B From Yorkshire / Clydesdale Bank

mrandrewsmith

Hi there,

Just wondered if any posters here had opened an account with B and if so what their thoughts were?

I opened an account with them when they first launched and admittedly with any new service / company there are to be some small teething problems which there was but on the whole I find their customer service absolurely outstanding. I see lots of posts about the likes of FD and Santander getting high ratings for their CS but I would encourage people to give B a try. I've not had to call them up much but when I had to I pretty much spoke to the same guy each time who dealt with my query there and then. Also, there was no waiting on hold, I dialled their 24 hour freefone number and was put through straight away.

I thought I would put them to the test this morning. I called them up at 1am to report that 2 instant saver accounts had appeared on my app. The guy I spoke to apologised no end and said he would remove it immediately. Lowe and behold I logged out and back in again and it was gone.

I don't know if this high level of service is due to their not being many B customers at present but for me they are very very good.

I do like the added tools they provide to tell you about your finances. I am sure the £2 monthly fee after the inital 12 months will put people off and to be honest the account is nothing special only paying 0.5% interest.

What are others' thoughts?

Mannanan

For me, your final sentence says it all. Personally, I have no interest in an account that pays no interest. Well that's how I view 0.5% interest. If I was happy with that, there would be no need to participate in this forum. Your choice of course so I wish you well with it.

EarthBoy

mrandrewsmith wrote: »

I do like the added tools they provide to tell you about your finances.

Some people will find those tools useful, but....

mrandrewsmith wrote: »

I am sure the £2 monthly fee after the inital 12 months will put people off and to be honest the account is nothing special only paying 0.5% interest.

those points will put most people off

Anthorn

I don't have B but it looks like a gimmick to me. With TSB I have current account, savings and a budgeting tool in the same app as I think B promises and I get 5% interest up to £2000. I don't think B beats TSB.

KingS6

Seeing as their customer service is hit and miss to begin with, plus with the caveats of the account in question, I don't think many people will be taking it up.

steve65e

I opened one in the hope that it might have better internet banking than they had before. It doesn't, but it does have some nice colours and a man in a chicken suit doing somersaults while you wait for the app to load.

It doesn't even let you manage your other YB accounts properly, ie see the existing payees.

Fortunately the Co-op are still offering £150 to switch.

Deadbeat

Not sure if I am missing something, but it appears to be not much more than...

(a) the spending analysis tools on an Amex card account
(b) what you could get from a couple of minutes' work with a spreadsheet

Not sure it's worth it.

scoobydoothedog

Like the original poster, I agree that the telephone service is very efficient. Calls are answered rapidly by people who actually seem to be able to do things rather than just press buttons and pass you elsewhere. However, I would probably only phone a bank once or twice in a year if that.

I still can't see what the £2 fee would give me. The graphics are very fancy and entertaining, but actually the app on the mobile phone is very ordinary once you get past that. The tools on the tablet app are helpful, although why they are unavailable on a laptop or a mobile I just don't know. The bank seems to assume that all its customers will only want to use a tablet to do internet banking. Personally, I would use a mobile app more but this does not include the tools or the ability to set up savings pots for example.

I like the savings pots. They will appeal to some people, but they aren't really a deal breaker for most. The interest rate is decidedly unexciting compared to say, Tesco, or Nationwide Flex Direct. However, we might see interest rates drop a little now anyway.

I suspect that the smaller customer base will mean that service levels remain at a high level.

I like the account and will keep it for the next few months. Whether or not I will want to pay for it remains to be seen. The cynical side of me thinks that I'm paying towards the bill of the talented graphic designer who created the colourful animations...

In summary, if you really need a lazy way of dividing your savings up for various reasons then B could help. If you aren't lazy, you could get a bit more interest elsewhere and have more than one account or just use a spreadsheet to tell you what your cash is all for.