NatWest the very unhelpful bank

MetsonIJ

If I see the smiling faces on their latest TV ad again I shall....well....throw a ping pong ball at the TV. I've banked with them for 35 years but it's time to take my overdraft elsewhere.

Daughter (14) was stuck in town earlier with - as it seems - an expired Adapt debit card, thus couldn't get money from machine to pay for pizza and bus. Rings me (Dad) and I get on the phone to the supposedly 'helpful' bank.

They can't speak to me about her account as it's not me.

I get her to ring Natwest...she can't get through and doesn't understand what customer number is

I ring Natwest and ask them to call her - nope, more than my job's worth

I ring her back, she can't get through

I ring Natwest and ask for a non-0845 number, get given a different one

She rings that, gets through, man says they sent a replacement card, need to get your Dad to call us with a/c number

I call Natwest, they won't speak to me as I'm not the a/c holder 'and she's too young to have telephone banking anyway so even if she was with you I can't help, sorry!'

I try the chat thingy on the NatWest site. This was actually helpful and was told to register her for internet banking (ok for 11 yr olds where telephone banking isn't?). And can she call 0800 nnn nnnn when she gets in.

I do all this, get a customer number. She comes in and we call. She fails ID, having been asked her name (which she gave correctly), her date of birth (ditto) and her Account Name. She said what's this? (As did I in the background...what is this?). Next question is 'what is your overdraft limit?'. Now perhaps your 14 year olds are brighter than mine....anyway, having failed, I asked to speak to a supervisor who asked what the balance on the a/c was 'about £20' she said, which can't be far off, as unless she's developed a money laundering circle at school, it can only be somewhere between £0 and £40. So she failed security again.

Now I wouldn't mind, but the only vaguely human person was the inhuman online chat one, who is probably some guy in an Indonesian call centre. The humans we both spoke to were the complete opposite of the 'helpful' bank that we see on our telly and I am really, really hacked off.

I cannot imagine the hoops I'd have to jump through if I left my purse on a train (as per the ad)...'what's the last 3 digits on the back of the card?' - er, it's in my purse on a train - ok then what's your overdraft limit - er, no idea I'm here in the rain with no money to pay Pizza Hut or get home on the bus....'sorry you've failed security, goodbye....

Does anyone have suggestions for a bank that employs common sense staff who may understand that the average 14yo has no idea what an overdraft is, never mind what their overdraft limit is?

innovate

I dread to think how upset you would be if someone had hacked into your daughter's account because they could ring up NatWest and pretend to be your daughter. Or your daughter's father.

I doubt you will find any bank that doesn't have equally stringent security procedures.

Could the whole episode have been avoided if your daughter had taken action before her card expired?

As annoying as it was for the two of you, it was probably a very valuable practical lesson for your daughter about banking. It isn't too early for a 14 year old to know what an overdraft or an account name is.

stclair

Well now you know the question types their is nothing wrong with calling again:

The most common 2QV (2 Question Verification) questions are:

* Whats your DOB
* Whats your overdraft limit
* Do you pay any DDs from the Account
* When was it last paid and the amount
* Whats the balance on the account
* Do you hold any other accounts
* Last eight digits of your card number

A non 0845 number for Actionline is 023 8022 6443.

coldhandoff

MetsonIJ wrote: »

who is probably some guy in an Indonesian call centre.

Webchat is outsourced to India, all call centres are in the UK

juanmanuelmarquez

but couldnt you use the bank without the card? whats the point of natwest then? ive just joined last week still waiting for my card details to come through...i mainly joined after see the tv advert on losing your card and you can still withdraw cash without a card?

_Andy_

"probably some guy in an Indonesian call centre" - where does it matter where they're based?

_Andy_

PS I like turtles

stclair

juanmanuelmarquez wrote: »

but couldnt you use the bank without the card? whats the point of natwest then? ive just joined last week still waiting for my card details to come through...i mainly joined after see the tv advert on losing your card and you can still withdraw cash without a card?

The Emergency Cash Service is only available when reporting your Visa Debit Card lost or stolen at the moment. Plus you must have at least £25 available in your account to enable you to use the service.

noizeuk

stclair wrote: »

The Emergency Cash Service is only available when reporting your Visa Debit Card lost or stolen at the moment. Plus you must have at least £25 available in your account to enable you to use the service.

It's worth noting that the cardless ATM feature is down for maintenance, this is an added benefit to not having the card (when its back).

Regarding OP. The security is there for a reason. You should be happy that your daughter failed it because at least any old person can't just access the account. Take it as a lesson in life. Also if you don't have an overdraft, say ZERO - because you know, that's the amount!

stclair

noizeuk wrote: »

It's worth noting that the cardless ATM feature is down for maintenance, this is an added benefit to not having the card (when its back).

Regarding OP. The security is there for a reason. You should be happy that your daughter failed it because at least any old person can't just access the account. Take it as a lesson in life. Also if you don't have an overdraft, say ZERO - because you know, that's the amount!

I was not aware it was down for maintenance however thank you for confirming this for myself and others. How long is it down for? Its not something they communicate to us in CLC its normally on a need to know basis unless its found by accident on insite or the off chance of an email

username

Certainly most of those questions are reasonable (maybe not the last eight digits of the card number, or customer number - who remembers that!?) as verification as only the right person will know the answers to them.

Also banks will ask questions that may not be relevant to your account holdings (ie, are there any joint ac holders, do you have a credit card with our bank) they use these to just to throw someone who is trying to 'blag'. It goes back to the whole security thing - only the account holder will know the right answers and so pass security.

It may all seem a bit jobsworthy but you'd be surprised the amount of people who are not authorised to access an account try to 'blag' access.