Atom bank launched today

Krash420

notafan wrote: »

Metro has a really odd model

As a Metro customer, I'm curious as to what you think is odd about it. It's your right to find them Odd, I'm just curious as to why...

Though I am based in London and I work about a minute away from one so it's easy for me to get to should I ever need to (I do like the 8pm closing times of the branch next to my work).

bigadaj

colsten wrote: »

Le site du fgdr est momentan!ment indisponible pour des op!rations de maintenance. But I am invited to reiterate my visit later. Hope the english used in the actual scheme terms is better

They've just gone out for lunch they'll be back in a few days, and then off on holiday for a few weeks of course.

I don't think they would be too bothered by their use of English, disdainful look and shrugged shoulders methinks.

notafan

Krash420 wrote: »

As a Metro customer, I'm curious as to what you think is odd about it. It's your right to find them Odd, I'm just curious as to why...

Though I am based in London and I work about a minute away from one so it's easy for me to get to should I ever need to (I do like the 8pm closing times of the branch next to my work).

Sure... It initially announced 200 within the m25 but then changed its mind and included included the commuter areas outside too.

At a time when the big banks are shedding branches (although they'll still dwarf metro) and new banks are either challenging on a national scale ie TSB (but with with the inherited customers it received) or based on technology (atom,mondo, starling etc) without the overheads metro is in an odd position of building a large & costly network in a fairly concentrated (and expensive area) cutting off a huge proportion of the UK that isn't near the M25.

It'll be challenged by new technology based banks which dont have the overheads of branches and will also not have the amount of branches the big banks do. Leaving it a fairly small geographically niche player which wont necessarily be able match the best offers given its scale and cost base.

What it started out doing is slowly being picked up by the other banks - like on the spot debit cards (barclays), longer opening hours (natwest).

Its app and online banking don't have great reviews and thats an area where the sensible players are focusing on (have you noticed how many updates lloyds push out - barclays integrated with its call centre, natwest & hsbc touch id) etc. Thats where the next fight will be, not at branch level - although some people will always want branches those numbers are both reducing and potentially better served by existing players.

Granted the opening times are excellent but if someone matched that (pretty easy to do for the big guys) then what else does it have apart from loving dogs that can't /wont be picked up by the new challenger banks or the existing big guys.

Anthorn

Something of an anti-climax for me. I had been expecting fully-fledged digital banking services from Atom but what is being offered is nothing like that. Oh and they more likely did a Fidor than a Virgin. Nothing there to tempt me.

diamonds

LBG should make their Lloyds brand a online only operation, with Halifax in England and BOS in Scotland as high st retail, and pay better rates for Lloyds brand customers by having no high street presence in my opinion.

richardmk

It looks like a slow start, you raise expectations that you are going to be doing something new, and you launch a 2% and 2.2% fixed rate bond.. I hope the enthusiasm wasn't short lived.
The short window to deposit funds and no cool off period is hardly customer focussed.
What happens if you open an account, and then decide not to have an Apple handset, is there any contingency.

notafan

diamonds wrote: »

LBG should make their Lloyds brand a online only operation, with Halifax in England and BOS in Scotland as high st retail, and pay better rates for Lloyds brand customers by having no high street presence in my opinion.

Doubt this will ever happen, i read they LBG consider LLoyds as the brand that traditionally requires branch interaction - much more likely to see halifax disappear - although think that is very unlikely too. If they go that route the'll probably resurrect intelligent finance or come up with a new online only brand.

notafan

richardmk wrote: »

It looks like a slow start, you raise expectations that you are going to be doing something new, and you launch a 2% and 2.2% fixed rate bond.. I hope the enthusiasm wasn't short lived.
The short window to deposit funds and no cool off period is hardly customer focussed.
What happens if you open an account, and then decide not to have an Apple handset, is there any contingency.

https://www.atombank.co.uk/faq

"As we were building the bank from scratch, it was prudent to test the systems on one mobile operating system first, so we focussed on creating versions for the iPhone and iPad first. The Android version will be available from around the end of May 2016, and our Windows mobile app version will launch for 2017"

Also talks about a windows and mac version after with the ability to use on the mobile web to cover any device.


...not that i don't agree that its a really slow start. It should stop crowing about what its going to be and get on and do it.

colsten

I am singularly unimpressed so far. I signed up yesterday afternoon and haven't even had a confirmation from them that they received my application (nothing in spam folder either, no text - just nothing). There was a promise of an invite, on the screen where they attempt the joke about your inside leg measurement.

So I signed up again just now with the exact same details. They clearly don't have any database in which they store phone numbers or email addresses or names as otherwise they'd have told that they already have my data. This would be bad for a blogging website, and it's really bad for a bank.

diamonds

colsten wrote: »

I am singularly unimpressed so far. I signed up yesterday afternoon and haven't even had a confirmation from them that they received my application (nothing in spam folder either, no text - just nothing). There was a promise of an invite, on the screen where they attempt the joke about your inside leg measurement.

So I signed up again just now with the exact same details. They clearly don't have any database in which they store phone numbers or email addresses or names as otherwise they'd have told that they already have my data. This would be bad for a blogging website, and it's really bad for a bank.

The online form probably just sends a email rather than database you, from a security aspect its better than a hacked weak security basic database.