?

I appreciate your help

P_spn

Hi there.

I am with Freeman Jones and have a think banking ac. I can only speak from experience. FJ were great ,always someone to speak to if not always rang back by the end of the day, iva took 6 weeks start to finish, good income and expenditure and a phone call on the day of the meeting within ten minutes of the end. Can not complain at all, and now in the iva have an ac manager that I speak to. Think banking again fantastic if you read some of my posts on her you will find a few of us recommending them, after my iva I will still stay with them the ac makes life much easier and now the debit card even better. Hope this is the sort of stuff you wanted to know, any thing else please ask and will try to answer.

Ang

Hi
Whats thinkbanking? I am 10 months post IVA and have had a Halifax basic account since 5 months before the IVA went through. We did'nt owe them any money and recently I tried to upgrade the account to a current one with a debit card, not visa electron but was declined even when I advised them I did not want a credit limit, just a card that I can use more easily to shop online that the electron card.
I know all about the pre-pay cards, but don't want to pay to access my own money.
Would thinkbanking work for me, or does anyone know a basic account that has a maestro card (except any companies associated with Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale, Nat West)
I just want to shop online at Tesco it would save me money!!!

Hi Ang

thanks for your reply.. Your info helped me quite a lot..
I will go on and start to fill up the forms as soon as possible...

Thanks again

Piero

Hi

thinkbanking.co.uk, is an affiliate of Bank of Scotland... You should have a look at the website... they offer a Maestro Card which can be used on line....

Hope this is useful to you

Regards

Hi May
There has been quite a lot about think banking lately on here. They have a managed ac for people in iva's bankrupcy it is part of rbos but does not matter if they are a creditor. The ac has a 12.50 a month charge but for that you get two ac,s that run side by side the one for your income and bills to go from and then the spare money goes over to the B ac and that is what you have to spend. It means you know what money you have all the time, cannot go over with the card as it wont let you use more than is in your ac, I have found them great, when you think what a pre paid can cost and the trouble of toppoing up all the time I think that it is worth it, also you know your bill money is safe and you cant overspend , charge also covers you for charges but they are near impossible to get with this ac.
Hope you understood that lot.

Ang

Hi Ang n P rs
Thanks for info on think banking. Its paying any fee that bugs me now its my own money i'm spending!!! I run two basic accounts with Halifax one for bills and one for shopping which are free with internet banking too and I have been a very good girl for over two years and intend to carry on but the Visa Electron card is the downside to this account and I know I would save money if I could shop online for good because I would'nt impulse buy.
I'll have to have a think about thinkbanking and weigh up the costs.

May
The card is maestro by the way.

Ang

Freeman Jones as a company have been very good (three years into my iva now, only 2 more to go.. hurray!) However, closed by Thinkbanking account as had major problems. All was well with the cashcard but problems arose with the maestro. Pin number failed to work, despite them telling me it was fine, they refused to order me a new card, and 3 pin numbers failed to work at all. Very embarassing when you have the piece of paper in your hand with your pin number on from them, and its saying 'invalid pin'. I was 11 days without any access to money, so in the end closed the account down, and now have a basic easycash account with the Halifax. Although its only an Electron, there are not many places now that you can't use it, and its helped me learn to re educate my brain with budgeting. For the person who wants to shop at Tesco, switch to Asda, they take Electron and are generally cheaper anynway. [:D]

I am with Freeman Jones and so far have found them to be excellent. I am just having my 1st year review so will let you know how that goes, but so far so good, been very impressed. Also got a thinkbanking account and wish I had had one of these years ago! Might have helped to prevent the mess I got myself into. Well worth the £12.50 monthly charge in my opinion.

Hi

I have just opened up a think banking bank account and even with the monthly charge feel its money well spent for me. I had a natwest basic step account and got charged £38 for an unpaid direct debit of £13.00 so decided to switch as have different direct debits coming out on different dates and dont want to be charged again. Looks like ive switched in time as Natwest have increased the charges to £51 for unpaid direct debits now. I have been in IVA since last October my think banking account will be operational when my first salary goes in next week!!!!

Also Think Banking have a good text message account details and on line account. I have found the staff to be very helpful and so nice I would recommend Think Banking to anyone.

Jan

Whilst I can get free banking, I will never pay for a bank account.

I can't justify the charge, and I certainly can't afford it!

Re: post below.

Please note that Think Banking is NOT an affiliate of Bank of Scotland. The money you deposit with them is placed in an account that Think Banking holds with RBS. It clearly states on the website that Think is an independent company and is NOT associated with RBS in any way. So your money is not even in your own account.

Please also note that this account only offers a pre-paid card, not a genuine debit card. It is just topped up by Think when you phone and ask them. You don't have immediate access to your own money.

For what it is worth, people I have spoken to who are with Think Banking are generally dissatisfied. They say it is expensive and customer service is patchy, and average at best.

Think Banking is a last resort. You should only consider it if you are absolutely hopeless with money and cannot trust yourself to manage a simple account on your own.

pr_s wrote:

Hi

thinkbanking.co.uk, is an affiliate of Bank of Scotland... You should have a look at the website... they offer a Maestro Card which can be used on line....

Hope this is useful to you

Regards

I couldn't agree more CreditMaster.