Handelsbanken

Radnorsaver

The This Is Money newsletter has an interesting article on Handelsbanken. Does anyone here have experience of them?

kev2012

Hi,
I don't have experience of them personally but they have been recommended by people I trust from finance/privacy newsletters I get.
They are said to be a well run outfit,good customer service and are not over exposed to the toxic loan market.
They are of the old school...no flash advertising etc and if you want to borrow (big) money you go in for an interview and discussion with the manager or deputy.
All the best

InsideInsurance

I had a few conversations with them in the past but decided not to proceed with them.

From what I've seen it is a very double edged sword in the fact they are predominately very old fashioned. So plus side, the person in the branch decides if you get a loan or not rather than a computer system or someone sitting in a remote office who you can never speak to. Downside is if they don't like you they wont help you and you have almost no appeals process etc and it is the person that closely looks at your Anne Summers or Ladbrooks habits that decides rather than a computer programme.

For me, I didn't like their attitude in the local branch (which you have to apply to). My work's local branch have a much higher set of requirements and so I wouldnt meet their requirements (home branch wanted 150k salary but work branch want 300k salary, another branch I spoke to wanted 90k salary on the basis of being young, about to buy a house etc). Basically they failed to sell me the benefits of banking with them and given it'd increase my banking costs and remove additional benefits that I do use from Barclays I didnt go ahead

You-kip

InsideInsurance wrote: »

I had a few conversations with them in the past but decided not to proceed with them.

From what I've seen it is a very double edged sword in the fact they are predominately very old fashioned. So plus side, the person in the branch decides if you get a loan or not rather than a computer system or someone sitting in a remote office who you can never speak to. Downside is if they don't like you they wont help you and you have almost no appeals process etc and it is the person that closely looks at your Anne Summers or Ladbrooks habits that decides rather than a computer programme.

For me, I didn't like their attitude in the local branch (which you have to apply to). My work's local branch have a much higher set of requirements and so I wouldnt meet their requirements (home branch wanted 150k salary but work branch want 300k salary, another branch I spoke to wanted 90k salary on the basis of being young, about to buy a house etc). Basically they failed to sell me the benefits of banking with them and given it'd increase my banking costs and remove additional benefits that I do use from Barclays I didnt go ahead

Ann Summers??? You've lost me.

InsideInsurance

You-kip wrote: »

Ann Summers??? You've lost me.

You have a relationship manager and you literally have them looking at your individual transactions rather than a faceless nameless call centre who get 30 seconds to deal with each query.

Now obviously they don't sit there all day gossiping about whos buying from what stores as they've other things to do but during your quarterly RM meetings or loan applications etc they will review and then you sit there with them knowing how much your spending on gambling or sex shops etc.

Some may have no issues with that, some may prefer the anonymity that call centres create.

You-kip

InsideInsurance wrote: »

You have a relationship manager and you literally have them looking at your individual transactions rather than a faceless nameless call centre who get 30 seconds to deal with each query.

Now obviously they don't sit there all day gossiping about whos buying from what stores as they've other things to do but during your quarterly RM meetings or loan applications etc they will review and then you sit there with them knowing how much your spending on gambling or sex shops etc.

Some may have no issues with that, some may prefer the anonymity that call centres create.

If a bank had any issues with me buying something from a Sex Shop I would tell them to stick their bank where the Lube don't shine.

InsideInsurance

You-kip wrote: »

If a bank had any issues with me buying something from a Sex Shop I would tell them to stick their bank where the Lube don't shine.

They are picky about their customers, I know I was told I'd need to give 6 months of statements to be reviewed even if I didnt want an overdraft etc to ensure I was "suitable".

No idea what their criteria are, I recall there was a post here from someone months ago where there were a very small number of low value transactions to some form of gambling and they claimed to have been turned down for that despite having a good history, unsecured debt free, high income, significant mortgage but good LTV etc.

Not saying Anne Summers would be a particular problem from an acceptance perspective but some may enjoy owning a large collection but not want their relationship manager (not dominatrix) discussing how their spending in this sector has increased significantly etc.