Are you a mutual lover? poll discussion/results

I support the mutuals, but mainly due to the Nationwide, they always used to be in the best buy tables until the banks learned it could be good for business, high rates to catch us then drop them when we are unaware. Even with Bank headline best buy table rates nationwide still does a much better deal than most.
Without the Nationwide fight we would all now be paying to use Link cash machines. They have also been consistant with their credit card for use abroad.
I find if I haven't time to chase the best buys they offer a good steady average and I have never felt ripped off. They offered reasonable interest on their current account long before any of the others and still do. Generally I feel they deal honestly with their customers where as the banks nearly always seem to have a trick in the small print.

I agree with the first poster, and disagree with the second. I like the idea of mutuality in principle, and since we switched to Nationwide we've been very pleased. NW always seem to provide good savings rates (our main concern), even if they are not at the very top of the table. They also seem to pass on rate increases reasonably quickly. I've only seen one thing that I found a little bit disturbing (although it didn't affect me personally): I once read a year or so ago, when the furore about bank charges was at its height, that NW had written to a customer who had tried to claim bank charges that NW was going to close his account "because your relationship with NW has broken down". I thought this was against the banking code, but I don't know if this was a one-off, or a general policy at the time.

Regarding the second poster, we use the internet banking function of NW all the time, and it works very well: it's easy to use and very reliable (we routinely use it on mac / safari and windows / firefox without any problems). In all the times we have tried to use it (every 2 or 3 days on average over about 4 years) I can think of only 2 or 3 occasions when the web site has been unobtainable, and then the problem only lasted 3 or 4 hours. We've only had problems with the account a couple of times (nothing to do with the internet banking), and then we've been able to sort it out over the phone quickly (sounds like they use a UK-based call-centre as well). The only reason we ever need to visit a branch is to deposit a cheque, and we could do that by post if we wished.

I support the mutuals too. Without the need to satisfy shareholders Nationwide can put its customers first and operate effectively without making the huge profits that the banks do. I believe that the mutuals are helping to ensure that bank rates do not escalate. Although their rates are not often at the top of the best buy rate tables they do feature regularly on the most consistently performing account league tables (as is demonstrated in their latest funny TV advert with Mark Benton as a bumbling bank manager attracting customers with high interest rates and then reducing the rates shortly afterwards).