Changing bank account

Dobbibill

Skippy13 wrote: »

They were the 3 banks that I'd manage to narrow it down to. The others I've considered are:

Halifax - I've been with them previously and had poor customer service.
NatWest - Won't have me as I've been bankrupt in the past (please don't judge) and they obviously don't believe in second chances
Barclays - I just don't like them
Lloyds - They seem to charge £6 a month if you use an arranged overdraft
Santander - various issues with them

I think that's all!

Have you thought about TSB, they pay 5% on balances up to £2000 but also like Lloyds, charge a usage fee of £6 if you use an overdraft. Do you use your overdraft regularly? If it's 12 days or more of the month then Nationwide's 50p per day and Lloyds/TSB £6 per month are much of a muchness with only a few pennies in it in overdraft interest, obviously this is dependent on the size of the overdraft and how much you use each day/month.

Good luck

EarthBoy

Skippy13 wrote: »

I'm not expecting the staff to work all day every day just wondering why Nationwide can't open until 2pm like other banks.

There's no standard opening hours for banks on Saturdays. It will vary from location to location. Where I live the Nationwide is open until 3.00 PM on Saturdays and the Leeds Building Society is open until 4.00 PM. Clearly, where you live the Nationwide don't believe there's sufficient demand to open later than 12.30.

Robin9

I changed from Nationwide - when it closed my local agency - to Santander ; only for Santander to close.

Skippy13

Thanks everyone for all your comments.

I had the Flexaccount with Nationwide and, as far as I know, there is no 50p per day charge, just interest at 18.9%. I do use my overdraft fairly regularly but only for a couple of days (hence begrudging £6!) as I have a loan that comes out 2 days before my payday and the DD date can't be moved.

I know some people think it's strange to need a branch but I need the facility to pay in cheques somehow or how else is my Mum supposed to pay me? She's 83 and partially sighted so internet banking isn't an option unfortunately. It's not an ideal situation but it can't be helped.

colsten

Skippy13 wrote: »

I had the Flexaccount with Nationwide and, as far as I know, there is no 50p per day charge, just interest at 18.9%.

Easy to check - different Nationwide accounts have different charges.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/~/media/MainSite/documents/products/current-accounts/shared/p7430-rate-and-charges.pdf

colsten

Skippy13 wrote: »

I know some people think it's strange to need a branch but I need the facility to pay in cheques somehow or how else is my Mum supposed to pay me?

Many banks offer cheque deposits via post offices.

Skippy13

Nationwide is about the only high street bank who don't allow deposits at the Post Office. I have asked them if they have any plans and they 'will pass on my feedback' which I take to mean no!

That was one of the reasons I was leaning towards the Co-op as I have a Post Office literally 2 minutes walk from home so it would be ideal. Does anyone know if their internet banking has improved? I've been trying to work out if it updates in real time but it's not clear. I always found their customer service excellent when I was with them in the past but their internet banking was a bit dated to say the least!

aleph_0

I think this comment is the key point for me:

SnowTiger wrote: »

You don't have to use the same 'bank' for EVERYTHING.

If one bank has convenient branches for paying in cheques, but another is convenient for other things, use one account for one purpose, and a different account for the other.

You could also consider opening the new account first, try out how the various services work for you before doing the actual switch.

Dobbibill

Skippy13 wrote: »

I know some people think it's strange to need a branch but I need the facility to pay in cheques somehow or how else is my Mum supposed to pay me? She's 83 and partially sighted so internet banking isn't an option unfortunately. It's not an ideal situation but it can't be helped.

Everyone has different needs and you like the branch facility, there's nothing wrong with that.

How is your Mum's hearing? Just a thought but if her sight is not too good but she can hear fine then telephone banking maybe an option. She can then ask them to transfer money to your account.

Skippy13

Her hearing is fine, she's got ears like a bat! We tried telephone banking but you have to press too many buttons so she hung up as she didn't have time to wait! I have no idea what was so pressing but hey ho, you do what you like when you get to that age!

I may well go down the route of more than one account so I need to decide how I'll do it and where to have my salary paid. I may well use the Co-op for that as the £100 switching bonus would come in handy!