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

harryhound

jw1096 wrote: »

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

Hi Jo,

I believe you are sincere.

We do have an alternative with Nationwide because we are not just customers, we are shareholders/members.

I sincerely believe that any organisation that gets too secure, starts running the organisation for the benefit of the staff (NHS anyone?), especially the senior staff/directors. Tomorrow I will go out and vote and I will be voting for the party that will loose, to encourage them to keep trying.

As a shareholder of Nationwide you can go along to the AGM and ask questions and then vote.

Some years ago, like 20 or 25, Nationwide got itself some bad publicity. It seems that the directors went over to USA, complete with their other halves (actually wives) to study "Thrifts"; the now largely bankrupted American equivalent of building societies. At least that is what it said on their expense claims. Some of us thought we had stumped up during the holiday season, for an all expenses paid "jolly".

So the normal boring staid AGM became something of a bear garden. The time wasting questions like "Why was the cashier at the Swiss Cottage branch rude to me?" got swept aside in real demands for change.
One wag captured the spirit of the meeting with this question:
Why don't you handle all this criticism by appointing to the board: one black woman under 50?

In reality it is very hard to change a self perpetuating board of directors, as only 1/3rd (I think) have to be re-elected each year. However Nationwide did seem to take notice as the next year there was Catherine Whitehouse (journalist) on the board and the directors average age had fallen including a new youthful bloke running the meeting (He went on to head up the Institute of Directors, if I remember correctly). I'm not sure about the request for ethnic minority representation ?!

So the message is "You have two opportunities to complain when you own the organisation - why not take advantage of your second opportunity to talk to the men at the top ?"

Harry.

BWZN93

jtotheb wrote: »

Oh please, don't give me any of that 'prides itself on its customer relationship' nonsense!

Nationwide are one of the few banks that have been doing this and it's entirely childish behaviour. I agree that Nationwide have better qualities going for them than a lot of the other banks but I wouldn't go that far!

Just quoting the paper!! Ive not read that in any material directly from the horses mouth!

cazziebo

I was a very happy Nationwide customer for 20 years until they closed my account when I reclaimed by bank charges. Although I understand they are not doing that any more following the OFT ruling?

Without exception, I found the staff to be courteous, professional and human and really miss them.

Although, having said they closed my account, sent me a cheque for the balance, they still allowed some payments to come out (that I'd forgotten to cancel). I'm now in the odd situation where the branch staff say I can't pay in as the account is closed, and the callcentre are telling me to go and make them take the money!

Great thread by the way!

smithja

Hi

Can anyone who works for LloydsTSB tell me what if there are minimum requirements for a Gold Service Current Account. I am being offered a Select and Silver Account at the moment but no Gold although I have only had the account since 1 March.

I have been led to beleive where you live can affect your credit score, as I know someone with little income but a "good" postcode getting far more from the bank (offer of loans, credit card, account upgrades) than someone with a "bad" postcode but a much higher salary.

James

dianadors

I agree with the pressure on staff to "sell sell sell". This was one of the reasons I left (but not the only reason - believe me there were many reasons to leave!!!) As a Team Leader I had to train my team (generally students working pt) that it was in the customers best interest to consolidate all their credit card debts into a loan with us. You just knew with most customers that as soon as they had nothing on their cards, that they would be out spending again - ignoring the 25k loan that they had just taken out. As for perks, the main reason I stayed for so long was the profit sharing bonus that paid out once a year and was like another months salary. Sharesaving wasnt bad either. I personally would never work in a bank again.

Paul_Herring

regularsaver1 wrote: »

the usual requirements of having to fund an account with say £1000 a month are scrapped

Is the salary of a bank employee that bad??!?

gayle_2

HI, if youre reclaiming bank charges from barclays, there only repaying half of it. barclays employee told me.:mad:

Mortimer

I used to work for a company that provided general insurance to Prudential and Lloyds TSB.

In October, it was usually clear that we weren't going to hit contracted targets for sales for new insurance customers, so rates were dropped (by about 10 to 15%) on motor and home insurance to avoid penalties to the clients.

Shop around for home and motor insurance towards the end of the year - you'll probably end up with a great deal and can cancel your cover with your current provider (or challenge them to match your new price).

oldwiring

An interesting thread. In the distant past we even had an end of the day look back at all the paid cheques. It was to see and report any patterns like booze or gambling payments. It was all more moral then and most folk today would see it as an infringement of their privacy, but the counter to today was that decisions were tialored more to the person than the statisical model as now. Posters often say what amounts to 'the banks are only in it for themselves'. As if the banks are theonly businesses that have that quality. Be utterly honest! Are not all busineesses in it for themselves? IN no case does that prevent some altruism, but it is not altruism unless it benefits us. I put it that a smaller org or firm will be able to express that in more personal ways, but with the mass and impersonalisation of large bodies, banks no longer can be personal, so any expresion of altruism has to be to large organisations.

Very OTand apologoes!

Moonbeam

Paul_Herring wrote: »

Is the salary of a bank employee that bad??!?

Yes - very poor salary especially at customer facing levels. I am in early 30's and work in the bank and am earning less now than I did when I started my first job 15 years ago. The joys of having a break to have a family