Please give your feedback on personal current accounts

namford

1) transferring money between banks should be next day at the minimum (same day if poss).
2) Funds should be "available" from the day they are paid in. None of this waiting for them to clear business.
3) all banks should allow you to set-up, amend and cancel your SOs and DDs online or over the phone and the action taken should be same day. Many won't process these for a day or two which is unacceptable I.M.O.
4) I previously banked with Cahoot who use a policy of paying out the largest SO/DD payment first on any given day. This means that if you accidentally don't have sufficient funds and the largest payment bounces, they then bounce all your other payments going out on the same day because the first payment temporarily clears out all your funds. I had this happen and was hit for 3 unpaid DD fees (a total of £75) as well as fees from all the companies that didn't get paid (another £50), when in truth I had enough funds in the account to pay 2 out of 3 of the payments. This should be made completely illegal. They should be forced to pay as many of your SOs/DDs as you hace funds (incl. o/d) to cover on the day.

Earthengirl

I agree banks should treat customers fairly and should try to assist them instead of being rude and unhelpful.
I had a DD bounce becuase I was 0.26p short!!!! And I got charged £35 for the privilege! That is 1500% interest!!:mad:

pokey

I think two things banks should by law have to do are-:

1) Show current AER interest rate being applied to savings accounts on statements and online.

2) If they have a better performing account they should advise customers with they old accounts that they can switch and increase their return.

Best Regards.

Pokey.

Fulham_Mark

I want SleazyJet/Ryanair banking...

ok you give me options on my bank account:
1. call centres in Bangladesh or a call centre in Surrey
2. internet access or branch access
3. charges for being incapable of managing my affairs or low charges when I go overdrawn every month
4. Email only communication or first class posted letters

And if I choose all the cheap options I get a really good interest rate

rogerbloxham

banks are not interested in customers who stay 'in the black'. HSBC wanted to charge me for all of my 'free' beneits as soon as I paid off my mortgage.

HSBC also gives better savings rates to customers who pay a monthly fee for a Premier account - why? If I stay in credit, the bank is investing (lending) my money in order to increase its profits - I see little or none of the profit in the form of interest.

i have attempted to change banks twice and, on each occasion met with chaos, confusion and stonewalling - why is it so difficult?

rogerbloxham

I recently had the proceeds of an investment paid directly in to my current account - within hours my bank had contacted me to advise me to move it from my current account 'because it wasn't safe' - pardon me?

rb10

rogerbloxham wrote: »

HSBC also gives better savings rates to customers who pay a monthly fee for a Premier account - why?

That's obvious, really. The current account is poor when compared to others; the monthly fee that you are paying is subsidising the extra interest on your savings accounts. It's give with one hand, but take back with the other.

isihac_2

Totally agree with Sarahs999 and Namfords comment on BACS type xns - the banks must either be told how long such transfers can take or be forced to accept competition on electronic funds transfers so that customers can choose by entering a code like they can with 'phone calls.

Secondly we MUST have action to separate the 'casinos' from the retail banks to stop the effects of the recent disaster causing problems for the vast majority of people whilst the 'masters of the universe' carry on as if nothing's happened.
We can't afford for politicians to back-pedal on this one!

Mickyfinn

The features I would like to see are:

When you have multiple accounts with the same bank there should be a reserve tank feature so you can, if you choose have money come out of your savings account instead of going overdrawn,

Interest rate reductions should be communicated by phone.

SMS (text message) notifications for different account activity (going overdrawn) money coming out etc...

A feature whereby if you divide your money up like Harv T Eker (Millionare Mind Book) it can take your pay an split it across multiple accounts. 5% charity, 55% Neccessities, 5% Play etc.

When withdrawing large sums of money from the bank you should be able to go into the office rather than having to do this in full view of everyone in the bank.

A copying feature - e.g. Egg do a great rate - OK we'll match it (no need to swap accounts) like the Orange Extra Value Promise Mobile Phone Tarrif.

Paying money in via cheque should be faster when doing so at the Post Office.

I love smile's cheque by post service it's great.

Micky

rb10

Mickyfinn wrote: »

The features I would like to see are:

When you have multiple accounts with the same bank there should be a reserve tank feature so you can, if you choose have money come out of your savings account instead of going overdrawn

A nice idea, but how would it actually work in practice? What happens if it's a savings account that has a limited number of withdrawals? Do they use up one of my free withdrawals? What if there's a penalty for withdrawals? What if my savings account doesn't have enough money?

Everyone would want this to work in a slightly different way, as they'll all have slightly different answers to the questions I posed above. You can never make everyone happy ... aside from 'keep enough money in your current account'.

Mickyfinn wrote: »

Interest rate reductions should be communicated by phone.

Agreed, assuming that 'by phone' you mean 'text message'.

Mickyfinn wrote: »

SMS (text message) notifications for different account activity (going overdrawn) money coming out etc...

As has previously been pointed out on this thread, some banks offer this for a monthly fee (e.g. Lloyds TSB) or for free (e.g. Halifax). This is an issue of 'if you don't like what your bank does at the moment, switch'. There's plenty of competition out there.

Mickyfinn wrote: »

A feature whereby if you divide your money up like Harv T Eker (Millionare Mind Book) it can take your pay an split it across multiple accounts. 5% charity, 55% Neccessities, 5% Play etc.

What, like a standing order?

Mickyfinn wrote: »

When withdrawing large sums of money from the bank you should be able to go into the office rather than having to do this in full view of everyone in the bank.

If you request it, most banks will oblige.

But as many people would rather not do this, it's only ever going to be available as an option, rather than as standard.

Mickyfinn wrote: »

A copying feature - e.g. Egg do a great rate - OK we'll match it (no need to swap accounts) like the Orange Extra Value Promise Mobile Phone Tarrif.

If a bank thought that it would make good business sense to do this, then I'm sure they would. But different banks have different business plans, and like to attract different customers. If you did this, they'd all be forced into offering the same thing, which doesn't necessarily help move their own business forward.

Mickyfinn wrote: »

Paying money in via cheque should be faster when doing so at the Post Office.

Why? The cheque still has to be sent around the country to the cheque processing centres. Why should the PO be quicker? The banks don't make you wait three or four days to withdraw on the cheque for fun, it's because it's an outdated, paper-based payment method that takes ages to process.

Mickyfinn wrote: »

I love smile's cheque by post service it's great.

Any bank will let you send in cheques by post - just write your sort code and account number on the back.