Paying cash into a Starling account at NatWest

Murmansk

Starling have an arrangement with NatWest for paying cash into a Starling account.
You take your cash to NatWest and ask them to pay it into an account Starling have with NatWest and you give them in addition, as a reference, your surname and Starling account number.

The problem is that when you turn up at NatWest they refuse to take the cash as they say they can only pay cash into a personal account - "it's the law"!!!

Last time I tried this I explained it was a Starling account and they had an arrangement with NatWest and she did it, this time the person refused totally and pointed to some notice on the counter.

This is all a right pain, has anyone worked out a way round it?

Tallaght

Most banks do the same now.I tried to pay cash into a barclays and was told i needed a card reader as cash is not accepted under money laundering laws.I eventually got a card reader and sent money via my bank nat west.

zerog

What did Starling say when you submitted a complaint to them?

Murmansk

I've not submitted a complaint but have asked them what the way round this is and they've not yet replied

wizzywig27

Murmansk wrote: »

"it's the law"!!!

Yet you can walk into any Halifax branch with someone’s account number (who banks with them) and enter up to 50 notes of any denomination.

Don’t like NatWest

Murmansk

Starling replied and said:

We are sorry about the troubles you have faced when you tried to deposit cash.

We are aware of that NatWest has sometimes issues accepting our customer's cash deposits.

Because your cash deposit is made first to Starling Bank's account and then allocated to your account, some NatWest branches have issues with this.
We do have an agreement with NatWest and depositing cash should be possible in NatWest branches, but unfortunately some branches don't allow this.

We understand that this is inconvenient for you, but would it be possible for you to use another branch to deposit cash?

To avoid these kind of issues in the future, we will launch during this summer a possibility to make cash deposits at your local Post office straight to your account using your Starling debit card.

ValiantSon

Murmansk wrote: »

Starling replied and said:

We are sorry about the troubles you have faced when you tried to deposit cash.

We are aware of that NatWest has sometimes issues accepting our customer's cash deposits.

Because your cash deposit is made first to Starling Bank's account and then allocated to your account, some NatWest branches have issues with this.
We do have an agreement with NatWest and depositing cash should be possible in NatWest branches, but unfortunately some branches don't allow this.

We understand that this is inconvenient for you, but would it be possible for you to use another branch to deposit cash?

To avoid these kind of issues in the future, we will launch during this summer a possibility to make cash deposits at your local Post office straight to your account using your Starling debit card.

One of the problems with the new app-only banks. This is one (but by no means the only) reason I won't bank with them. If they get deposits through Post Office up and running that will be a big step forward, but it would have made sense to have done this to begin with!

As an alternative, you could pay the cash in to a different bank and then make a faster payment to your Starling account. If you don't have another bank account then open one, not just for this, but also to give you access to money when Starling experiences technical difficulties and cannot be accessed.

Murmansk

Oh yes I certainly don't believe in having all my eggs in one basket so Starling isn't my only bank.

I do indeed have another bank through which I can pay in cash via their cash machine but, ironically, I felt a tiny bit guilty using their service to pay in cash then transfer it electronically to Starling so I used the "intended" method of getting cash into Starling - but clearly it doesn't work!!!

ValiantSon

Murmansk wrote: »

Oh yes I certainly don't believe in having all my eggs in one basket so Starling isn't my only bank.

I do indeed have another bank through which I can pay in cash via their cash machine but, ironically, I felt a tiny bit guilty using their service to pay in cash then transfer it electronically to Starling so I used the "intended" method of getting cash into Starling - but clearly it doesn't work!!!

No need to feel guilty! Pay in to your other bank and worry not about NatWest.

AirlieBird

Murmansk wrote: »

Starling replied and said:

We are sorry about the troubles you have faced when you tried to deposit cash.

We are aware of that NatWest has sometimes issues accepting our customer's cash deposits.

Because your cash deposit is made first to Starling Bank's account and then allocated to your account, some NatWest branches have issues with this.
We do have an agreement with NatWest and depositing cash should be possible in NatWest branches, but unfortunately some branches don't allow this.

We understand that this is inconvenient for you, but would it be possible for you to use another branch to deposit cash?

To avoid these kind of issues in the future, we will launch during this summer a possibility to make cash deposits at your local Post office straight to your account using your Starling debit card.

You should use this in a complaint to Natwest. Head Office should be making sure that all branches accept deposits to Starling accounts if there is such an agreement in place.

MrWB

Murmansk wrote: »

Starling replied and said:

We are sorry about the troubles you have faced when you tried to deposit cash.

We are aware of that NatWest has sometimes issues accepting our customer's cash deposits.

Because your cash deposit is made first to Starling Bank's account and then allocated to your account, some NatWest branches have issues with this.
We do have an agreement with NatWest and depositing cash should be possible in NatWest branches, but unfortunately some branches don't allow this.

We understand that this is inconvenient for you, but would it be possible for you to use another branch to deposit cash?

To avoid these kind of issues in the future, we will launch during this summer a possibility to make cash deposits at your local Post office straight to your account using your Starling debit card.

I have a Starling account, mainly used for when I travel. I've never had to pay in over the counter, so haven't had the issues you have.

That said, as Starling have an arrangement with Natwest, shouldn't whoever manages that relationship on the Starling side of things speak with whoever manages the relationship on the Natwest side of things and get them to send an e-mail / notification / memo to every branch reminding them of this arrangement, and asking them to inform all staff at their daily / weekly regular meeting?

Or am I using too much common sense?

I really feel for you though! Post Office access will be a huge step forwards, but if there is a way for it to work before then you'd thing Starling would push to ensure it works?