Safest apart from NS&I

wombat42_2

Who do you think is the safest bank or building society apart from NS&I ?

I think maybe Nationwide is a good contender.

It would make life easy If i consolidated my dosh in the same place if possible.

maypole

I like sainsburys bank, good rate of interest and I think, owned by HBOS

wombat42_2

maypole wrote: »

I like sainsburys bank, good rate of interest and I think, owned by HBOS

Yes but they dont do current account and an ISA. I wanted to consolidate into one place.

Steve_xx

The true answer is that all of the banks are equally safe. They are all regulated by the FSA and therefore your cash, ie the first £2k and 90% of the next £33k, would be paid in the event of a problem.

Mr_Mumble

HSBC, for 3 reasons:

1. HSBC's deposits more than match their mortgage book.
2. HSBC don't have a big investment arm to get them into trouble.
3. They're the worlds third largest bank.

gt94sss2

Can you define what you mean by 'safest'?

As Mr Mumble states HSBC is the only big bank or building society that has more in customer deposits than loans/mortgages in the UK.

They do not pay the highest rate of interest on every single account, so you would get a better deal by shopping around and having different products at different places - however higher interest is also meant to imply higher risk.. though until last week not many people gave this any thought!

Also, if a bank like HSBC (or any of the big 4 banks in the UK) was in serious trouble we would all be facing financial 'disaster' even if you didn't hold any money with them.

Regards
Sunil

RayWolfe

Mr_Mumble wrote: »

1. HSBC's deposits more than match their mortgage book.

Not being disagreeable here but HSBC (like the other majors) do lend out on things other than mortgages! What do you think their exposure to say, Malayan Oil Explorers might be?

wombat42_2

I will have about 100K to put into a bank/building society as a current account, savings account and ISA. It just makes life easier to put it in one place.

gt94sss2

RayWolfe wrote: »

Not being disagreeable here but HSBC (like the other majors) do lend out on things other than mortgages! What do you think their exposure to say, Malayan Oil Explorers might be?

HSBC in the UK - probably none.

HSBC in [SIZE=-1]Malaya probably has some.

However, they will be separate banks, even if they share the same brand name and the same ultimate holding company.

Regards
Sunil

[/SIZE]

gt94sss2

wombat42 wrote: »

I will have about 100K to put into a bank/building society as a current account, savings account and ISA. It just makes life easier to put it in one place.

With so much, if you want it all in one place and if the interest rate is secondary, I would probably see what the big banks were offering:

For instance, HSBC offer HSBC Premier - free annual travel insurance, UK only call centres, help opening accounts overseas and a 'relationship manager', as well as higher interest rates on some products - all for free

Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest will offer something similar - though I think they all charge a monthly fee apart from HSBC (and perhaps Natwest)

Regards
Sunil

Sapphire

gt94sss2 wrote: »

With so much, if you want it all in one place and if the interest rate is secondary, I would probably see what the big banks were offering:

For instance, HSBC offer HSBC Premier - free annual travel insurance, UK only call centres, help opening accounts overseas and a 'relationship manager', as well as higher interest rates on some products - all for free

Lloyds, Barclays and Natwest will offer something similar - though I think they all charge a monthly fee apart from HSBC (and perhaps Natwest)

Regards
Sunil

And as an added bonus if you save with Lloyds, you will be plagued incessantly with phone calls from Indian-sounding voices trying to sell you Lloyds 'products' - no matter how much you tell them to stop. :mad:

This was the main reason why I closed my accounts with Lloyds after many years of indifferent service from them and switched to Nationwide.