Atom, Paragon & Vanquis Banks

DeanYorks

Can someone please give their opinion about putting huge sums of money in banks which are less well known. I am considering trying one or more of the following banks.

Atom
Paragon
Vanquis
Al-Rayan
Shawbrook
Castle Trust
+ Others

All are covered by the FSCS (Financial Services Compensation Scheme) for up to 85 Grand.

Would like to hear the opinions of anyone who has used these.

ColdIron

Castle Trust is not a cash savings product, use the search function on the main board
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5645851

polymaff

I've near-FSCS-limit deposits in Paragon and Vanquis:

1 Their service and their website design are excellent

2 I reckon that FSCS protection only applies to these smaller institutions.

By which I means that if one of the big-name institutions goes bust, FSCS will just fold - whereas it will probably survive the collapse of one or two of the minnows.

jimjames

Make sure you know exactly what you are putting your money into. At least one on that list is not a bank and is not FSCS protected so you could lose all your money.

ManAtHome

Been with Shawbrook for a few years, Paragon for a couple - both have good web sites and customer service.

Malchester

Have used and still use Paragon - excellent customer service, speedy response to queries and usually good interest rates.

Have used Shawbrook in the past perhaps not quite as good as Paragon. Alder more are another possibility - as good as Paragon but never really as competitive as Paragon. Also use Ikano Bank - not part of UK savings protection scheme but are part of Swedish Scheme

DeanYorks

Thanks for your reply. Glad to hear you are happy. How long have you actually been banking with them? Months? Years?

DeanYorks

Thanks for your advice. From what I can see - Atom, Vanquis, Al-Rayan and Paragon are all in the FSCS.

Money_Help

I have used Atom and found the app very easy to use with some great quirky security features like facial recognition. Not much in the way of product choice at the moment.

xylophone

Relative and I have found Paragon very efficient.

parcival

Have used Shawbrook and Paragon for a while. Both web sites and service are top notch - far better than better well known banks.