Local bank account (for local people)

ncarring

Hi,

Our primary bank account is with Santander who, until recently, had a small branch local to us (we live in a small market town not far from a much bigger city). Now that their branch has closed, we have no way of paying in cheques to our current account other than travelling into the main town, which is not a pleasant task, when it's just to pay a cheque into an account and come home again. So, we had the bright idea of opening an account with another bank that does still have a local branch, and we can either use that as a small float for unimportant stuff, or transfer money to our main account electronically when we have enough for it to be worth while. With me so far?

So ... what we need is:

- an account with a provider who has a local branch (we have branches of HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays, TSB and Coventry BS - the last two are recent and may well vanish again overnight, so not great candidates) and possibly others I can't bring to mind right now.
- an account with no monthly fees or regular payment requirements
- an account with internet banking so we can move money to and fro.

Obviously I can walk into all these places and ask, but does anyone have any suggestions up front?

Many thanks

Nick

xylophone

You can look them all up on the internet?

eskbanker

All of those will offer accounts satisfying your criteria, you may still be able to get cheques into your Santander account either by post or Post Offices too?

Horseunderwater

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/current-accounts?intcampaignid=MnfinanceCurrent

agrinnall

How many cheques do you actually pay in? So far this year I've paid in precisely one cheque, and that's only because I haven't yet got round to updating my Premium Bond account to pay any winnings directly into my bank (note to self: must do that).

mgdavid

why do you need another account, surely you have a Post Office nearby?
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/banking-services#santander

CKhalvashi

mgdavid wrote: »

why do you need another account, surely you have a Post Office nearby?
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/banking-services#santander

I've paid numerous accounts in at the post office. Takes about 2 days longer, but easier (longer opening hours and means I don't have to detour via another town) than going into HSBC on my way home, plus keeps the PO in business.

System

Does Santander offer full Post Office facilities to customers who aren't ex-A&L customers? The PO website says this is the case.

Banks close branches when they are not viable. Moving your banking to a local branch of another bank helps retain (the branch) viability which you value.

Otherwise, you could just post any cheques (into Santander) if this saves travelling time and costs.

WorkingGirl

ncarring wrote: »

Hi,

Our primary bank account is with Santander who, until recently, had a small branch local to us (we live in a small market town not far from a much bigger city). Now that their branch has closed, we have no way of paying in cheques to our current account other than travelling into the main town, which is not a pleasant task, when it's just to pay a cheque into an account and come home again. So, we had the bright idea of opening an account with another bank that does still have a local branch, and we can either use that as a small float for unimportant stuff, or transfer money to our main account electronically when we have enough for it to be worth while. With me so far?

So ... what we need is:

- an account with a provider who has a local branch (we have branches of HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays, TSB and Coventry BS - the last two are recent and may well vanish again overnight, so not great candidates) and possibly others I can't bring to mind right now.
- an account with no monthly fees or regular payment requirements
- an account with internet banking so we can move money to and fro.

Obviously I can walk into all these places and ask, but does anyone have any suggestions up front?

Many thanks

Nick

How can you expect anyone to suggest something suitable in your town, if you have not told us which town you are in? :huh:

ncarring

@xylophone - yes, thank you, I realise that. Have you tried actually doing this? It would take literally days. I merely asked if anyone had any useful suggestions to save wading through all the small print from the various providers.

@eskbanker, mgdavid, CKhalvashi, Horseunderwater, Heng Leng - thanks, I'll check up on that. Heng Leng - we actually are ex A+L customers, we used to use the envelopes they provided for this purpose, but I thought the Post Office had stopped providing that service. Again, I'll check it out.

@agrinnall - enough to make it a PITA.

@WorkingGirl - I very deliberately didn't tell you where I live. I've had enough negative feedback to what was a perfectly innocent question in this thread already, to convince me that was the right thing to do. If you read my post slightly more carefully though, you'll see I did tell you which providers have branches here, which I think was the more important information.

Thanks everyone. I'll certainly pay more attention to the Post Office. Perhaps they have the solution.

Hanky_Panky

ncarring wrote: »

Hi,

Our primary bank account is with Santander who, until recently, had a small branch local to us (we live in a small market town not far from a much bigger city). Now that their branch has closed, we have no way of paying in cheques to our current account other than travelling into the main town, which is not a pleasant task, when it's just to pay a cheque into an account and come home again. So, we had the bright idea of opening an account with another bank that does still have a local branch, and we can either use that as a small float for unimportant stuff, or transfer money to our main account electronically when we have enough for it to be worth while. With me so far?

So ... what we need is:

- an account with a provider who has a local branch (we have branches of HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays, TSB and Coventry BS - the last two are recent and may well vanish again overnight, so not great candidates) and possibly others I can't bring to mind right now.
- an account with no monthly fees or regular payment requirements
- an account with internet banking so we can move money to and fro.

Obviously I can walk into all these places and ask, but does anyone have any suggestions up front?

Many thanks

Nick

You don't want any fees but you want the convenience of local, fortunately you have choices right now but if no-one supports the local branches of any bank by not providing them with some form of income they will all close.