Need advice for bank account & phone number, what should i do?

Posted by Worldly_Head177@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 27 comments

I currently don't have a smartphone meaning i can't get a phone number which means that i am unable to open a bank account since i heard that a phone number is required. I am kinda desperate to have an account since i'm trying to get a job or apply for a uni, which UCAS requires payment through a bank account.

Is a phone number definitely required?

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ConsiderMyTimbers@reddit

Try going to the bank in person to set one up.

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derekclysdale@reddit

Good luck finding one of them nowadays.

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ConsiderMyTimbers@reddit

There are about 5 on my high street

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D0wnb0at@reddit

This feels dodgy. I used to work in fraud for a bank. You don’t need a smart phone to have a telephone number and who the hell doesn’t have a phone? I know homeless people with phones.

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Worldly_Head177@reddit (OP)

I've looked into opening a bank account (natwest) online which require a phone number but reading through the comments i was told i can just go in person to the bank and get a cheap phone and sim card which is what i'm gonna try and do.

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New_Line4049@reddit

Get a cheap none smart phone with a basic pay as you go sim. That'll give you a phone number.

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idekkanymoree_@reddit

I don’t know why nobody else has told you this but the equal consideration deadline for UCAS closed in January so if you want to go to uni for a major competitive course like law or you want to go to a major uni your chances are very slim. You’re better off waiting until next year to apply. Also as others have said you might need photo id to open a bank account so see if you can get a provisional license first

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ross-dirext-words137@reddit

I would buy a phone and get a Giffgaff SIM card pay as you go.

It will cost you about £20 for a basic phone. Look in cex or second hand shops. Gifgafnyou will need to top-up £10 but if your not using it will last for month's

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Dark_647@reddit

There’s phones for as cheap as £25 on Argos so I’m sure a 2nd hand shop you could find a button phone for dirt cheap. You don’t need a smartphone for a number, just get one of those phones and a cheap sim contract that’s like £10-15 for a good amount of minutes and data

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ActionBirbie@reddit

Just get a normal PAYG phone.

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RBisoldandtired@reddit

If you are claiming universal credit (which obviously difficult without a phone so I’ll assume not) but if you can or are, you can ask for help from the flexible support fund to purchase a cheap smartphone in which to perform a job search.

It won’t be state of the art but it’s better than nothing

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Ginger_Tea@reddit

I did a course last year and said that I didn't have a laptop, so the day before the first day one showed up at my door, not some old lease held together with duct tape and a CPU that feels like you are living in the 80s with how bad it is, nope brand spanking £350 jobbie.

Turns out it wasn't on loan or being deducted from my benefits, it was essential for the course to have one and so I got one. I was constantly saying it was a pain doing everything on my phone as the keyboard took up half the screen, but I'm sure if I knew the magic words I could have had this much sooner. They had some spare laptops in case you didn't bring yours in, they were slow AF and I had to bring my mouse in to use em.

Yes I had a laptop, but the first week didn't touch one, so I stopped bringing it in and never using it, then when I needed to do stuff I had to suffer one day with a garbage PC that might be speedy with Ubuntu or similar not hogging everything.

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Lysadora@reddit

What made you think you needed a smartphone to have a phone number? You can get a simple phone for £20.

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Ginger_Tea@reddit

Yeah, unless they want to do their banking on the phone, you just need the number so they can send the text code to you nothing else.

PAYG sim and the cheapest thing from Argos, mind you they sell a Vodaphone TCL for like fifty quid and that gets you a flimsy semi usable Android, I know my brother has one. Granted it is thirty quid more than whatever phone you are thinking of.

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Evening-Tomatillo-47@reddit

Cheap phone for £14 in argos

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Capt_Capital@reddit

you don't need a smartphone

just walk into a branch of any high street back with a photo ID (drivers license or passport) and two proofs of address (I doubt you're paying utilities as a student, but a letter from a government agency for national insurance for example, letter from GP with your address, polling card, anything official with your full name and address) and they will be able to open an account for you.

you only need a smartphone if you're planning to use mobile banking feature, but its probably worth investing in a cheap smartphone anyway.

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techbear72@reddit

Less than £20 for a phone: https://amzn.eu/d/054GmWka

£4 a month sim for 200 minutes and unlimited texts reduced to £1.58 for 3 months, no contract: https://www.lebara.co.uk/en/uswitch/p/441120.html

Plenty of other deals out there too.

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Just-an-idiot-online@reddit

You don't need a phone unless you want internet banking.
Just go into a bank with a few ID documents and something with your address on.

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connolan1@reddit

Shows the state of education in this country when these countries are being asked by university students.

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nizstor@reddit

Oh dear

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Boboshady@reddit

I know this might sound obvious, but you don't have to have a smartphone to have a mobile number - you could pick up a simple dumb phone for pennies and a sim either for free online (try smarty) or one of the shops. A couple of quid credit and you're literally laughing all the way to the bank. Well, using a phone.

A £6 PAYG plan on Smarty gives you unlimited text and SMS and even some data, if you can get a phone that can use it.

Shop around for a second hand dumb phone - places like cash generator have them in for a tenner or less. It'll be crap, but it'll get you that number and you can upgrade to a basic smartphone later, without losing your number etc.

I do realise that what is effectively sofa change for some people is the difference between a crap phone and eating, so I apologise if shit's super bad for you right now, I'm just pointing out that you can get a usable phone for much less than you might think, if you avoid a smartphone.

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Laescha@reddit

You don't need a phone number to open a bank account, though you might have to go in person instead of applying online.

You also don't need a smartphone to have a phone number, you can get a feature phone for <£30 at CEX.

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PootMcGroot@reddit

This is a vicious circle people can find themselves in - need x for y, but need y to get x.

Do you have a passport, and a record of your address? You can go in to a traditional bank directly, and open an account in person. If you don't have those, there are schemes for homeless people without identification with several of the major banks - Shelter will be able to help. That would be the stepping stone of an account to get a phone and later open a "normal" account.

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