Great 'Work in a bank? What should we know' Hunt

janndan

Thanks mrmajika, yes it does make sense

lola_26

jw1096 wrote: »

I work for Nationwide Building Society, and in all honesty I enjoy my job. I feel that it is one of the better financial services providers in the UK - its a mutual, charges overall are less than other high street providers (for instance, loans, credit cards and overdrafts are cheaper than the high streets, and savings rates are generally better on a like for like comparison (i.e - no stupid terms and conditions to actually get the rate advertised!), some things are not charged for (use your card abroad, cheque withdrawals over the counter and cancelling cheques, for instance) and the culture is better for employees (I used to work for Natwest too and the training and opportunities are better in Nationwide, as well as staff morale).

Granted, it is harder to get full facilities with a current account for instance because of the credit scoring system - as a smaller organisation the level of risk involved has to be lower than what natwest etc can offer, but in general the products are better and I honestly feel that the service is better too because of the training available to staff. When I worked at Natwest we read a couple of leaflets on products then were put straight to work.

Some things are more efficient however, I know staff in Barclays and RBS and we have swapped info on how things work. I can say for sure that if fraud hits your account then you will get your money back quicker than if you banked with any other high street provider - we average 48hrs for a return, RBS can take 6 weeks. Not cool if you have your mortgage to pay! Secondly, getting your money back from a direct debit - RBS has told me on my personal account they wont claim it back on my behalf and I had to claim it off the company who took it - which practically ignores the Direct Debit Guarantee! We get it back in your account in 24hours.

Thats not to say there arent problems - rapid growth and re-organisation has meant that there arent enough staff - this should be addressed by the Portman/Nationwide merger due at the end of August (subject to approval by the FSA). Whilst some Portman or Nationwide branches will be closed as a result - this is only because there is a branch of either remaining open within a very short distance so access to a branch will not be affected (despite what SOME high street banks have claimed! Naughty!). It simply doesnt make sense to have TWO branches of Nationwide within 300yards of each other!

My only complaint with working for Nationwide is that some customers expectations simply cannot be met, who then complain and say they will take their account elsewhere when they will encounter the same problem at ANY finanical institution in the UK - such as ID requirements, over the counter withdrawal limits, what exactly constitutes a driving licence for ID (its the PAPER AND THE CARD PART!!!), high value transactions and their ID requirements, the Data Protection Act, and many more. As we deal with money and personal information, im not going to simply hand out any of it without being sure I can because a) ill lose my job b) be fined personally, and c) bring my employer into disrepute. Whilst it means customers may encounter inconvenience when dealing with their own account - how much more pee'd off would you be if I let someone walk out with your entire wage packet. Id suggest it would be mighty annoyed at the very least.

In a similar vein - please dont take it out on staff if you are annoyed with a Nationwide Policy - the staff serving you didnt make it up and are probably as frustrated as you are! Ask for it to be noted which the staff will gladly do on the member service log (which actually is read and acted upon at head office). As an example - I once had a woman and her daughter, who wanted to make a £10000 transfer from the daughters to the mothers account. The daughter was 14 and had lost her card, and had no ID, however, mother insisted it had to be done anyway. Sorry lady - no card, no id, then no transfer. This is because if there is no card/book present during a transaction then it is put on an audit listing, which can only be signed off if full ID is taken at the time and a new card/book is ordered. Even then, the maximum withdrawal/transfer/cheque amount is £500 (- the same branch cash withdrawal limit unless pre-ordered). If they arent signed off the the branch fails its audit requirements and then we get a lot of trouble in the branch.

With regards to charges, Nationwide is taking a strong no refunds policy and to go through the process as described on here for instance will lead to your account being closed. Nationwide prides itself on its customer relationships and this is seen as an irreparable breakdown of this relationship (or so I read in a Newspaper).

Aside from that - any questions just holler!

Jo x

Any jobs going at Nationwide???!!!

thebyp

foolsgold99 wrote: »

Calm down, calm down, no one is asking anyone to give us codes to banks safes or anything like that. The banks have our money. I don't think that they should be allowed to have any secrets or discipline anyone for giving us information on how they deal with (A.K.A. screw) their customers...... All is fair in love and banking :T

why? On what grounds?

thebyp

lkoky wrote: »

I went into my local Lloyds branch to deposit a cheque (I usually just drop it off cashpoint) and surprise surprise the nice lady over the counter said that there is a note on their computer that said they should ask me in for account review the next time I am in.

And thanks to the information on this thread, I kindly rejected her account review offer. hence in my view not only did I not wasting my time, I also save the staff time.

Thanks to all.

I hate to point it out, but sometimes an account review (or equivilent) can be a very good thing, even if you don't think so yourself.

UK007BullDog

Fraudsters will use any snippet of info to defraud the bank. The bank will find a way of getting the lost money back somehow which will NOT benefit the customers through higher fees and charges.

I am amazed at the many attempts the fraudsters do and the lengths they go through to get at other customers money.

The information posted by some of the posters here is in blatant breach of their contracts. There is nothing money saving about telling people how the system works.

BWZN93

lola_26 wrote: »

Any jobs going at Nationwide???!!!

Yup! Check out the website and go to careers for locations!

Jo x

ducky2004

Hi MrSW,

You SIL should go for Barclays Premier Banking which basically assigns relationship manager who you can phone, reason and haggle with so that she does not have to deal with computer and computer-led Customer Care agents. (or go for HSBC Premier).

mrsw wrote: »

My SIL had a similar problem. She took out an offset mortgage with her husband, and at the same time decided to open a Barclays current account. Even though she earned a six figure salary, had no debts and a perfect credit record, Barclays would only open a basic account with an Electron card. Every time she enquired, the CS person would tell her that the computer declined and there was nothing they could do.

She had to wait a year before they would let her upgrade to a debit card! Even now, she qualifies for a Platinum current account, but the computer system won't allow it. Madness!!

ducky2004

Any professional fraudster would already know about thse procedures and there are many other ways get those info, e.g. get a job in the banks for six months. CSA jobs are such a high turnover one, and to get one is hardly difficult.

When I studied information security, we were thought never to rely on Security in obscurity because it is a sure fire of getting screwed !

UK007BullDog wrote: »

Fraudsters will use any snippet of info to defraud the bank. The bank will find a way of getting the lost money back somehow which will NOT benefit the customers through higher fees and charges.

I am amazed at the many attempts the fraudsters do and the lengths they go through to get at other customers money.

The information posted by some of the posters here is in blatant breach of their contracts. There is nothing money saving about telling people how the system works.

dawnrazor101

pumpkinpatch wrote: »

Llyds tsb advise please

I currently have a platium account with lloyds which i pay £15 a month for (this has risen from £7 then £10 now £15) i am no longer prepared to pay this charge each month for a bank account that i dont use the extras (travel insurance, breakdown cover) BUT i do use the £250 overdraft which comes with this account. I am frightened that if i change back to a current account i wont get this ammount of overdraft - but how could they refuse me if its decided on a credit score - then surely my score would be the same as nothing has changed apart from i refuse to pay for a bank account.

Hope this makes sense - can anyone from lloyds advise on this please.

No - they cannot take this limit away from you - once you have an overdraft limit they automatically renew this regardless of account type, unless you are constantly in excess of this. Just ask to downgrade to a standard classic account (which does not incur monthly fees). Ultimately it is your choice. They CANNOT refuse you!!

puddings_2

thebyp wrote: »

FYI
Can i please remind everybody who has posted here about any of the policies of your employer that you are releasing internal policies which is in breach of your contracts. If you choose to do this it is up to you, but please just bear in mind it counts as gross misconduct for at least four of the big lenders, as such you are liable to loose your job with no recourse (unless anything you reveal is illegal).

as such, if you do wish to reveal information that may lead to you getting in trouble by your employer, then please be extra careful about your anonymity.

If there's even a slim chance that you have given your real name or town of residence etc on your profile or on any of your previous posts (or that you might do so on a future post), then I urge you to log off and create a new anonymous user id for the duration of this discussion.

It's better safe than sorry! The last thing that any MSE'r would want is for a friendly bank employee to lose their job because they've been chatting to us!

Puds