natwest 'helpful banking' - oh the irony

TheEffect

reclusive46 wrote: »

Anyone who uses their Natwest/RBS card abroad is seriously stupid anyway with the foreign transaction fees :P

To be fair, NatWest charge the same as most other banks who add fees for foreign transactions, including First Direct (who I have my main account with).

I don't mind paying the 2.75% purchase adjustment. I don't really want a Nationwide or Metro Bank current account just to save a few pounds when abroad.

Saying that, every time I've been abroad and used my NatWest card, it's been declined and I've had to call them. First Direct on the other hand have never declined my card abroad as of yet.

reclusive46

TheEffect wrote: »

To be fair, NatWest charge the same as most other banks who add fees for foreign transactions, including First Direct (who I have my main account with).

I don't mind paying the 2.75% purchase adjustment. I don't really want a Nationwide or Metro Bank current account just to save a few pounds when abroad.

Saying that, every time I've been abroad and used my NatWest card, it's been declined and I've had to call them. First Direct on the other hand have never declined my card abroad as of yet.

True, its not that bad anymore (Although still bad for small purchases), was much worse with the fixed £1 fee (On debit cards) on top.

Dovah_diva

brightonman123 wrote: »

had some unexpected costs this weekend..

And that's the bank's fault?!?

Most banking is 24/7 but there are some things that need a human to organise. An overdraft is one of them. I find it incredible you are blaming Natwest for your ineptitude with money.

opinions4u

Dovah_diva wrote: »

And that's the bank's fault?!?

Well I can increase or decrease my Halifax overdraft online in about 15 seconds.

Most banking is 24/7 but there are some things that need a human to organise. An overdraft is one of them.

Only with RBS / Nat West it seems.

I find it incredible you are blaming Natwest for your ineptitude with money.

I'm a great believer in having an overdraft limit in place and then never using it. In my case I've had £10k worth of limit since the 1990s and probably never exceeded £100. So I agree to a point that preparation for the unforseen is positive. But sometimes banks that have invested hundreds of millions of pounds in their IT infrastructure seem to have forgotten that one of the users of that IT platform is actually their customers.

JuicyJesus

Dovah_diva wrote: »

And that's the bank's fault?!

No, but having systems about 10 years behind everyone else's is.

Dovah_diva

JuicyJesus wrote: »

No, but having systems about 10 years behind everyone else's is.

So change banks - and get a grip of your (OP's) finances.

JuicyJesus

Dovah_diva wrote: »

So change banks - and get a grip of your (OP's) finances.

I'm not even going to slightly criticise the OP for this. And I'm not with NatWest, I prefer my banking to be with companies not stuck in the past.

Money-Saving-King

opinions4u wrote: »

Well I can increase or decrease my Halifax overdraft online in about 15 seconds.

Do Natwest advertise the same thing? If no then the op can hardly complain!

opinions4u

Money-Saving-King wrote: »

Do Natwest advertise the same thing? If no then the op can hardly complain!

I tend to agree that earlier action is the key to avoiding difficulties.

I accept that Nat West don't advertise "instant overdraft decision". I'm not aware Halifax do either come to that.

But Nat West are a bank who have made big things about their apparently wonderful customer service. How they're always there for the customer. How they are now Nat Yes. If I was in the OP's position I'd be telling them where to stick their Customer Charter which commits them to being "The UK's most helpful bank". A pretty epic fail three years after they came up with those words.

It is, of course, a result of their pre-Credit Crunch activities where they took their eye off the retail banking ball and now have no money left to bring what was once a market leading brand into the 21st century.