Best bank account for useability and online excellentness?

deaston

All the articles on here look into the best interest rates and money back etc. from bank accounts, but which is the best in terms of useability?

I'm currently with HSBC, but their online banking is absolutely awful. Myself and my partner are looking to get a joint account but want one with really good online banking and great user interface.

Kim_13

You might find this article useful:

http://www.knowyourmobile.com/mobile-phones/banking-apps/21804/best-and-worst-uk-banking-apps

lindens

I like Nationwides one. If you have lots of different "pots" like me they are easy to see at a glance and move money around.
On the downside I find their android phone app useless, so as long as you use it on the PC its fine.

deaston

Thanks for this. Interesting to see HSBC is classed as "so-so". Their mobile app is awful!

eskbanker

deaston wrote: »

Interesting to see HSBC is classed as "so-so". Their mobile app is awful!

....which just goes to show that this is essentially a subjective issue, in which your opinion differs from that of the author of that article. Unfortunately, vague criteria such as "useability", "excellentness", "really good", "great" and "awful" can mean different things to different people, so you'll probably need to be more specific in terms of exactly what you're looking for....

Ken68

I second Lindens choice. All to do with familiarity probably but they have an Overview page and everything in easy reach.

jimjames

I moved to Tesco about 3 months ago. Really can't fault it and I also have accounts with 6 other banks and it's way better than those. (TSB, HSBC, Clydesdale, Halifax, Cahoot, Nationwide)

deaston

eskbanker wrote: »

....which just goes to show that this is essentially a subjective issue, in which your opinion differs from that of the author of that article. Unfortunately, vague criteria such as "useability", "excellentness", "really good", "great" and "awful" can mean different things to different people, so you'll probably need to be more specific in terms of exactly what you're looking for....

Thanks Buzz Killington, I'll bear all your points in mind next time.

colsten

I find HSBC online banking one of the worst ones, alongside FD, YB/CB and Coop. But they got a fantastic 6% Regular Savings account, and their "Save Together" offer is pays something like 40% interest on £300. For these reasons, I would not possible give up my HSBC Advance account but I wouldn't use it for day-to-day transactions as they pay no interest for in-credit balances in current accounts.

I also have accounts with everybody else. I like the LBG (Lloyds, Halifax, BOS) online banking, as well as the TSB one, which is a carbon-copy of LBG's service. Nationwide and Santander are good as well, and I pay all my bills from Santander because of the cashback. RBS Group (Natwest/RBS/Ulster) is so-so, and I never get on with Barclays. Tesco is a bit of an oddball but has some great features that make it worth my while.

I don't use many of the mobile apps so can't comment on those.

The bottom line is that all banks will let you do what a bank account needs to do - allow money to be paid in, cash being withdraw, SOs, DDs, FPs to be made, allow online access, and have a contacless debit card. All of them do that. They also all offer joint accounts but you should be sure you know exactly what commitments you make with joint accounts. Many joint account have ended in years of trouble.

I don't use things like PayM, overdrafts or loans but afaik, they all do that as well. I also don't normally use Branches as the vast majority of my money transactions happens online.

I wouldn't dream of picking a current account because I like the online or mobile banking. Much more important to me are the benefits I can get - e.g. interest rates and cashback. I absolutely agree with eskbanker that different people have different expectations, so please not be guided by my experiences.

colsten

If you want more subjective views: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/poll/10-08-2015/how-do-you-rate-your-bank-accounts-service

benjus

I agree with the review posted earlier that Barclays is by some margin the best for mobile banking. I think that review was a bit generous to First Direct though, which I think is really quite bad (I'd put it below Halifax).