Thinking of changing banks - thoughts on the best?

DrSyn

There are two banks which get 80% or over in customer satisfaction polls. So both must be doing a lot correctly. Both are a good choice.
They are of course

"FIRST DIRECT" and "CO-OP BANK"


Fist Direct . Telephones are nomally answered very quickly by real people who are helpful and friendly.They are owned by HSBC.

Co-op Bank. Telephone gets you through to button banking. There is they option to get through to real persons who are also helpful and friendly. You can run the account over the Post Office counter service if you like.

ERICS_MUM

I've been with Nat West since 1974 and always been happy with them. I find their on-line and mobile banking services excellent.

Cmdr_Bond

DrSyn wrote: »

There are two banks which get 80% or over in customer satisfaction polls. So both must be doing a lot correctly. Both are a good choice.
They are of course

"FIRST DIRECT" and "CO-OP BANK"


Fist Direct . Telephones are nomally answered very quickly by real people who are helpful and friendly.They are owned by HSBC.

Co-op Bank. Telephone gets you through to button banking. There is they option to get through to real persons who are also helpful and friendly. You can run the account over the Post Office counter service if you like.

Or through Brittania Building Societies (I believe) as they offer Co-op current accounts.

wrightk

over the years i have used most of the major banks

Barclays- horrific customer service, good when i was a student but then when i became a 'normal' customer all the customer service centres seemed to switch to india
Lloyds- uk call centres in business hours, india thereafter, quite poor online banking but have recently modernised
Hsbc- Found very complicated online branking, bad customer service and unhelpful at the branch
Halifax- Tend to every so often hold your money without notice and dont let you access it for a few days then release it when they feel like it, despite not purchasing anything etc. Took 2 months to assess my application and send my card out...

Have now changed to natwest and apart from the staff seeming a little snooty at my local branch their customer service has been excellent. Uk only call centres, excellent banking services online, quick application and card through and best of all no penalty if i dont pay a required sum of money in each month, be wary of these bank accounts

karatedragon

If you are with Santander going to any other bank will be an improvement.

I recommend Coventry First from the Coventry Building Society

http://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/current-account/coventry-first/at_a_glance.aspx

chivers1977

I'm a fan of Lloyds having previously had HSBC and Santander accounts. The online banking is far superior to either of them as you can do things like search for certain payments ie any payment from "John" between x date and x date. Call centres have always been very helpful.

rb10

wrightk wrote: »

Halifax- Tend to every so often hold your money without notice and dont let you access it for a few days then release it when they feel like it, despite not purchasing anything etc.

I have only ever seen this happen during the first 48 hours of an account being open. After this short period, everything corrects itself and all works fine from then onwards. (You can sometimes have 'phantom' transactions on your account if you've used a 'Pay-at-pump' petrol station, or hired a car ... but this is not unique to Halifax and is up to the retailer).

wrightk wrote: »

natwest [...] their customer service has been excellent [...] excellent banking services online

How unusual - you must have been lucky.

Natwest are notorious for poor customer service - hence why they've had to make their 'Customer Charter', to try to make people think that they provide good service.

Just look on these forums at the complaints customers have had about accounts such as e-Savings, e-ISA, etc.

wrightk wrote: »

best of all no penalty if i dont pay a required sum of money in each month, be wary of these bank accounts

Few accounts actually penalise you for not paying in a set amount. First Direct do (£10/month), but most others (e.g. Halifax) simply don't give you the additional benefits for that month. Natwest on the other hand never give you the additional benefits.

jen245

I bank with Natwest and Halifax, and have not had any problems with either. My main account is my Natwest current plus, and the few times I have had to call them, they have been helpful. I think their online banking is probably the best I've used. Halifax have better products, and so I use my reward account to get decent rates on my savings, and for the free fivers. Their online banking has recently changed, and I quite like it