Best Premier Banking Account

bizarrefish

Hi,

I have been with Barclays since 1989 and havent really had great cause to complain having always given me a bank loan and overdraft when needed. For the last 5 years I have been a Premier Customer and slowly but surely the service has been in decline, I liked the service as I had a relationship manager I can quickly email to get things sorted and given I work all hours I appreciated the ability to sort out non urgent items that way. Seems that my RM has moved on to better things and I need to call the usual telephone desk or branch to get anything done now.

So I was interested in what Premier accounts are out there that focus on customer service, I'm not that bothered about good rates or anything so the ability to contact someone easily whenever I need anything done is more important for me.

Accounts I am considering are HSBC, lloyds or Natwest.... any feedback on any of those?

Oh and is it worth moving given they have a 20+ year relationship with them?

I know its common place for the banks to be cutting back and increasing the fleecing of customers so I'm expecting they are all the same. Barclays though do seem to be more ruthless nowadays and don't care too much about the customer, only what more they can sell them.

Thanks

Twister84

Funny you should mention cut backs......as Natwest Private Banking has increased in size a few fold.

I'm sure each bank's services vary, so who you go with, entirely depends on what you want out of it and what you're looking for. Not only that, the requirements to join the Private Banking service will be different for each bank.


I work in the Private sector so if you have any questions regarding it, I'll be happy to try and answer them.

SpudGunner

Guess it depends on if you are a "qualifying" premier customer (income £100k+ or £60k+ and with a business account with Barclays, or big savings etc)

If you do not fall into the qualifying category then you would be moved into the branch portfolio and instead of a Premier Relationship Manager you would instead fall under the branch manager instead.

Barclays are expanding the number of Premier Managers they have but are much stricter about the customers they can deal with, non qualifiers are moved out pretty quickly nowadays whereas in the past it was never really looked at.

The plus side is you do qualify is you should get much more regular contact. I am a branch manager and the Premier RM who works for me is encouraged to contact everyone in his portfolio at a minimum every quarter if not more.

getmore4less

What service do those that qualifty with the savings/mortgage criteria?

Mols

I have a premier account with both Barclays and HSBC and would recommend HSBC.

I now only keep my Barclays account for paying my Barclaycard and Woolwich mortgage and have moved all my day to day banking across to HSBC.

I have found HSBC to be far more efficient. I have access to relationship managers or a suitable alternative person if they are not available. They always return telephone messages and emails. Also, the in branch facilities are far better.

jinkster

Not technically a premier account but Handelsbanken are very good. All decisions made in branch, any problems call the branch. Shocking ISA rates and bank rates but as a day-to-day bank very good - they are not desperate for money.

No high street branch and the branch you join depends on which postcode area you live in. Lots of people from Coutts moving across to Handelsbanken.

Very good - one problem I have noticed - the internet banking service is pretty poor especially if you dont take your laptop with you everywhere. I have an iPhone, iPad and cannot access my account on those at the moment - however it is under review.

No monthly charge at my branch, however it is branch specific. Give them a call or https://www.handelsbanken.co.uk

Good luck!

vwelsh13

not quite sure what account you want but I have been with co-operative bank for 30yrs and they have been brill

DrSyn

If getting in touch with your bank quickly, having good customer service and speaking to humans, is important then try "First Direct".

They always get over 80% in the customer satisfaction polls. So they do focus on customer service.

pwuk

Twister84 wrote: »

Funny you should mention cut backs......as Natwest Private Banking has increased in size a few fold.

I'm sure each bank's services vary, so who you go with, entirely depends on what you want out of it and what you're looking for. Not only that, the requirements to join the Private Banking service will be different for each bank.


I work in the Private sector so if you have any questions regarding it, I'll be happy to try and answer them.

Hello,

I was previously with Barclays as a Premier Life customer but their customer service was appalling and the Relationship Manager remained unavailable most of the time. In a word POOR.

I decided to move to Lloyds TSB and took up a Private Account - their service is reasonable however I remain unsure as to whether I have jumped too quickly and am not certain that in years to come I will not experience similar problems as I did with Barclays previously? Natwest Private Banking is worthy of consideration however and I wonder what you would rate as their best attributes? Is customer service generally effective? How well looked after would I be if I joined?

I welcome any comments you might have.

crystal123_2

Hi, I had an HSBC Premier Account and like you enjoyed the service, however, and it is a big however, my relationship manager was pleasant, friendly but of no help whatsoever. In fact, I was so disillusioned in the overall service which went totally downhill, I took myself of to Santander for the £100 and the interest on current account amongst other things and better savings rate which HSBC could not match. Disaster! Sometimes better the devil you know but I did try to discuss with a local manager first. Maybe it would be worth having a face to face conversation to lay out all the facts and see whether that improves the situation. In my case it did not, but I regret the change!
Good Luck!
Crystal123

Twister84

pwuk wrote: »

Natwest Private Banking is worthy of consideration however and I wonder what you would rate as their best attributes? Is customer service generally effective? How well looked after would I be if I joined?

I welcome any comments you might have.

With Natwest, the customer receives a manager who looks after a certain amount of clients within their area.

The managers also have assistants who are contactable, usually in a Private Banking centre. They can also deal with customer queries etc.

They are contactable by email, phone and fax - obviously you can see the managers face to face if need be. Then there is the 24/7 Private Banking team, who are a "back up" if you will - they can forward requests onto the manager/assistant.

The managers/assistants also have an "admin" team who don't directly deal with customers, but when the manager's or assistant need something to be done following a customer request, such as processing a loan, ordering duplicate statements, ordering interest certificates etc, they would pass this over to the admin team who then do the chasing around.


Without tooting any horns, from my experience, the customers are looked after very well and rarely get any issues. If there are issues, then they are put right. Some of the customers have been with Natwest Private a very long time (saw a letter this morning from a client who had been with Private for 40 years :eek:)

Hmm....what else....oh, you don't have to have an account with a fee attached to it. In fact, you don't have to pay for the service as long as you meet criteria.


For more info http://www.natwest.co.uk/private.ashx


Hope that helps