who offers the best online banking experience?

snowqueen555

I use HSBC and I like their online banking and having everything in one place, but they offer poor/expensive products so I need to consider using other banks, does anyone recommend any?


Thanks

Sharon87

Well I would say Halifax, but they've changed it and can do less things on it now (view my Credit Card DD details for one thing). But it's still ok, it's just I preferred the old system!

Although they are terrible for arranged overdrafts charges.

I've heard Natwest are good too, I've just opened a bank account with them, still waiting for the details so can't get online banking just yet.

Inactive

I have a HSBC Current Account as my main account, I also have Nationwide, Halifax and Cahoot current accounts.


The HSBC one is the best, so I would think carefully before changing.

opinions4u

snowqueen555 wrote: »

I use HSBC and I like their online banking and having everything in one place, but they offer poor/expensive products so I need to consider using other banks, does anyone recommend any?

Think about the question you have asked.

How many people will be familiar with several online banking services? Most people will use one or two at most. So getting an answer of value is going to be difficult.

Most people will tell you that the best one is the one they use. But it's probably the only one they've ever used and will never have been properly compared with others by the poster.

I find Egg quick and flexible. But then they don't offer current accounts or new loans/mortgages and don't send transfers to other banks by Faster Payments.

I've always used Halifax as my main online banking service and found it excellent. But as their systems change to mirror Lloyds TSB I've found that some of the functionality I valued has vanished. Yet if you ask the majority of Lloyds TSB customer what they think of their online banking service you would almost certainly get a positive response.

Finally, you haven't really expressed what you want to see from an online banking service.

- What are the essential things that you feel you need from online banking?
- What are the better value products you want that HSBC don't offer?

Most will operate in real time, move money from account A to account B and let you buy selected products online.

At the moment though your question is like asking a couple who have travelled to the same holiday destination all their lives where the best holiday destination is.

Tell us what you want from online banking and you might get a clearer answer.

The thing most likely to bother you will, in the end, be getting used to change.

missile

I have used several including A+L, Barclays, LTSB, Cahoot, RBS, Nationwide and HBOS.

I find LTSB and RBS to be the most convenient to use with lightning fast quicker interbank transfers.

snowqueen555

opinions4u wrote: »

Think about the question you have asked.

How many people will be familiar with several online banking services? Most people will use one or two at most. So getting an answer of value is going to be difficult.

Most people will tell you that the best one is the one they use. But it's probably the only one they've ever used and will never have been properly compared with others by the poster.

Finally, you haven't really expressed what you want to see from an online banking service.

- What are the essential things that you feel you need from online banking?
- What are the better value products you want that HSBC don't offer?

Most will operate in real time, move money from account A to account B and let you buy selected products online.

At the moment though your question is like asking a couple who have travelled to the same holiday destination all their lives where the best holiday destination is.

Tell us what you want from online banking and you might get a clearer answer.

As missile has shown, I am lead the believe the general MSE user is a lot more likely to have used several banks before than the general poplation, which is why I am asking.

Many people on here most probably have a main account, but many also seem to have regular savers, bonds and isas, stockdealing from any other banks that offers good interest rates. Just browsing through the savings and investment you will see this.

What I want from online banking is stating the obvious. Ease of use, reliability and flexibility. What else could I be wanting?

blueberrypie

snowqueen555 wrote: »

What I want from online banking is stating the obvious. Ease of use, reliability and flexibility. What else could I be wanting?

Different people define those in different ways though!

Ease of use: do you mind using a card-reader? If not, do you mind using it for every transaction, or do you want to only have to use it for logging in? Do you want to have to enter your password for every transfer, or is that too much fuss for you? Would you prefer a system which sends you a code number to your mobile phone? Or would either of those put you off? Do you want to be able to set up and/or edit standing orders on-line? What about direct debits - do you want to be able to cancel them on-line? Do you want to be able to delete expired direct debit payees from the list of payees shown on on-line banking?

Reliability - it's a reasonable assumption that you don't want a bank whose on-line service is regularly down, but what else? How important are faster payments to you? Do you want to be able to set them up in advance? Do you want Standing Orders to be sent by FP? Do you need credits made over the counter to be shown the same day? Available for transfer elsewhere the same day? Are you someone who relies on the "available balance" to tell you how much money you have to spend, or do you keep track of your finances yourself? Do you need a service that shows you upcoming payments?

Flexibility - do you log in from many different computers? Some bank systems don't like this and might flag your accounts, meaning you won't have on-line access for a day or two.

Can you see why your question is perhaps not quite as straightforward as you think?

snowqueen555

I am just a casual online banking user, I just want people's general experiences of what is good as the finer details arne't too important to me, but if you need clarification then here it is below.


Reliability/Ease of use

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It is a general statement, I just need an online banking system that allows for balance checking, able to log in anywhere, and reliable e.g. not out of service all the time, ease of use e.g. simple to use, website is reliable, does not crash, can log in anywhere

Flexibility

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Able to transfer money online, set up standing orders, direct debits etc, ability to manage my money rather than just be able to look at my balance

Poor products, well HSBC offer poor stockdealing rates, and their bonds and isas offer low interest rates. I'd like to move somewhere else but of course the ability to use online banking is important to me and if I can't manage my assets online I'd rather stick with hsbc

Thanks

blueberrypie

snowqueen555 wrote: »

I am just a casual online banking user, I just want people's general experiences of what is good as the finer details arne't too important to me, but if you need clarification then here it is below.

What you describe is fulfilled by every on-line banking service I've ever used, except for Santander, for a period of several months, but even they seem to have improved recently (on on-line banking reliability, not overall service levels).

I don't know of any on-line banking service which doesn't do what you describe. Had you been specific about, for example, faster payments or the use of card-readers, I could have provided more specific information. As it is, anything else I could say would be about my own personal preferences, and therefore of very limited use to someone else.

Nessie23

snowqueen555 wrote: »

As missile has shown, I am lead the believe the general MSE user is a lot more likely to have used several banks before than the general poplation, which is why I am asking.

What I want from online banking is stating the obvious. Ease of use, reliability and flexibility. What else could I be wanting?

Hi snowqueen,

I have used a few different online systems and here are my general thoughts on them:

First Direct - Good in general, you can do all the general account management and faster payments support is great. They also have a very good microsite for iphones/pdas/smartphones. Downside is you cannot delete old payees, they take 13 months to drop off the list!

HSBC - Probably one of the best IB webistes, albeit with a bank offering poor savings rates :-( However not very good for S&S ISAs as it does not give individual breakdown of value for different funds within the ISAs.

Santander - Unreliable in general, faster payments facility limited to £300 per day and transactions take a few hours/days to show. Sorry - not recommended

Smile - Not very good, annoying card reader sometimes involved making FPs. Site is clunky to use and there tends to be a delay between 30mins to 2 hours before recent transactions (such as transfers) are updated.

Halifax - Used to be great, has lost some functions with their redesign, but still allows you to do most of the functions you expect from an internet banking site. Allows FPs in general, however occasionally and on a random basis it try to send your payment via BACS instead of FP.

Tesco - Good in that it allows faster payments in/out for their internet instant saver, however be warned sometimes for some bizarre reason it can think the password you have entered is wrong (even when it has been entered correctly!) and lock you out of the account.

ING Direct - Very good, no problems - accepts FPs in but you cannot move your money out via faster payments.

Summarising of the other systems I have used the ones I would rate higher are Halifax and First Direct. Something else you could consider is leaving the HSBC current account as your "base" and moving any extra money into and an instant access savings account which allows faster payments both in an out of the account.

Nessie

chuckley

Abbey, hands down, as they update instantly and the fast payment thing.