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

Aegis

Paul_Herring wrote: »

IME it's not faster at getting my cheque paid in. Alright, I might spend 10 minutes less in the bank depositing the cheque, but the cheque didn't hit the account until days later.

While the interest on a £300-odd cheque isn't going to 'break the bank' as it were, it's the principle of it. And since I get once a month cheques (blame the council for not supporting direct-to-account payments) I'm more inclined to watch the teller enter the cheque on their computer than to trust some anonymous box where they can (on my one time of using) lose (if only temporarily) the deposit.

This is an issue with your bank rather than with the idea of paying in the cheque another way. I appreciate that if there is a good reason to use the counter like yours it is sensible for you to queue and process the payment immediately, but in my bank the cheque machine and the counter will result in the funds being in the account with the same speed (i.e. usually same day if paid in to the counter or machine before 3pm, the following day if paid in after that). The clearing cycle for cheques then kicks in and the funds are available three working days after that.

If there was a difference in time between paying cheques in over the counter and with a machine at my branch, I would agree that more people would want to use the counter, but where I work there really is no difference apart from the queue time.

Aegis

Inactive wrote: »

My next door neighbour said similar to me last Summer, she worked as a Manager for Woolworths.:rolleyes:

I'm really not too worried about HSBC doing a Woolies. The companies are somewhat different after all.

Inactive

Aegis wrote: »

I'm really not too worried about HSBC doing a Woolies. The companies are somewhat different after all.

Indeed, they are, but of course we all know too well that the banks are wallowing in toxic debt and have needed the poor old taxpayer in many cases to prop them up, hardly a secure employment environment.:rolleyes:

ShelfStacker_3

Inactive wrote: »

Indeed, they are, but of course we all know too well that the banks are wallowing in toxic debt and have needed the poor old taxpayer in many cases to prop them up, hardly a secure employment environment.:rolleyes:

...except HSBC.

Inactive

ShelfStacker wrote: »

...except HSBC.

They also have some " toxic debt " they are not entirely free of guilt, granted they do seem to be better placed than the majority.

Aegis

Inactive wrote: »

They also have some " toxic debt " they are not entirely free of guilt, granted they do seem to be better placed than the majority.

Hence why I'm not too worried. We've entirely recapitalised from our own group funds, and as yet have not had to take the government up on its offer of support in any way. Given that, I'm really quite happy with the stability of my current employers and have no worries at all about my job security at the moment.

Inactive

Nevertheless, making a statement like " I am in no danger of losing my job " is pushing at the edges in this climate, I am sure a few at Barclays felt as safe as you few days ago.

Aegis

As this is a "what should we know" thread, I'll put down a few hints and tips that might be obvious or might not be, depending on who's reading:

• Always check rates. The standard account opened with a current account will likely be a branch-based account, and this will usually be a worse rate than the equivalent online-managed account
• Ask staff for information. Sometimes banks know in advance if there are going to be rate changes to products. This could be favourable or unfavourable, so forewarned is very much forearmed in this case. It's not always going to work though, as staff sometimes hear that rates are changing on the day they change
• Check your contact preferences when in the branch. These determine how the bank is allowed to contact you. If you don't want adverts, ask to be opted out of all contact for marketing
• If you have a fairly large balance, ask if there is a retention rate of any description. This may not make your account fantastic, but in this climate even a 0.5% retention rate can make a large percentage difference to your interest payments
• Feel free to ask for a second opinion. Sometimes the front line staff may be unsure, but in the branch there's usually going to be someone who knows damn near everything about everything, and the person seeing you is likely to know exactly who that is. Try to ask this in a nice way, as annoying the person serving you may not lead to the most helpful response!
• Be nice in general to the staff. It's not their fault the rates are low, and often they will be just as annoyed about it as their customers
• Tell the staff what you want and also what you don't want if you know specifically. You'll save both of you time if you say in advance that you're not interested in anything but a savings product at the start of a general review

I'm sure there's more. It's not really anything top secret or anything, but when you work in a bank there's not really going to be an awful lot of ability to give extra perks by knowing a few special tricks. It's largely just going to be a matter of talking to the right person and making sure that the accounts you have are working best for you.

Aegis

Inactive wrote: »

Nevertheless, making a statement like " I am in no danger of losing my job " is pushing at the edges in this climate, I am sure a few at Barclays felt as safe as you few days ago.

Then I'm pushing at the edges, as I'm really not in any danger right now. If things change, I'm sure you'll know, but as I said, right now I'm doing a good job in a role which is being advertised for because of staff shortages throughout the country.

Inactive

Aegis wrote: »

Then I'm pushing at the edges, as I'm really not in any danger right now. If things change, I'm sure you'll know, but as I said, right now I'm doing a good job in a role which is being advertised for because of staff shortages throughout the country.

Well I just hope that none of the ex- Barclays Staff apply, they seem to have a degree in arrogance, if the samples on here are anything to go by.;)