Looking for best current account

1977pjc

Hi,

As in the light of First Direct, I'm dumping them and moving.

So i would like to know who people think should be a good place to go to.

I'm not just looking at interest rates, but service as well. As this was the main reason for going to FD in the first place.

So i have been looking at A&L, Abbey, & Nationwide.

But would like to here what people think, plus any other ideas.

Cheers

:j

K9cuddles

I was thinking the same too!

pineman100

I'm looking around, too, but I'm not confident of finding another bank who will give free banking in the long term. The general view of "experts" on the radio is that all banks will follow in First Direct's wake in the near future.

The reason being given is that the Banking Ombudsman has ruled that charges for unauthorised overdrafts have been much too high, and banks must reduce them. So they're going to charge for sub-£1500 p.m. current account banking as a way of recouping that lost income.

Well, speaking as someone of modest income, may I say a big thank you to the ombudsman for making me pay for other people's overdrafts.

Scarlet_Fever

i was hoping that someone would have answered this as i am doing exactly the same - i dont want an abbey account as they still owe me £10, and their service is appalling....

Well, speaking as someone of modest income, may I say a big thank you to the ombudsman for making me pay for other people's overdrafts.

yes it sucks, but the charges are more than a little disproportianate, like being charged £10 to get a bankers draft, like if you pay in at the cahspoint it takes an extra day for your cheque to clear, but its lunchtime and they have 2 staff on and one of those is a trainee who messes up your bank draft and charges you twice - god i hate abbey....

morganb

Personally I'd recommend either Nationwide or A & L (I'm with both)

A & L have the advantage of a referral bonus - if someone refers you then both you and they receive £50... I could refer you if you like.

CopperPlate_2

Can't recommend smile highly enough. Slightly higher rate of interest than FD, but their service is excellent IMO. Their site is as good if not better than FD - also their 0161 number (available from saynoto0870) means that you can get round their 0870 number too.

CopperPlate_2

Oh and when the FD thread first came into creation all those weeks ago I sent a message to smile asking if a monthly fee was something they would consider and I received a reply saying "no". But then you can never tell. Suppose the Co-Op Movement is all about equality...

wifeforlife

Not one to give advice as I'm not that financially aware tbh, but in my opinion Nationwide and A&L are tops for me, I've just opened the later account a few days ago and have been with Nationwide a few years now and have had no major problems, would recommend either

I think its best to read the articles and decide whats best suited to you and your finances, and whats your main priorties

Best of luck
Cath

cheggers

Go with A&L, great interest rate on your money 6.1%, 12% regular saver account, £500 overdraft and £50 referal bonus. If anyone wants to earn £50 when the move to A&L let me know

Better_Start

Just wanted to second CopperPlate's comment - Smile are well worth a look. Not only do they offer a way better interest rate than the pitiful ones on the high street but they are ethically and environmentally sound too. They're part of the Co-operative Group so they should be pretty safe and, even better, if you join the Co-op's Membership Scheme you'll get discount offers, profit share and a say in how the business is run. They do ask that you pay (I think) £1000.00 a month into your account (pretty standard if you read Martin's article on current accounts) - I couldn't guarantee that but I wanted the account so I rang them and they were happy to set-up an account for me. In case it doesn't show, I like Smile!

Scarlet_Fever

pineman100 wrote:

Well, speaking as someone of modest income, may I say a big thank you to the ombudsman for making me pay for other people's overdrafts.

i was thinking about this - and people who think that they are having to pay for other people's overdrafts are wrong, in fact the people with the overdrafts have been subsidising *you* - the bank looking after your money for you is not free, they sort out your cheques, make sure that you can get your money, transfer it for you, pay your bills (with direct debits etc). Why shouldn't the payments be more even? and they charge you for other items like a bankers draft for your money, but wont give you a large sum of money, so you are stuck with having to pay them....

I *am* moving my account from FD (even though i would not be hit with the charge) on sheer principle as i think its out of order to charge the people who cannot pay in more than £1500 - cos they are the people that will notice it the most. That's what's wrong in my book, not the simple fact they are charging - the WHO.

We expect so much in this day and age, like the people who refuse to recycle, we all expect someone else to do it for us -

(ok, rant over)