Sticking with Natwest?

cottager

TheBanker wrote: »

I don't work for NatWest, but I've banked with them since I was a kid (when they were National Westminster Bank and gave out piggybanks!). This week has been annoying and what happened should never have happened. But when it did I think they've done as much as they can to help people, opening branches in the evenings and over the weekend.

Would whichever bank you're thinking of moving to have been able to organise that? I think most would struggle at such short notice.

They were still National Provincial when I had my first account! Never had a piggybank though

I concur with almost all the comments on the thread so far, and have been very pleased to read them.

We have very little or no interaction with the bank on our personal accounts, particularly for the past however-many years it is since online banking was introduced, as it's not necessary -- they just work and do what they're supposed to. As others have already said, NatWest have also never been in our faces trying to sell stuff, which is appreciated and a reason for satisfaction in itself.

But we have had and do have plenty of dealings with them for OH's business a/c and couldn't have wished for a better service. We've almost always had an overdraft facility so needed to meet face to face with our business manager annually to renew it. Always got on exceptionally well with them -- they generally change every 3-4 years, so we must have been through nearly 10 of them!

They've been clued up but down to earth people you can talk to, pleasant and helpful, offering advice or tips when appropriate, perhaps passing on names of useful people or other sources of advice, but never pushing NatWest products.

The rest of the year we normally have no need to speak to them -- branch staff handle anything we throw at them -- but the point is we know he's there and we can give him a call if need be, and from time to time we have.

Our experience, always, has been that if we play fair, so will the bank.

We don't exceed the o/d: many a time in bad patches it's been a really close thing, but we do all we can to avoid it. Some managers have remarked it's been noticed -- "we know we don't have to worry about you" or something to that effect.

It has a payback: on one or two rare occasions in the past when we've been in a temporary tight cashflow spot and thought there might be a problem for a day or two (e.g. when cheques were written more and you'd never be quite sure when they'd be presented), we'd ring and they were happy to cover us if necessary, no questions asked.

A couple of years ago when business dropped right off for 2-3 months and things got very hairy, and coincidentally he had no option but to replace a £5k piece of kit, OH only had to make a quick call to increase the o/d -- had to pay for it naturally, but wouldn't have expected anything else.

I couldn't describe any of these managers as 'friends' as we never knew them at a personal level, but they've always been a friend to the business if you will -- an ally if needed, and someone who'd help if they could. For a small business in these difficult trading times (and we're very 'micro', only a sole trader with a couple of employees), that's a real asset to have sitting behind you.

So yes, there's no question we'll stick with NatWest. As many have said, this could have happened to any bank. I don't see it as a reason to turn our backs on a good relationship.

Sharon87

I'll be sticking with Natwest. I have other accounts as well, as back up. So been unaffected by this. Let's hope people learn not to rely just on one bank. Always have some money in another bank, just in case anything happens, whether it's Natwest's fault or someone defrauds your account and takes all your money.

There's been all these stories about people saying they don't have enough money for food, they obviously didn't have a contingency plan, whether that's an overdraft, CC or savings. Overdrafts are made for this specific reason, short term lending.