Basic Account - Which is best?

sporter_2

Hi there,

I currently have an overdraft of £5,000 with NatWest which I need to pay off. It has now come for me to switch to a basic bank account with no overdraft facility.:mad:

Which is the best account to switch to..... ...I have already been recomended Barclays and Alliance & Leicester which I am now going to check out.

Any ideas would be appreciated.


Sporter

sutton111

a&l i wouldn't bother with there are better ones out there, ie Lloydstsb you get a visa debit card, barclays the same. Yorkshire readycash (basic account) you get a maestro. Halifax offer a good basic account, good on-banking, visa electron, telephone banking. There may be others. HTH.

storminbalder

I always recommend Yorkshire/Clydesdale Readycash. They would appear to be unusual in treating there basic account customers the same as regular customers as regards branch/phone/internet services. And you get a full service debit card - this might be not such a good thing though (as some on here have commented on), as you can uniquely go overdrawn with this card - something basic accounts are not supposed to allow.

Extant

storminbalder wrote: »

I always recommend Yorkshire/Clydesdale Readycash. They would appear to be unusual in treating there basic account customers the same as regular customers as regards branch/phone/internet services. And you get a full service debit card - this might be not such a good thing though (as some on here have commented on), as you can uniquely go overdrawn with this card - something basic accounts are not supposed to allow.

Yes. For a reason I can't quite comprehend, Barclays doesn't allow universal banking customers access to internet banking. We'll give them a Visa debit card and telephone access, but no internet.

savagej

The Co-op is the best by far. Excellent service.

storminbalder

savagej wrote: »

The Co-op is the best by far. Excellent service.

I would almost concur, except I'd go close second. I like the Co-op and their ethical stance particularly in these troubled times. In fact the Electron card may be better for those worried about the temptation of going overdrawn.

LittleMissRolo

Halifax current account

Excellent service

I want to open a second account, poss savings account to put £ in for a while to be used for holiday (which i dont want to put in my ISA). Im going to various banks today after doing some research online to see what they can offer me. In this current market,you can play one off against the other to get better deals

LittleMissRolo

Try moneysupermarket.com

I find them very useful

sporter_2

Thanks guys:beer:

However, forgot to mention that I have been in correspondence with the CCCS and once I leave my NatWest account I will have to send them my summary of expenditure and outgoings in order to pay back my overdraft at a lower amount each month. Currently I am paying £60 per month:mad:

Will let you know how I get on.


sporter

skyrider007

I think Nationwide is the best. Their cash card don't charge fees for foreign withdrawal.

lxpeanut

I have the coop cashminder and would agree with those who love it. You get full online banking, the staff are very helpful and you can withdraw and deposit money at the Post Office (which makes up for the lack of branches). The one drawback is some places still don't accept electron cards which is a pain but I've only come across this problem once so far.