Wallington: The Wallington NatWest branch has been slammed by parents and teachers alike after opening accounts for scores of 11-year-old boys without their permission, during a school visit.

Parents of Year Seven Carshalton High School for Boys' pupils were shocked to find letters from the branch confirming their sons' new accounts, complete with their own debit cards, in their Saturday post.

The school says it had no idea bank staff would be signing up pupils, with the carrot of free CDs, without seeking parental backing.

NatWest has confirmed the branch breached standard protocol for school visits, has apologised to parents and offered to donate some money to the school. But a spokesman said staff acted in good faith.

The Sutton Guardian spoke to a number of the boys' parents all of whom wished to remain anonymous, but each of whom were left reeling by the branch's actions.

One mother said: "It was outrageous my son didn't even understand what it was. On Saturday morning, my son ran straight for the post, he picked up the letter and said this is my new credit card'."

She also raised questions about the school's role, saying: "I think they are both to blame - there was a teacher present in the room at the time."

But headteacher Simon Barber said the school was a victim in the saga.

He said the branch had offered to talk to the boys about budgeting and other money matters as well as their own products, but with the proviso that parental permission would be sought before accounts were opened.

According to Mr Barber: "The manager told us they would be consulting with parents about the possibility of opening accounts."

He said a teacher was present during the bank's presentation but was unaware her charges were signing up for accounts which could be opened without parental permission.

He added: "Parents feel let down by the school, which is a real shame. One doesn't expect such behaviour form a reputable bank."

A NatWest spokesman said standard procedure would be to write to parents before a visit, asking them to give explicit permission for their children to sign up for accounts.

He added: "We have been over-enthusiastic, we haven't followed normal procedure and for that we apologise."

November 26, 2001 11:30