Who to go with?

mrdekra · 24 February 2017 at 11:19PM

So I've had a rough couple of days with Nationwide - My wife and I have a standard current account with them, and also under the same umbrella (different accounts but all able to be seen from one login online or phone) we have a cash ISA, credit card, holiday savings, Tax savings and my daughters Child Trust Fund.

The other day my wife spent a little more than we had in the current account and decided to move some money from the holiday fund to cover the overdrawn status. She rang me in bits at work as she could no longer see the holiday fund and all our savings had essentially disappeared.

I had a look on their site and it gives a link and form to fill in for missing accounts - their turn around to re instate accounts is 5 days - absolutely disgusting in my mind - we solely use internet/mobile banking as we work weird hours so its not convenient to go to a branch.

I was less than pleased and so tweeted their support team - they asked if they could call and see if they could move it a little quicker - the lady concluded our call promising the money/account would be back by Midnight - this was not the case, in the morning I tweeted again and another colleague said the money would be back by 9am, again another lie, then a third colleague told me it would take the original 5 days.

It is a major concern that they have a link on their main site and mobile app to "you have lost my account" - how often does it happen that you need to make it that prominent?? and the staff clearly do not know what they are doing.

So at this point, we figured screw it, they account will be back soon, no probs - but whatever they have done to the account has messed up our current account cards. My wife was embarrassed in the supermarket earlier today when her card was declined and she quite literally had to put items back until she had enough cash to pay for the remainder - she also suffers from anxiety so I had to work really hard to calm her down when I got home.

Suffice to say I have lost any and all confidence in Nationwide and want to move my account/s as soon as they return my lost/stolen account.

Suggestions please guys - who do you bank with?? can I do something similar - have additional accounts for various savings funds?

I am not after anything fancy, and would prefer not to pay a fee

Thanks in advance for any help !!

datlex · 25 February 2017 at 3:59PM

I would recommend not keeping all accounts with one bank. Who you chose for what aspect of your spending is a different matter.

eDicky · 25 February 2017 at 4:36PM

There's full advice about suitable banks in the MSE articles, see the links at the top of the board page. Choose more than one - don't keep all your eggs in one basket, to avoid any further embarrassment at the checkout etc...