londoner.situ@googlemail.com
Latest Update (03/02/07)
For details received now, £40 cashback will be given by me for £50 voucher, conditioning on successful cash back redemption.
Latest Update (13/01/07)
For details received now, £13 cashback will be given by me for £25 voucher and £20 cashback will be given by me for £50 voucher, conditioning on successful cash back redemption.
Latest Update (06/12/06)
For details received now, £13 cashback will be given by me.
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Alliance & Leicester FAQ:
1. I have only been to UK for only x month, can I apply?
Here is the summary list of PDCA eligibility:
- You are 21 years of age or over
- You can fund your account with at least £500 per month (what it means if as long as you put in £500 into your A&L account every month, you can do whatever you want with the money, i.e. spend it, withdraw it, transfer it, or leave it there, entirely at your discretion)
- You do not have a history of adverse credit i.e. County Court Judgments or bankruptcy
- You do not currently hold a Premier Direct Current Account and have not held a Premier Direct Current Account in the 3 months preceding this application.
- One particular requirement for PCA application is "You must be a permanent UK resident to apply for this account." In my interpretation this is solely for tax purposes.
HMR&C's definition of Resident: Based upon the amount of time spent in the UK on an annual basis. If an individual spends 183 or more days in the UK in any one tax year he or she will be classified as resident and will pay UK tax as a normal resident.
Therefore, as long as you can satisfy all the requirement above, you CAN apply.
More FAQ can be found on the A&L website http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/faqs/i...;ct=curraccmenu
2. I have only been to UK for only x month, should I apply?
This is a subjective decision. What tends to affect your application is your credit score and the longer time you spend in UK the higher the chance you have a good credit history provided you are a trustworthy individual.
However, the length of your stay in UK is only a tiny piece of jigzaw that makes up your credit history. Those credit agencies (e.g. Experian, Equifax etc.) source their data about your credit history from all sorts of different means, such as your voter's registration, history of creditcard payment, ultility bill payment, phonebill payment, change of address, number of bank accounts, any overdraft balance, any debt outstanding, bankcruptcy history etc. etc. the list goes on forever. The key thing they are going after is your possibility to default.
Therefore, as long as you have NOT been doing some dodgy business, you should be reasonably safe. As a number of people have got their A&L, they all come from very different backgrounds, some are students, some are employees, some have only been here for a few months or so, some have been here for 5, 8 years already, there isn't really a magic formula which tells you if you tick tick tick tick all those boxes, you will be given your A&L account. It is NOT like that.
Ultimately it is A&L's credit manager's decision, whatever I say doesn't mean anything. So please do NOT ever ask me whether you will be successful by telling me your situation. I do enjoy the interesting story but I am really NOT able to give you the answer.
3. PDCA or PCA, which one shall I choose?
Again, this is a subjective decision and the answer is unique to everyone depending on individual circumstances. In the extremely simplied sense, what I can suggest is that:
PDCA gives you decent interest rate (6.1%) with flexibility (i.e. you can do whatever you what with the money in it)
PCA combined with Premier Regular Saver (PRS) gives you higher interest income (1.5% on PCA balance + 12% on PRS monthly deposit) but less flexibility (i.e. you need to set aside x amount of the money for PRS every month).
This is just as classic as any bank account, isn't it? If you want flexibility, less interest; if you want higher interest, less flexibility.
Without working for a bank and a professional qualification, I am NOT the right person to give you financial advice and I CANNOT make the decision for you. What I can suggest is that when you come to choose your accounts, think about how much money is available for you, how flexible you want to be for the next 12 months or so (your liquidity concern, your financial commitments etc.), how much interest return you are expecting and so on. Choose the one that suits your situation the best.
You can do a comprehensive in depth analysis on the two accounts by looking into every single details on the A&L website but I don't think this simple bank account decision worths the hassle.
So coming back to you, it is your own decision, please do NOT ask me to tell you which one to choose, I simply CAN'T I'm afraid.
If you DO really want me to give you some advice on how to manage your money, I can do that but with a charge of £20/hour of telephone conversation.
Half paid up front and the other half afterwards.
4. Ok, I have made up my mind and want to apply, what shall I do?
Very good question, simple answer - Go to the A&L website and apply your lovely account online, put in all the details and wait for the decision
Normally they will get back to you in 24 hours, occassionally they would say they need another 48 hours to consider your application in a bit more details. Whatever it is, just bear with that for a couple of days, you will definitely get an email with the final decision.
Do check your junk mail box though!
5. Ok, I have got my "Welcome Pack", what next?
Congratuations! You are nearly there. There is a million things to do, the most important ones are:
- figure out your A&L sort code, account number and the special A&L 9 digits account number
- set up your online banking facility
- put in the first £500 monthly funding
For those of you who want me to be your recommender only:
- email me (londoner.situ@googlemail.com) your details:
# First name
# Surname
# 9 digits account number
# PDCA or PCA
# a screen print of your online banking showing your £500 has reached your account. (Ladies, if don't know what the hell screen print is, ask your boyfriend or your geeky IT mates, they know it.
Gentlemen, are you kidding me?? In 21st century and you don't know how that works?! That's fine, ask your geeky IT mates. 
)It will look something like this
*Please do it in a reasonable size so that all the details I want to see on it are legible
6. Alright, I have done all that, what do you (me) do then?
First of all, thanks for sending me your details, my friend! I really appreciate that. Your part is almost finished, my work has just begun...
what you need to do is simply sit on your couch, watch some teli, have some quality time with your partner perhaps
and wait for my email notification of posting the form.*fingers X* wait for a couple more days or weeks (up to 8 weeks) for the cash back to come in.
7. The spider is knitting a net around my shoulder, and I finally saw my cashback, what next?
Very simple procedure:
- use screen print (see above) again to show me your cashback in the account
- gives me the account details you want me to refund your cashback into
# account name
# sort code
# account number
*worried about me to do some funny stuff on your bank details? I wish I could, but I CAN'T there is nothing I can do with those information*
When you get your cashback from me, the long stretching A&L cashback marathone finally draws to an end but your banking life with A&L has just begun.
Enjoy!
HOPE THIS CAN MAKE YOUR LIFE A BIT EASIER!
