Santander's new withdrawal procedure

worriedmummy_2

Hi folks, a bit of a newby here, so please be patient!

I am furious after what I have just experienced at first hand, of Santander's new banking procedure. This is what happened today.

As I had approximately £16 left in my account today, I went into our local branch of Santander hoping to withdraw £15 over the counter, as I knew this was not possible at the cash machine, and desperately needed it for shopping.

However after queueing my turn came to get served, I was informed by assistant that under their new guidelines, no amount under £31 is allowed to be withdrawn from an account.
When I asked why, as this was MY money, the assistant apologised and advised that the only way round this new practice, would be if I gave her £5 to make it up to £21, then I could go to a cash point and withdraw £20 from there.

I complained to assistant (albeit advised that it was not her fault personally), but I am totally furious that I cant go into my own bank now and withdraw my own money, unless it is over a sum of £31 !!

As a low income family whereby I have children, I work, but my husband is a University student, I often have to go into the bank to withdraw what little funds we have left to make ends meet, and to maybe get some urgent shopping etc to feed my family.

We often have little funds left in our account after all our bills are paid, but regardless of how little it is, this is OUR money, which we should have full access to withdraw in a branch, during working hours.

The assistant in Bank advised that this is Santander's way of reducing queueing times!??!? I pointed out to Clerk that it is not going to save on any queueing times, as people will still then have to queue to deposit money (like I did today) in order to lift money out of a cash machine.

I have never heard of such a ridiculous practice in all my life, and had I not had the spare £5 in my purse today to deposit, I would not have been able to life any of what little funds I had left and would have been left in a quandry.

Surely this cant be legal practice to be able to hold onto people's money in this way??

I have felt compelled to write complaint emails to Santander and the Financial Ombudsman (which I have just done), as I did not get a reasonable response in my bank today, and I think this practice is deplorable, and somewhat illegal to disallow people access to their own funds.

Has anyone else experienced this ludicrous practice and if so, what was the outcome at your Branch and have you complained?

I am furious as to not being allowed my own money when I need it, regardless of the balance.

Thank you for reading.

stclair

That procedure has been in place for ages.

You may want to consider banking else where if they are unable to provide the service you require.

dgrego123

do you have a debit card?
because surely you could of used this in the shops to buy goods?

Techhead_2

Isn't it £50 for over the counter withdrawals at some other banks?

Seems to me that rather than get upset, it seems better to take your business elsewhere.

JacksterD

Bank somewhere else?

welshmoneylover

worriedmummy wrote: »

Hi folks, a bit of a newby here, so please be patient!

I am furious after what I have just experienced at first hand, of Santander's new banking procedure. This is what happened today.

As I had approximately £16 left in my account today, I went into our local branch of Santander hoping to withdraw £15 over the counter, as I knew this was not possible at the cash machine, and desperately needed it for shopping.

However after queueing my turn came to get served, I was informed by assistant that under their new guidelines, no amount under £31 is allowed to be withdrawn from an account.
When I asked why, as this was MY money, the assistant apologised and advised that the only way round this new practice, would be if I gave her £5 to make it up to £21, then I could go to a cash point and withdraw £20 from there.

I complained to assistant (albeit advised that it was not her fault personally), but I am totally furious that I cant go into my own bank now and withdraw my own money, unless it is over a sum of £31 !!

As a low income family whereby I have children, I work, but my husband is a University student, I often have to go into the bank to withdraw what little funds we have left to make ends meet, and to maybe get some urgent shopping etc to feed my family.

We often have little funds left in our account after all our bills are paid, but regardless of how little it is, this is OUR money, which we should have full access to withdraw in a branch, during working hours.

The assistant in Bank advised that this is Santander's way of reducing queueing times!??!? I pointed out to Clerk that it is not going to save on any queueing times, as people will still then have to queue to deposit money (like I did today) in order to lift money out of a cash machine.

I have never heard of such a ridiculous practice in all my life, and had I not had the spare £5 in my purse today to deposit, I would not have been able to life any of what little funds I had left and would have been left in a quandry.

Surely this cant be legal practice to be able to hold onto people's money in this way??

I have felt compelled to write complaint emails to Santander and the Financial Ombudsman (which I have just done), as I did not get a reasonable response in my bank today, and I think this practice is deplorable, and somewhat illegal to disallow people access to their own funds.

Has anyone else experienced this ludicrous practice and if so, what was the outcome at your Branch and have you complained?

I am furious as to not being allowed my own money when I need it, regardless of the balance.

Thank you for reading.

I don't think the Financial Ombudsman is the way to go, you have to exhaust the bank's own complaints procedure first?

Secondly, why couldn't you use your debit card in the shops?

Thirdly, if things are so tight money wise, can't your husband find part time work to help out?

Fourthly, bank elsewhere if you're not happy with Santander's service.

powerone

- this has been going on for ages
- I understand there are different levels for different accounts

you must be an old abbey account holder.

i would have thought that they did this because people compalined about the wait to get served. easy solution get rid of the people. alos helps with cashflow, they must have different arrangements with group 4.

easy solution. get a bank account with a bank. simple really.

Baldur

According to this article or this one, had it been a Santander basic bank account, the minimum over-the-counter withdrawal would have been £300, rather than £30.

Nationwide are also operating a similar policy for some of their accounts.

opinions4u

May be I'm a little insensitive.

But surely the answer is to budget better around what's in the account, so that you can use an ATM if you have to withdraw down to the last penny.

I don't see why proper savers should have to queue behind somebody with an ATM enabled debit card who wants to take out £6.36 at the counter.

System

If its a basic Santander account, then you should be able to access small amounts (down to 1p) via Post Office counters.

There is talk to extend coverage to all accounts. But I'm not sure if this has been implemented yet.

Otherwise, the easy way to get your money out is to close the account.

worriedmummy_2

Thanks for the helpful answers on here and the not-so helpful ones.

welshmoneylover:
I do have the capacity to use my debit card (should I wish) at the checkouts, but my argument is that I should also be able to lift my own money from my bank account as and when required.

Also, in response to why doesnt my husband get part-time work while studying - my husband has applied for over 200 jobs in our area only to not be successful for any of them, jobs are like golddust in our small town - not that any of that is any of your business anyway, but felt compiled to answer your rude "advice".

opinions4u: We budget as well as we possibly can with what little we have, but times are hellish for us at the moment. I also have as much right to queue in a bank as 'the proper savers' you speak of.
If the queueing system is failing, then they should have more tellers, simple as that.

I am grateful for the advice received from the other posters, thank you sincerely.

Unfortunately as a new poster suffering financial hardship at the moment, I wont hurry back for any more advice, as the above two posters know how to shoot a dog when it's down!
All I can say is it must be great to be perfect. Maybe some day we will manage to be 'proper savers'!