Santander Minimum Withdrawals

7sefton

tsb wrote: »

Just to add to this debate. Santander have also restricted the amount of a counter cheque to a minimum of £1,000! A friend of mine had to make a payment of £800 to a tradesman. The counter staff told them that it is no longer possible from their savings account. Either you transfer the amount to a current account (which has to be done at the counter unless you have a current account with Santander and online banking) and make the cheque out yourself or withdraw the amount in cash at the counter. My friend had to draw out the cash and walk around with the £800.

My point is how does this new 'term and condition' save counter queues.

I have a Santander savings account and when I opened it this wasn't in the terms and conditions. I am seriously thinking of closing the account to go elsewhere. I'm thinking the only place to have a savings account is a proper Building Society that don't pretend to be a bank and there are no restrictions on what is available at the counter.

To be honest I'm surprised your friend managed to withdraw the £800 cash... another one of Santander's conditions I seem to remember was a maximum cash withdrawal over the counter of £500!

opinions4u

My point is how does this new 'term and condition' save counter queues.

Some people will do the transaction online. Some won't. It's still fewer people using the counter.

I am seriously thinking of closing the account to go elsewhere.

Which also reduces counter queues .

Toomuchdebt

I wanted to take out £7.99 recently from Nationwide as it was all I had left till the following Monday.They told me I had to go to the post office to do it as I couldn't take less than £30 at the counter.Which would have been fine except our main post office is located upstairs in WHSmith and the lift wasn''t working that day and I had a toddler in a pushchair with me as well as being pregnant.I was not impressed.I borrowed £10 from my dad instead and paid him back on Monday.
It's silly really because if you have a full flex account(and technically a better credit rating/more money) you can take any amount out at the counter-the £30 thing only applies to basic accounts(by definition worse credit rating and less money-in my case anyway LOL).

jamesd

molley wrote: »

I went in to a Santander branch today to lodge a couple of cheques and as I wanted some cash asked for £30

So that's two unnecessary counter transactions from their point of view: paying in cheques as well as getting the cash. No surprise that from their viewpoint an unnecessary counter transaction of one type won't cause them to welcome an unnecessary counter transaction of another type.

All of which is not great customer service and running two or more current accounts for a while then switching gradually is easy to do these days for most people.

molley

jamesd wrote: »

So that's two unnecessary counter transactions from their point of view: paying in cheques as well as getting the cash. No surprise that from their viewpoint an unnecessary counter transaction of one type won't cause them to welcome an unnecessary counter transaction of another type.

All of which is not great customer service and running two or more current accounts for a while then switching gradually is easy to do these days for most people.

So what would you like them to do then ...Make a minimum number of cheques to pay in at one time . I know you can pay cheques in by machine but they don't get processed until the next day which might be two days later . Where does it say they consider paying cheques to be "unnecessary" or did you just make that part up . !!!!!! ..Are you a spokesman for Santander?

jamesd

molley wrote: »

Are you a spokesman for Santander?

I suppose a Santender rep might try to help solve their apparent service problem by posting here encouraging you to leave but it seems quite unlikely.

I expect that if you can do it with the ATM they regard it as a counter transaction that they would prefer you not to do. This doesn't seem like good service to me.

noh

jamesd wrote: »

I suppose a Santender rep might try to help solve their apparent service problem by posting here encouraging you to leave but it seems quite unlikely.

I expect that if you can do it with the ATM they regard it as a counter transaction that they would prefer you not to do. This doesn't seem like good service to me.

Although not uncommon.
I have had staff in both Nationwide and Halifax trying to encourage me to pay in cheques at the machine rather than at the counter. This is with accounts that allow over the counter transactions.

7sefton

molley wrote: »

So what would you like them to do then ...Make a minimum number of cheques to pay in at one time . I know you can pay cheques in by machine but they don't get processed until the next day which might be two days later . Where does it say they consider paying cheques to be "unnecessary" or did you just make that part up . !!!!!! ..Are you a spokesman for Santander?

All Halifax and Santander branches have a secure box for you to pay cheques in, and as long as you deposit them by 3.30pm they are credited the same day just as if you used the counter. It's only the old-style ATMs where there is a delay. There really is no need to use the counter for this type of transaction, although many people (inexplicably) prefer to queue and see someone.

molley

7sefton wrote: »

All Halifax and Santander branches have a secure box for you to pay cheques in, and as long as you deposit them by 3.30pm they are credited the same day just as if you used the counter. It's only the old-style ATMs where there is a delay. There really is no need to use the counter for this type of transaction, although many people (inexplicably) prefer to queue and see someone.

Wasn't aware of this but then I rarely go in to branches as I use ATM's .I'll look for it in future . I have a couple of times posted cheques to a local branch but there was always a delay in it getting there...initially they insisted the mail went straight to the branch but latterly they admitted it went to a central point and was then sent to the branch it was addressed to. Mail could take 3 days to get to a branch .

noh

7sefton wrote: »

All Halifax and Santander branches have a secure box for you to pay cheques in, and as long as you deposit them by 3.30pm they are credited the same day just as if you used the counter. It's only the old-style ATMs where there is a delay. There really is no need to use the counter for this type of transaction, although many people (inexplicably) prefer to queue and see someone.

It's not inexplicable.
I only visit a branch to pay cheques in and thats probably only 3 or 4 times a year.
The reason I wish to pay in over the counter is so that I get a receipt for the amount of the cheque paid in and so that they are credited immediately to the account and I can see that they have been credited.
I don't have enough trust in the process involved when depositing them in a box.