A&L Premier Direct Account - Help

MiserlyMartin

blueberrypie wrote: »

You're missing several things.
.....Fifth thing: A&L's service is notoriously bad. Really, really bad. I don't think there is any other banking institution which gets as many complaints on these forums. Their Faster Payments implementation is woeful. All of your outgoings must be covered by funds which are in your account by the end of the *previous* day. Transfers between accounts in your own name aren't instant - if you transfer from one account to another, the funds don't become available in the second account until the next day. The on-line banking is a joke. There's more - if you want more info, do some reading on this forum.

They sound horrendous. It looks like the £100 bonus has been pulled now too. Are Santender any better?

Baldur

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

Are Santender any better?

Having had satisfactory dealings with A&L, B&B and Abbey in the past, the 'Santander effect' is what appears to have caused the decline in efficiency & customer services across the board.

blueberrypie

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

They sound horrendous. It looks like the £100 bonus has been pulled now too. Are Santender any better?

Nope. Santander aren't sending *anything* by FPs, and early reports of their customer service don't suggest they'll be an improvement.

I've been an A&L customer since the Girobank days, and back then I think their customer service was very good. It had already declined over the years, but as Baldur suggests, the Santander take-over has only made it worse.


I've opened an A&L Flexible ISA, but apart from that, I am in the process of moving all my everyday banking away from A&L by the time Santander's take-over is complete.

heloid

NB. To fund my A&L account I send £250 to my HSBC and £250 to my First Direct then send them both back instantly. Only takes 3-4 minutes.

zudecke

So, hos the best bank and whats the best bank account???

Baldur

zudecke wrote: »

So, hos the best bank and whats the best bank account???

'Best' is subjective - you'll get different answers from different people depending on their own needs and experiences.

zudecke

a lot of things are subjective - i just want peoples opinions in their experience..

Baldur

zudecke wrote: »

a lot of things are subjective - i just want peoples opinions in their experience..

Of the ones that I use:

HSBC - good for Faster Payments, 8% Regular Savings account and customer service.

LTSB - good for paying 4% interest on their Vantage accounts, not so good with Faster Payments.

Halifax - good for paying £5 per month for £1,000 per month passing through their accounts, 5% Regular Saver with a monthly maximum of £500 and OKish for Faster Payments.

Nationwide - good for foreign currency withdrawals abroad and Cash back credit card - pathetic for interest rates and Faster Payments.

zudecke

I like the sounds of the LTSB one. Why not so good with FPs?

Do any banks not charge astronomical fees for going overdrawn past the arranged OD? I don't plan to do this at all, just interested.

Baldur

zudecke wrote: »

I like the sounds of the LTSB one. Why not so good with FPs?

They can be temperamental at times and they were slow to get them operational. The Vantage account 4% in-credit interest rate applies to balances between £5k and £7k.