Did they say this for the paid one? That comes with insurance which might have age criteria.
If it’s for the free one that definitely doesn’t seem right.
1 Like
He was blocked before being asked for paid or free, so it applies to both cards. In any case, it’s fairly usual for cards with insurance to permit you to have the card but only apply the insurance up to a certain age (e.g. you can have an Amex card at any age but the travel insurance stops at 70 on Platinum). I don’t have an issue with that as older people are more likely to have serious health conditions, so there’s a business/underwriting reason for it.
It might be usual but I would suspect legally they don’t have to if you can’t choose not to have the insurance.
For the free one I can’t see why this would be. It might be worth him mentioning he will have the free account and see what they say.
The law doesn’t really protect age when it comes to bank/finances, it’s a very misunderstood piece of legislation.
From the Government:
The Equality Act 2010 banned age discrimination in goods and services. But there is an exception in the law for providing financial services such as bank accounts, loans, insurance, credit cards, warranties, mortgages and investments.
This means that financial businesses can continue to use age as a factor in designing, pricing and offering their products. But where businesses carry out a risk assessment for the purposes of providing a financial service, the exception will only apply if the risk assessment, in so far as it
involves a consideration of the person’s age, is done by reference to information which is both
relevant to the assessment of risk and from a source on which it is reasonable to rely.Financial businesses are not allowed to behave towards consumers in a way that could be
considered harassment due to age, and must not victimise consumers who make a complaint
relating to age discrimination. Consumers can challenge a financial business if they think a risk assessment, where it involves a consideration of the person’s age, has not been carried out by reference to relevant information which is from a source on which it is reasonable to rely.
Sounds like complaint is the way to go if it’s for the free account or debit card.
I would say a complaint can go in but they are not under any legal obligation to offer one or even say why they won’t; so long as it’s been assessed as per the law.
1 Like
I acknowledged that using age as part of a risk assessment can be valid as a factor in deciding whether to take on a customer. However, a prepaid debit card entails no risk to the issuing organisation given that it is the customer’s own money that is being spent.
The question of which account for which he was applying never came up; the statement relayed to me was “Applicants have to be under 65 years of age to apply for a Yonder card so we’re unable to issue him with a card.”
The Financial Ombudsman website is clear that while age can be used as a criterion is accepting a customer, there has to be rationale behind it.
See for example this case study where a bank routinely rejected loans to customers where the loan period would take them past 75, but were unable when challenged by the Ombudsman to present the risk assessment that had led them to that decision:
That’s not the law though - the ombudsman didn’t think it was fair but that’s not the same as legislation requiring banks to do things. Even in this case, the ombudsman accepted the bank was allowed to set its own criteria.
I personally equally think denying the free card based on age is unfair, so it’s worth a complaint.
It’s just not against the law.
I don’t think I’ve ever said it’s against the law. But in the absence of a non-discriminatory rationale for their policy, I think it’s worth pursuing - if we get to the stage where an explanation is given, either to me or to the Ombudsman, then that’s the end of it. But I note in that case study that the Ombudsman did ask that Sally be paid compensation.
Oh, and it would also be nice if they had an error message in their app saying “Sorry, you’re too old” rather than just having it crash and it take Customer Services/Tech Support 10 days to work out why…
I agree, definitely worth making a complaint.
I can’t see anything to suggest the free card has an age limit so I do suspect it’s some customer service mix up, but it’s not necessarily discriminatory so far as the legal definition goes.
Sally did get compensation for the distress caused, true. But they never required the bank to issue a loan - so the bank still got to discriminate on age.
Go for the complaint, it’s worth clarifying as a free prepaid card would be an odd one to not allow; they probably haven’t even considered it to change from their previous rules.
Well not quite, as they only didn’t pursue that because Sally had got a loan elsewhere - given the bank had to pay compensation, I suspect that they had to change something following an internal review, either in terms of allowing loans over age 75, or, more likely, doing a risk assessment that supported the policy they had come up with in the first place…
We can never know really, but it’s not against the law.
Like said, make a complaint and keep us updated!
What happens with Yonder when you’ve opened the account at 64 and a bit, then hit your 65th birthday? I could see that leaving some people unstuck if they’d started using it as their main account.
Don’t Monzo do the same with Monzo Max - refusing to consider you unless you are aged under 70?
1 Like
You’re just no longer eligible for insurance but the other perks remain.
As an update from the customer support team,
They are not ready for customers in Scotland. Only home addresses from England and Wales are supported at the moment.
I will wait it out till they launch in Scotland.
2 Likes
I didn’t really have any interest in signing up for Yonder, but now I’m tempted just to see what happens to your account if you move to Scotland (as I’m about to do)
1 Like
Got a code if anyone wants to try it out: You've been sent 10,000 Yonder points
You’ll get 10,000 points if you choose a full card, 1,000 if you choose a free card (the full card comes with a 3 month free trial, cancel anytime). I will get 20,000/2,000 points if you sign up.
oh go on then. ta!
1 Like
At least NI isn’t the odd one now this time