Top Bank Accounts Discussion Area

kingkongkirk

Excuse my ignorance in advance, if there is any to excuse. Lets say i opened up a Cov Bs Account, abd then 2 A & L for both me and my partner. Could i then technically set up a direct debit from Cov to both A& L accounts and then direct debit from thse 2 bank accounts back to Cov.?

Is this possible? or have the hen's hatched in my head a few years to early?:o

Hooo

The account I have at the moment (One Account) is great, apart from two things - it doesn't pay interest and there's no overdraft. Since I don't use them for my mortgage anymore (it's an offset account), I thought it would be worth changing accounts.
I've read through this forum for advice, and I totally agree with the comments that headline interest rate isn't everything, good service is what really matters.
Based on comments in this forum, I opened a Smile account, and it's been so bad that I'm seriously considering abandoning the transfer process and opeing a different account. The web login process is long and tedious, and they keep locking me out - necessitating a call to an 0870 number with at least 10 minutes on hold every time. Yes, I've checked I'm putting the correct details in! When I finally get logged in, the web interface is absolutely basic, with none of the functionality I'm used to.
Is there such a thing as an acount with a good web interface, where they answer the phone, and they still pay a bit of interest... 3% would do....
Oh, and I want an overdraft, a check book and a branch I can visit for large cash transactions too.
Or am I just expecting too much?

GeordieBird

Pretty much everything is good about my Co-op Privilege Premier Account:

* I get £260 overdraft
* Free travel insurance
* Easy to use online banking
* Greenflag cover

for £12 a month

Problems:
* We got burgled, and my debit card was replaced with an electron card. This took many phone calls to sort out
* I want to reclain £700 bank charges
* I'd like some more interest (now I'm actually in credit the vast majority of the time, a fairly new soa)

Also, my loan is with them. I'm thinking I could keep this account simply to pay off my loan and operate everything else from another account.

My loan was for £7000 18 months ago & the settlement figure is £6,500...:eek:

Any advice please??

I was thinking about the Alliance & Leicester one, but ease of web use and good customer service are improtant to me.

thanks all

GB

TomJ

Scouser_23 wrote: »

I was just wondering whether there is any reason I could not take out the Alliance and Leicester account with the 0%overdraft, take out the 2500 and put it in a mini cash ISA or a high interest savings account, then pay it back after 12 months?


As long as I paid money into the account to keep it open would there be any problem with this?

I have been doing this without any problem; overdraft maxed with cash in savings, £500 of may salary going in on the last working day of the month and a standing order to shift it to my savings account on the first working day of the month.

TomJ

RobinH wrote: »

I dont see why this should not be OK. I have asked them on their help line and they say that you dont have to actually transfer from another account to get the joining bonus, just ensure that £1500 is paid in every month. Martin's description mentions that you don't have to keep the money in there of course, but be careful. There is no interest on money left in the account and electronic transfers out/back to another account (perhaps to clear your £1500 out the day after it arrives) would incure fees of £22 a shot. You could use a 'first direct' cheque which is slower, or perhaps a Direct Debit. Not sure if they also charge for Direct Debits out of the account?

Presumabaly you are looking to close it again after 6 months for a tidy £200 profit for a bit of fooling around!

The £21 fee only applies to "UK same day electronic transfer in Sterling" (vide http://www.firstdirect.com/rates/charges.shtml), which I assume means a CHAPS transfer. A normal BACS transfer should be free, although the money wouldn't be earning interest while in transit. Is there anyone who can confirm my reading of their service?

I've been looking at their site and noticed there's a free £250 O/D facility. If you stick that in the higher interest account the interest earned ought to counter the interest lost on £1,500 in limbo for up to 5 days a month (250/1500=1/6, 30 days/6=5 days) although rounding of daily interest calculation may affect this. But you'll still have your £200, so that's not too bad!

TomJ

kingkongkirk wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance in advance, if there is any to excuse. Lets say i opened up a Cov Bs Account, abd then 2 A & L for both me and my partner. Could i then technically set up a direct debit from Cov to both A& L accounts and then direct debit from thse 2 bank accounts back to Cov.?

Is this possible? or have the hen's hatched in my head a few years to early?:o

Well, you could set up a set of standing orders each way... I have an A&L and a CovBS account and don't know of any way of setting up direct debits between them, but have a number of standing orders.

neilp

On A&L, I've only been with them for a month but have found their customer service quite good. It is certainly on a par with Smile, and better than Barclays. These are the only two banks I have dealt with for current accounts. I have never used First Direct, so can't make that comparison.

I am pretty happy so far, though I would readily accept that I have seen plenty of posts on here from people who are not

pthompson

koru wrote: »

Personally, I think Cov First is great, because I don't have to keep monitoring my balance to make sure I sweep anything over £2500 into a savings account.

Yes -- that's what attracted me to Coventry too. I was fed up juggling the balance of my Nationwide account all the time.

koru wrote: »

To me, the real drawback of Cov First is there is no chequebook.

I didn't realise that they don't issue cheque books when I opened the account. I probably wouldn't have signed-up if I'd realised that.


However the biggest problem for me is that they are not a "clearing bank". This might only affect a few people, but as my employer is not UK-based, my salary transfers require an IBAN number of the destination account. Coventry can't provide that -- only the IBAN number of THEIR account with their clearing bank (HSBC).

Coventry's suggestion is that my employer pays the funds to Coventry's HSBC account and quotes my account # as the "reference" -- and they will find their way into my account at Coventry. That sounds like a lot of potential points of failure to me, but I was happy to try it. Unfortunately my (US) employer's systems don't accommodate reference numbers so it's a non-starter.

My employer is now having to pay for expensive SWIFT transfers of my salary and expenses -- which take much longer to arrive.

I'd be pleased to hear from anyone who's found a better solution to this problem. I'm considering changing banks yet again -- but will be sure to choose a clearing bank next time.

bferg

TomJ wrote: »

I have been doing this without any problem; overdraft maxed with cash in savings, £500 of may salary going in on the last working day of the month and a standing order to shift it to my savings account on the first working day of the month.

Just a thought with the A&L account,and please forgive me if I'm incorrect, but even after the 0% is finished after 12 months, I make it that 50p per day up to a maximum charge of £5 per month works out at £60/year maximum. If my assumptions are correct, then the interest per year is 2.4%....less than a balance transfer fee on most credit cards.

Therefore, why not keep the £2500 overdrawn, obviously paying in £500 at the end of the month, then removing it at the beginning of the next month. Meanwhile, keep the £2000 in a high interest savings account/ISA and receive the additional interest. Could make upwards of £50/year if savings is above 5% (after tax).

Even better if you have an offset mortgage account I would imagine!!!

Just a thought

bferg

Creations_2

Alliance and Leicester may be recommended as a top account for their interest, but they really have the worst customer service record ever. I have not only experienced this in my local branch, but throughout the country.

Every time I have visited a branch I have noticed staff being rude and derogatory with customers. On several occasions I have been in the branch only to hear customer's exasperated comments like "you don't have a clue", or "can you not help me?" to the simplest of questions.

I witnessed the worst case of customer service today when I was depositing some money into the automatic cash dispenser. A male customer was trying to get help and advice from one of the cashiers. Despite him asking for assistance on his account a few times, the disinterested cashier would not offer any advice. He actually left in tears as he was so frustrated!

I think that any of us who have experienced such shoddy customer service should vote with our feet and change accounts, I know I certainly will be!