Which bank?

andytashfidget

Some of you will have seen my thread on Lloyds TSB and our overdraft. I thought Id start a new thread for some more advice/feedback from more experienced bankers!

Having looked at the info on here, MSE says we may be best suited to move to Santander with their 5 percent etc, however, Im a bit confused with all the negative press over their customer service etc.

So I wondered (having banked with Lloyds all my life), what do you savvy people think about different banks?

We'll be looking to have 2 accounts with whoever we choose - one as our joint bills account and one just for me for wages etc to go into. We don't want overdrafts or anything fancy, just something simple but we will be paying in £2600 monthly jointly to the bills account and my avergae monthly salary for the single account will be around £1400.

Many Thanks

Tash

stella2009

andytashfidget wrote: »

Some of you will have seen my thread on Lloyds TSB and our overdraft. I thought Id start a new thread for some more advice/feedback from more experienced bankers!

Having looked at the info on here, MSE says we may be best suited to move to Santander with their 5 percent etc, however, Im a bit confused with all the negative press over their customer service etc.

So I wondered (having banked with Lloyds all my life), what do you savvy people think about different banks?

We'll be looking to have 2 accounts with whoever we choose - one as our joint bills account and one just for me for wages etc to go into. We don't want overdrafts or anything fancy, just something simple but we will be paying in £2600 monthly jointly to the bills account and my avergae monthly salary for the single account will be around £1400.

Many Thanks

Tash

I wouldn't touch Santander if they were the last bank remaining!!

I bank with First Direct and have personally found them to be 1st class!! I wouldn't leave them if you paid me!

They don't pay any interest on current accounts, but to tell you the truth I don't care. They are 1st class for customer service, answer the phone in the UK within seconds......

Fedz

Pay heed to the above post - spoken like a true champ

Plus see MSE possible cautionary note:
'In our August 2010 poll Santander came bottom for customer services, 62% of customers who voted said they received poor customer service.
Some of this may be accounted for by the fact that the £100 offer has pushed demand up and that there have been substantial problems with former A&L customers being moved to Santander, even so it's a big number.

Customer Services Poll
MSE Poll Aug 2010
Voters: 3,388

As always MoneySavingExpert.com ranks by rate, yet we wanted to bring you this feedback as it's important to realise you may sacrifice some customer service for this gain.'

RumPunch_2

Don't go anyway near Santander!

We've just switched our joint account from A & L/santander to 1st direct based on really positive reviews (here and elsewhere, moneyfacts magazine I think).

Only been with them since August but so far their efficiency and customer service has been a refreshing breath of fresh air.

However, I read your other post and whilst I don't have a great deal of knowledge about different bank accounts, based on what I've picked up recently most people have fairly good relationships with their banks while they are in credit, it seems things go wrong when an o/d suddenly gets recalled, reduced or charges change and more and more banks seem to be doing this now.

Good luck with your change, wherever you decide to go.