Spending abroad: Metro v Norwich & Peterborough

ninetynine

I am looking to open a current account with one of the two banks mentioned in the title to take advantage of the load-free cash withdrawal abroad.. Neither seems to have any particular advantages over the other overall so it may just come down to an arbitrary decision. Before I make that decision, I wonder if any users of one or both of these banks would recommend (or not recommend) their accounts?

I work near a Metro Bank so popping in branch to open an account is no real problem for me. I am equally happy to open one online with N&P. The Sentinel key cover isn't anything I particularly need but at the same time I wouldn't turn it down as it is free.

dr_adidas01

N&P The Gold Classic current account offers a great range of exclusive benefits at no extra cost. It is suitable if you are paying at least £500 per month into the account or holding a balance of at least £5000, otherwise a £5 monthly account charge will apply.

With Metrobank there is no minimum amount you need to fund the account with and there is no fee if you don't fund it.

richardmk

N&P online banking has the edge over Metrobank. It is much more reliable. For me one in three log ons to Metro were unsuccessful, which seems representative of what has been written on here in the past.

Herbalus

N&P is fantastic in my opinion. Bear in mind however that faster payments with them are not very fast, as they only process payments at certain points throughout the day (I believe it is hourly between 9am and 5pm, but I'm not 100%).

This means that if you transferred money to this account at 7pm on a Friday it wouldn't show until Monday morning. You'd need to know if this would cause problems if you want the account for occasional use - you'd need to remember to put spending money in there in advance.

It also means that you can't instantly transfer £500 in and out to keep the account free. It takes a little while.

On the plus side, the Gold Classic offers access to a 5% regular saver which is the second best rate on the market (I've got that and an older first direct regular saver at 8% - it's now 6%)