Is there any bank you have NEVER had an issue with

never-in-doubt

just_about wrote: »

Will start off with my apologies if am thread hijacking, but just a quick question What is this ICICI bank ?? Are they like normal high street banks ?? I ask this coz haven't seen seen a single branch of theirs in my area Sorry again if threw the topic on this thread off board !!

Check your Asian community mate - that is where you'll find ICICI.... they offer normal banking facilities such as credit card and bank account; although last I knew the CC was issued by MBNA.

http://www.icicibank.co.uk/

Visit our branches located at:

Birmingham
Coventry
East Ham
Harrow
Knightsbridge
Leeds
Leicester
Manchester
Slough
Southall
Wembley

just_about

Thanks guys ..

Extant

never-in-doubt wrote: »

Hiya

Thanks mate - makes crystal clear sense now. I personally thought custom base went on actual head count, not account count (i.e. one person with 10 accounts is still one customer)..... but then knowing banks they may say that is 10 customers!

For instance (here we go), Barclays - my bestest friends - NOT - they say that they class a credit card customer and a bank account customer separate. Really? Well that is what I was told a couple of weeks ago

Well, Barclaycard holders and account holders share a data record, but the Group is huge and we record data in different ways in different parts of it (although we are converging, slowly, on having a standard record on which everything is recorded). If you hold an account and a Barclaycard, both are visible to the branch (unless you have a duplicate record by accident that hasn't been automatically merged).

Regarding market share, there's no hard and fast figures, as there's a lot of overlap and different methods of reporting any such information - bank A might class a customer with a dormant account as still in their main customer base, but bank B might filter them out. Bank C might include empty records (those containing just personal information, i.e. those left over from a declined current account application), etc...

HSBC, although among the world's largest banks, is a good example of being a jack of all trades - they operate in numerous countries, but dominate in few. The majority of their business is from outside the UK, thus they report annually in USD. Of the "big four," HSBC is most definitely the smallest in terms of high street market share (I don't mean this in an arrogant manner, Lloyds has more accounts than Barclays, Barclays and RBS seem to alternate or come joint second depending on source, but all four are relatively close).

never-in-doubt

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Well, Barclaycard holders and account holders share a data record, but the Group is huge and we record data in different ways in different parts of it (although we are converging, slowly, on having a standard record on which everything is recorded). If you hold an account and a Barclaycard, both are visible to the branch (unless you have a duplicate record by accident that hasn't been automatically merged).

Hi BM - thanks for the details.... appreciate it. Can you confirm this little beauty then.... I applied for a Barclays Bank Account (a while ago now) and rung them to enquire as i'd not heard anything, they told me there was no record of me. I said that must be impossible cos I applied online so where has my data gone?

They said they use 17 systems and because my application may not have been looked at yet, its on a system that they cannot open. Ok, so what do you expect me to do about that, I asked. They told me to go into branch with ID as the branch has access to this system only.

I argued this as utter nonsense because I applied online therefore there must be an online dept or general CSO dept that would deal with it - not a branch.

They told me that only the branch can help me! Ermmm, is that the biggest pile of BS you've heard or it is in fact true? I've added my comments and history to this on here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1925709 Seems i'm not alone either!

Any idea's? Or do you happen to know where I write in and complain to your Data Processor?

97trophy

BarclaysManager wrote: »

Of the "big four," HSBC is most definitely the smallest in terms of high street market share (I don't mean this in an arrogant manner, Lloyds has more accounts than Barclays,

Sky News recently showed some figures for UK current accounts.
(If I could find the link I would post it.)

They were
(1) Lloyds / Halifax
(2) RBS/NatWest
(3) Hsbc/First Direct
(4) Barclays

I guess your figures were right for 2 years ago but because of its balance street strength HSBC has picked up a lot of new business since then.

Go back prior to that Midland was always "known" to be the smallest of the big 4.

clowee

nearlyrich wrote: »

First Direct have never given me any issues in 18 years,

First Direct it appears have strict account opening criteria, I have a fab credit history and have lived in my current house for over 5 years etc etc, no reasons I can think of yet they would not let me open an account. They also wouldn't give me a reason why...

opinions4u

97trophy wrote: »

Sky News recently showed some figures for UK current accounts.
(If I could find the link I would post it.)

They were
(1) Lloyds / Halifax
(2) RBS/NatWest
(3) Hsbc/First Direct
(4) Barclays

I guess your figures were right for 2 years ago but because of its balance street strength HSBC has picked up a lot of new business since then.

Go back prior to that Midland was always "known" to be the smallest of the big 4.

Again, this is how figures can be interpreted and don't always tell the whole story.

Current account customers is not the whole story. And do those numbers include low activity accounts? Or do they include Basic Bank Accounts?

What about mortgage customers? Credit card? Savers? Should they not count in the numbers above too?

How should you consider multi-brand operations (e.g. HSBC / First Direct, Co-op / Smile, Halifax / BOS / SAGA / AA / BM / IF / St James Place Bank)?

I would even guess that HSBC alone has fewer current account than it had 2 years ago. First Direct will have grown its customer base at the same time though.

Extant

97trophy wrote: »

Sky News recently showed some figures for UK current accounts.
(If I could find the link I would post it.)

They were
(1) Lloyds / Halifax
(2) RBS/NatWest
(3) Hsbc/First Direct
(4) Barclays

I guess your figures were right for 2 years ago but because of its balance street strength HSBC has picked up a lot of new business since then.

Go back prior to that Midland was always "known" to be the smallest of the big 4.

As already said, it depends on the data and who's analyzing it. Do they include customers with multiple accounts, etc?

There's no way to give a definitive answer, as no bank is likely to up and tell you that they have X accounts over Y customers or similar. I'd be interested to see where Sky got figures from.

Extant

never-in-doubt wrote: »

They told me that only the branch can help me! Ermmm, is that the biggest pile of BS you've heard or it is in fact true? I've added my comments and history to this on here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1925709 Seems i'm not alone either!

Any idea's? Or do you happen to know where I write in and complain to your Data Processor?

It is bullshit, yes. The online system is undergoing a revamp, and while that's no excuse, I do wish they'd just tell you that instead of lying.

In all honesty, going to the branch is probably the best thing - if you've got any correspondence from us, you'll find a 10 digit reference number on it, usually. If your letter has a reference in the top right that formats itself as XXXXXXXXXX/YY, then the first part is your customer record number. They'll be able to track you down from that.

As for DPA requests etc. - no idea. Send them to Barclays Bank plc, 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP and they'll get through, though.

never-in-doubt

BarclaysManager wrote: »

It is bullshit, yes. The online system is undergoing a revamp, and while that's no excuse, I do wish they'd just tell you that instead of lying.

In all honesty, going to the branch is probably the best thing - if you've got any correspondence from us, you'll find a 10 digit reference number on it, usually. If your letter has a reference in the top right that formats itself as XXXXXXXXXX/YY, then the first part is your customer record number. They'll be able to track you down from that.

As for DPA requests etc. - no idea. Send them to Barclays Bank plc, 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP and they'll get through, though.

Hiya - thanks for your help, i'll send a letter off and see what they say.... its confusing but others say they have waited 3 months for an account to be opened lol - is this normal (gulp)!