Metro bank - new customer review

Dr_Cuckoo3

Doc_N wrote: »

Does anyone know how long these payments take to reach the account, or how long it takes for FPs out to credit?

They appear to do them in hourly batches (on the hour - XX15) most of the day and take longer in the evening
(this is for both incoming and outgoing payments)

I suspect that they have the ability to perform the payments instantly , but chose not to

On the upside they are offering a free dog with new accounts

Doc_N

Dr_Cuckoo3 wrote: »

They appear to do them in hourly batches (on the hour - XX15) most of the day and take longer in the evening
(this is for both incoming and outgoing payments)

I suspect that they have the ability to perform the payments instantly , but chose not to

On the upside they are offering a free dog with new accounts

Thanks - that's not my idea of the customer service they keep banging on about! And I'm still waiting for my two payments in to credit.

I did notice all that nonsense about dogs - wouldn't they be better off concentrating on customers? Or maybe it's cheaper to stick to gimmicks like dogs than spend a bit of money improving their services?

System

For goodness sake just close the account and stop moaning! I am getting such a good picture of you from your posts here, and all those about jumping through hoops to save a penny here and a penny there. Most of us have a life!

Doc_N

scgf wrote: »

For goodness sake just close the account and stop moaning! I am getting such a good picture of you from your posts here, and all those about jumping through hoops to save a penny here and a penny there. Most of us have a life!

Might I suggest, then, that you go and live your 'life', rather than waste your valuable time here constantly trying to defend Metro Bank from anyone who dares criticise it?

The rest of us can then comment, favourably or otherwise, if we choose to, and anyone considering opening an account can weigh up what they see. Isn't that one of the purposes of a thread like this?

System

OK. Will do just that. Thanks for the advice.

arthur2

About how long they take to respond to secure messaging - I find they usually reply within a few days at the most. I have once had to chase for a reply, but it was an obscure question.

I previously mentioned availability of dual-authorization for online transactions. This is now available, and I received a PIN-generating device recently for each authorized person.

Dr_Cuckoo3

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/1280097190/Interview-Metro-Bank-management-reveal-lean-IT-strategy 20 August 2010


"The first banking organisation to open in the UK since the end of the 19th century, Metro Bank chose to completely outsource its IT operations and employ "a handful" of technology staff, who are largely focused on supplier management.

According to Thomson, the bank spent "very little" on IT, since all the software is hosted externally and the company does not have desktops - apart from Blackberries, most of the 105 employees use Wyse thin-client equipment and the call centre is based on voice over IP."



"According to Metro, innovations such as contactless cards - which rival Barclays has been pushing over the last couple of years - is "ready to go, it is just a question of when to introduce it". The same can be said for a possible mobile banking service, which would start with basic functions such as balance display and overdraft alerts. "

So contactless cards and mobile banking are "ready to go " (20 August 2010) when they can be bothered - the same is true of instant faster payments I suspect , but we don't mind waiting an hour or two


http://www.whatinvestment.co.uk/banking-and-savings/cash-accounts/1626328/metro-bank-confirms-mobile-service.thtml 26 May 2011

"Metro Bank has confirmed it has started development of a mobile banking service that is scheduled for launch at the end of this year. " (year in question is 2011)

I wonder why Metro Bank don't put their annual report on their website ? - most banks do

Doc_N

Dr_Cuckoo3 wrote: »

"The first banking organisation to open in the UK since the end of the 19th century, Metro Bank chose to completely outsource its IT operations and employ "a handful" of technology staff, who are largely focused on supplier management.

According to Thomson, the bank spent "very little" on IT, since all the software is hosted externally and the company does not have desktops - apart from Blackberries, most of the 105 employees use Wyse thin-client equipment and the call centre is based on voice over IP."

Thanks - that explains a lot. Banking on a shoestring, then.

I'll be using it for the free overseas ATM use, but I doubt I'll be using it for much else unless and until it gets its act properly together.

Porcupine

To be fair, the IT operation is on a pay-per-transaction model. No transactions, no costs. Which would seem a sensible business model for a startup - no point spending £xxx million on an IT system if you have a few thousand customers. No need to bring in legacy systems if you're starting from scratch. And, more to the point, less chance of screwing it up.

What puzzles me is the slow Faster Payments... Vocalink can definitely do it. So I can't see why they're batching payments. Unless the Temenos frontend can't do it in realtime, which is possible I suppose.

Contactless cards... I for one won't be crying if they don't implement it. I've very nearly taken a drill to the cards I do have...

Dr_Cuckoo3

Porcupine wrote: »

What puzzles me is the slow Faster Payments... Vocalink can definitely do it. So I can't see why they're batching payments. Unless the Temenos frontend can't do it in realtime, which is possible I suppose.

Islamic Bank of Britain also use Temenos and send faster payments in under 2 minutes

I suspect that Metro Bank choose to send payments in batches , they are much slower in the evening (which also indicates it is their choice)