Which Bank...?

nonnatus

I use Nationwide and have always been very happy, though Co-op comes a close second.

Yesterday, I had the misfortune to have to go into NatWest and HSBC to bank some Xmas money for my children and was appalled at how rude the staff were, how long the queues were. In fact despite standing in line for 30 minutes, when I got to the cashier and offered the cheque and my sons account card, snotty cow told me to go fill in a deposit slip and return to queue! I said I didn't have to do that where I bank, that it was all computerised. She wasn't interested. I left fuming.

opinions4u

What do you want from an account?

If service is all important, then First Direct is probably where to turn. Sanatander is where to avoid.

If a switching incentive is what you want, Halifax, Co-op and Santander were throwing £100+ at people last time I looked.

If £5 a month for simply funding the account floats your boat, then Halifax is a no-brainer if you live in credit. But a poor choice if you're overdrawn for more than 5 days a month as that will eat up your fiver and cost you £1 a day.

If you like interest on your current account, Lloyds TSB Vantage or the similar Bank of Scotland account may be the place to turn, although you can probably match the "upto" 3% rate by putting savings elsewhere.

If branch convenience is needed, which branches are convenient for you?

macman2011

+1 First Direct ;-)

coldcazzie

opinions4u wrote: »

What do you want from an account?

If service is all important, then First Direct is probably where to turn. Sanatander is where to avoid.

If a switching incentive is what you want, Halifax, Co-op and Santander were throwing £100+ at people last time I looked.

If £5 a month for simply funding the account floats your boat, then Halifax is a no-brainer if you live in credit. But a poor choice if you're overdrawn for more than 5 days a month as that will eat up your fiver and cost you £1 a day.

If you like interest on your current account, Lloyds TSB Vantage or the similar Bank of Scotland account may be the place to turn, although you can probably match the "upto" 3% rate by putting savings elsewhere.

If branch convenience is needed, which branches are convenient for you?

This is pretty much the best answer you're going to get.

newfoundglory

I agree that Santander is as bad as people claim. I've had several encounters with Santander, starting several years ago when I tried to open a joint current account. It was a farce from start to finish and two years later I closed the account. Not sure i'd trust them with my main bank account - you want at least a half competent bank for that - and thats not Santander. But I have their 3% esavings currently (again, I wouldn't trust them with more than 10 or 20 grand though)

The one to go for (if you can deposit enough to qualify) for customer service is HSBC Premier. UK call centre excellent. Internet banking was fantastic up until late last year when they introduced those annoying key fobs.

I also find Lloyds TSB to be good (and of course you'll get interest if you choose the right account)

I think Nationwide has gone down hill, operating more like a bank rather than a building society.

gt94sss2

opinions4u wrote: »

If service is all important, then First Direct is probably where to turn. Sanatander is where to avoid.

If a switching incentive is what you want, Halifax, Co-op and Santander were throwing £100+ at people last time I looked.

As are First Direct.

However, if customer service is important to you and you don't meet the requirements for a First Direct account, HSBC are a good alternative (and they own First Direct).

Regards
Sunil

MoneySaverLog

villa2010 wrote: »

Dont Santander pay you to join, aren't they one of the biggest banks who are best insured and they have team committed making it easy to switch banks..?

They also have a track record for the worst customer service when things go wrong. :mad:

newfoundglory

I remember when I returned to my local branch of Santander to close my bank account - at the time they were moving from the abbey system to the new Santander computer system. There was a flip chart on an easel explaining this new system was in fact slower than the old one and was causing lengthly queues - and that customers should expect to wait longer.

allan673

first direct for sure, brilliant.

DCFC79

Id suggest rbs or barclays, had the rbs account for years with no issues and had the barclays account since last year and no problems so far.