Tesco bank

cookiemonster2013

Is this independent? I.e. Not owned or part owned by other financial institution?
Anyone recommend it for basic current (w/small overdraft) and savings accts?
Thanks.

soulsaver

Yes wholly owned by Tesco for the last couple of years, has its own licence.

I have had no problems - but it had a recent security issue.

tempus_fugit

I would recommend it too.

cookiemonster2013

Thanks both, think I'll open an acct with them

theburningcat

They have a 40-xx-xx sort code so I think HSBC is involved somehow (though not owned by HSBC like M&S, John Lewis etc.).

I'm actually really happy with them. Great interest and cashback, website and app are really good and the customer service seems good too.

soulsaver

theburningcat wrote: »

They have a 40-xx-xx sort code so I think HSBC is involved somehow (though not owned by HSBC like M&S, John Lewis etc.).

Tesco banking was a 50:50 joint venture with RBS at launch but bought out RBS's share December 19, 2008
http://corporate.tescobank.com/20/about-us/history/

teddysmum

It's handy in that you can do over the counter transactions, such as paying in cheques or cash, during customer service desk times, which are greater than bank counter times. (Participating stores, only)

cookiemonster2013

Thanks all for comments. I do most banking online but also need to be able to pay cheques in occasionally so it is useful to have this facility nearby with good opening hours, whilst other banks are closing down due to high overhead. I have now opened an account.

pafpcg

I too have been satisfied with the performance of my Tesco current accounts (as well as the benefit of the 3% interest rate on the balance). One of the "features" of the Tesco back-end banking system is that it operates fully every day of the year, including weekends and public holidays - standing orders and future transactions are paid on the date specified rather than being delayed to the next working day. This means that we can setup payments to go out on Sundays to some other bank account to cover a debit payment on the following Monday. (It may pay-out direct debits on non-working days, but I've no knowledge of that.)

The principal issues I have with Tesco accounts are:
- payments to and from other banks are slow, not instant - I allow 30 minutes or so for the "Faster Payments" transfers to arrive and depart from my Tesco account, but it's well within the stated time limits for such payments;
- when sending funds to another account, there's no on-screen confirmation of the transaction to allow me to take a copy for my records in case of any problems. I always use other non-Tesco bank accounts to make one-off payments to third-parties.

cookiemonster2013

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I'll bear your comments in mind

Daz2009

Their website is down at the moment with no mention of why