How/Why did you choose your first Current Account?

Tiglath

I went with Natwest (or whatever it was called) in the 80s as a student as my parents banked there since the 50s. I'm still with them in the same smalltown branch. Lots of my student friends had issues with Barclays because of the apartheid thing; I recall a spate of glue being poured into cashpoints. When I lived in France I also banked with Credit Lyonnais as it was back then.

lazer

My first Account was with the Post Office (National Savings) opened after my first Communion to deposit money given to me - and deposited half of everything given to me as presents as a child.

First Bank Account - Ulster Bank Henry Hippo Account, opened through the School Bank, upgraded it to a proper current account eventually.

Opened a student Account with the First Trust when I started uni to get the £50 incentive.

Also opened accounts with Alliance & Leicester (For the interest) and Halifax for the £5 reward and in the process of opening a first Direct account.

Worst experience - Ulster Bank (They lost money I deposited and refused to accept Danish Krona as they claimed Denmark used the Euro, they sent me bank statements for the wtong person, cancelled my card wrongly and a litany of faults ), best experience - First Trust- would highly recommend them to anyone - I find my local branch excellent and I have one person who is my point of contact - no call centres etc to contact the bank (And it is a very low income current account!)

Dr_Cuckoo3 wrote: »

Still the case at First Trust Bank in Northern Ireland and the other NI banks aren't much better

No its not - you have to have a First Trust Account to get your wages paid into, but are free to have accounts at other branches too

coollittlew

My first back account was the Nationwide Smart account. My dad opened it with me when I was about 6. When I was 16 Nationwide offered my £20 to open a Flex account with them. Because it was a lot of money to me back then, I naturally took advantage of the offer. I still have that account to this day, although it has never really been used as my main account. I opened a Halifax Cashcard not long after as I could bank in my village although when I was 18 I moved to Natwest for the Student account, best overdraf and the 5 year rail card was incredibly handy!

I am still with all 3 banks plus First Direct. Although now First Direct is my main account for wages and my own bills, Halifax is a joint account for joint house costs, Nationwide for free travel insurance and Natwest for the interest free overdraft.

I have no loyalty to any of them, and would open other accounts if the incentive was there, like wise would close any if incentives should stop.

Dr_Cuckoo3

lazer wrote: »

No its not - you have to have a First Trust Account to get your wages paid into, but are free to have accounts at other branches too

For new customers (not staff) First Trust Bank have said they require current accounts elsewhere to be closed

Once a First Trust account is open they can't do much if the account holder opens accounts elsewhere

Didn't they ask about your Ulster Bank Henry Hippo Account when you opened the student account ?

Perhaps having the Henry Hippo Account and applying for a student account circumvents the restriction

Dr_Cuckoo3

Henri Hippo first appeared in the 1980's , then disappeared until making a comeback recently so I wonder if First Trust's policy has changed since you applied ?

jools27_2

Having had an account with the TSB throughout my childhood, I went to the Royal Bank of Scotland for a student account for some reason! When I became a student nurse and was seriously skint they wouldn't give me an overdraft, so I moved along the road to the Clydesdale, and have had a current account there ever since! Have since had a joint account there, and a joint crrent account at Bank of Scotland, since that was the mortgage provider, but have never had any real problems with the Clydesdale!

anoncol

Is henri hippo like the piggy bank?

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

First was NatWest
Second was Abbey National
Third Cumberland Building Society

loracan1

First ever saving account was with the TSB, and got one of those 'tivvies' in the early 70s, and I was about 4. Converted that to a current account when I started work (think it was converted, account number had one digit different at end)...and it's still my main account though that branch has long since closed.

anon_ymous

ChrisLights wrote: »

Hi everyone

After spending hours reading on here about current accounts and the every day issues they cause, but also about switching or returning to a specific bank, I thought it could be interesting to find out how people chose their very first bank account. In today's world, it seems very much down to £100 incentives or £5/month payment, but before all that, what influenced your decision?

I'll start, my very first account was with Lloyds TSB, my grandmother decided for me after looking up some information on good old Teletext, in those days I didn't have a clue...

My very, very first bank was YBS, because the school had this link with them, and they withdrew it after a while. Any way, my parents just paid some money in to YBS for a while

My first chosen bank was Barclays, mainly due to them sounding pretty cool, and being pretty close. My 16 year old self didn't really think of the deals!

Then I got lots of different bank accounts, all offering lots of different services