is anyone happy with their bank?

penrhyn

Of course I'm happy with my bank, its First Direct, 5% regular saver is not too bad, but agree about the other savings rates.

khiller1988

never had any problems with HSBC either, always find help in the branches, plus their internet banking is simple to use. Had a number of different accounts with them right through from the livecash account to my current plus account, plus when had some issues due to changing my account and financial issues that my parents had they were doing there best to help me despite the recession and the lack of choice they had in what they could actually do, At this point i did look around elsewhere but found when asking acouple of others namely Natwest and Abbey they didnt waht to know

wontfallforit

I bank/have banked with all of the following:

- HSBC (been with them for 14 years, still bank there, and it's my main current account)
- Barclays (been there 1 year, secondary current account)
- Abbey (2004-2009, had a basic account until this week)
- NatWest (2002-2006, student account)

My verdict:

HSBC: - 8.5 / 10 - points deducted because they refused me a student account in 2003, boo! )
Telephone banking – brilliant
Online banking – brilliant
Branch services – Good, but my local branch has extremely limited features.
Charges – (I used to incur lots of charges! Been charge-free since 2006) Relatively lenient charging policy, considering the way in which I used to abuse my account. Successfully claimed back £500 in charges just before the bandwagon closed a couple of years ago, with no argument from HSBC.


Barclays: 9/10 - slight online banking glitches prevented a perfect score

Telephone banking – brilliant
Online banking – very good, seems very secure, sometimes have slight problems logging in, but suspect this may be a glitch with my own PC/net connection. Fantastic when it works, but not quite as slick, easy-to-use and straightforward as HSBCs.
Branch services – 2 branches very close, facilities seem great and thorough, though I never have much reason to use them
Charges – N/A – never been charged, never intend to be charged!

Abbey: 8/10 - no issues whatsoever, but only ever had very basic arrangements with Abbey.

Telephone banking – N/A (never used)
Online banking – N/A (never used – registration process seemed cumbersome, but more regular users of Abbey may have a different view)
Branch services – Top notch, but again, never made much use of them
Charges – N/A

NatWest: 6/10 - would've been much lower had they not eventually came to the rescue of a damsel in financial distress
Telephone banking – leaves a lot to be desired – most interactions I had were them calling me (again dates back to my long-gone days of extremely irresponsible account handling!)
Online banking – N/A (never used)
Branch services – The best of the lot, though it’s unfortunate that all too often, I was there for the wrong reasons
Charges – Excessive (in the context of the 2002-2006 period). Racked up £900 worth of charges in just 18 months. Yes, I was extremely irresponsible, but I feel that NatWest were too. They handed me a £1250 overdraft as an undergraduate, before my course even started (on the basis that I’d secured an unconditional university place), and like any good 17 year old, I went out and blew the lot :eek:. Sank into a bit of a bank charges spiral, and didn’t find them very helpful to begin with, after I’d understood the error of my ways and wanted to correct things. Eventually they froze my overdraft, stopped all interest, and allowed me to pay back very small monthly sums (but were very quick to telephone me if I missed my side of the bargain!). It all ended amicably when I successfully claimed back £900 charges, eventually leaving me £40 in credit when I went to close the account


So NatWest is the only bank I’ve had major problems with, but a lot of the darker side I was exposed to was pretty much entirely my own fault. I’d bank with them again – as a mature, financially responsible adult - , as in my experience of their branch atmosphere, etc., it seems like a nice place to be a 'normal' customer

Oblivion

little_h wrote: »

Firstdirect all the way for me too, I recommend them to everyone I know who moans about their bank.

I also got on well with HSBC too (unlike A&L's which was crap!)

Quite a few posters in this thread are keen on First Direct. Not surprising given that First Direct is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC, the best bank in the world IMHO

Dave.

nearlyrich

Matt666 wrote: »

First Direct all the way - always happy to help, real person answers within 3 rings, everyone knows what they're doing - I've been with them for about 10 years, not one single complaint from me - and I'm hard to please!

Same here except it's nearer 18 years and only one small complaint that was sorted pronto;)

penrhyn

You ring First Direct and you get a human being straight away, no buttons to press no endless menus to navigate, and the staff are always helpful and knowledgeable.
I should be on commission:rotfl:

JOBEN

Am pleased about this thread as have just applied for a first direct account lol, also going to apply for the first directory part too as need travel insurance for holiday next year, I had arranged insurance £118 for the year but get 1st 3 months of first directory free (£12 month thereafter) and also £100 back so this will pay for insurance.
Hooray

adonis

I wonder how many many people left first direct when they started charging for current accounts with limited funds going in.?

2108

Been with NatWest since finishing school (2003) and have been using the Current Plus account as my main account since then. I have to say I've had no problems with them, local branch a friendly bunch, simple to use online banking and hassle free every day banking.

Also hold 3 x Halifax Reward Accs and 3 x Lloyds Vantage but these are mainly just used online so can't comment about telephone customer service or branch customer service etc. However I can say that interest is normally paid on time with the Vantage accounts and the Reward account also pays out on or just after the 2nd of each month (provided that £1000 has been paid into each account within a calendar month). Online functionality and ease of use cant really complain about on either although Halifax does feel slightly less secure as it asks for the username/password etc credentials as a whole instead of at random.

Barclays online banking can sometimes be a pain when you are required to use a card reader just to log into your online account which can feel unnecessary at times, their online statements can feel quite messy too, well for me anyway. Haven't used much of their other services apart from depositing cheques and making online transfers.

Transferred my ISA over to First Direct's 3% e-ISA earlier this year, transfer completed within 2 weeks and account opened and letters received shortly after, so can't really fault it. Online usage seems pretty simple, although I'm yet to find out how to make a transfer of interest earned on my ISA to another account each month as it says my account doesn't apparently have this functionality :rolleyes:

Latest account opened was a Nationwide FlexAccount, opened within a few days of submitting online application and cash card received a few days later with PIN received 3 working days after that, so can say they're pretty quick. Intend on using this just for traveling and overseas withdrawals so yet to comment on that still.

Overall pretty happy with the way things are

Lucylastic

Virgin One have always been great as far as I am concerned. Have been with them for about 8 years through good times and times of intense personal trauma when I wondered if I would even be able to keep my home. I have always found them helpful and knowledgeable. I've also never spoken to a rude or disinterested Customer Services person, and as a former CS Advisor myself I am really hard to please!