Changing between Barclays and Lloyds current accounts, what is your experience?

Katiehound

noitsnotme said:

Katiehound said:

I have accounts at both- neither is my 'main' account. I don't know when I last went into any bank! I did receive a couple of cheques during lockdown and the only a/c that had a paying in slip was at Lloyds. So I paid them in by sending them the paperwork thro their letter box and cheques were presented that day. 

@Katiehound - you can pay cheques in through the Barclays mobile app.  You take a photo of the front and back of the cheque via the app, enter a few details and hey presto, all paid in.  No need for paying slips or visiting any branches.

Ha, you need new technology for that! I don't have that kind of a mobile..... it is a phone. Fullstop!
Luckily my paying in slip worked! (none of my other cheque books had such a thing, clearly the Lloyds book is ... an old one!)

wasty

funkycredit said:

I have both, as both are entirely different and offer entirely different features and benefits. 

No harm in holding several bank accounts. I've over 20 - certainly at least one account with almost all the uk banks! 

Personally I prefer Santander & Nationwide (my primary banks) but appreciate you didn't ask that  

Ah, very strange!

When I was young, I had a Giro account, which I kept because in those days it was run by the Post Office and I don’t think that you could get money out of a Bank in the Post Office then, additionally you could access your money on a Saturday.  It eventually became Santander, but I only keep a small amount of money in there, I actually have internet access to that account and have set up alerts, but I hardly use the account.

I also had a savings account with the Cooperative Building Society and that of course become Nationwide but they’ve lost their customer focus.  I moved house and they would only offer me a mortgage with an insurance for the payments, so I went elsewhere and got s better rate.  Their savings interest rates are rubbish so again I went elsewhere to a local Society.  My parents lived in a small village with a Nationwide agency in the Estate Agents, Nationwide closed the agency and left lots of very old people with little or no access to their money!   I keep £100 in my account in case they become a bank, and payout to members.

I have a Lloyds saving account that I use to deposit cheques, the interest rate is rubbish but the Bank is convenient to get to.

I will probably do what many have suggested and operate the Barclays and a Lloyds current accounts with one pension going into one Bank and two into the other.

wasty

Thanks very much to everyone else who contributed to the discussion, I will probably do what many have suggested and operate both the Barclays and a Lloyds current accounts, and put one pension into one Bank and two into the other.

george9071

I bank with Barclays as my main bank, i haven't had many problems and when i have they have sorted them out straight away i have no faults with them. I think their mobile banking app is amazing. I never have to visit my branch which is conveniently 15 minutes away, I have also banked with Lloyd's Bank, not one of my favourite banks but it does the job, you can always stay with Barclays and get a Lloyd's account.

hoc

Barclays staff look and act far more professional. They are not necessarily more knowledgeable but Lloyds is the only bank I've repeatedly encountered attitude from clerks (at multiple branches).

Barclays has more advanced technology although not necessarily better, their apps can do more but are more cluttered compared to Lloyds which get the job done.

Barclays is better at handling cheques. If ever having to deal with an international cheque the much faster processing time and cheaper fees of Barclays is very noticeable.

Lloyds telephone banking is irritatingly slow often with numerous messages that can not be skipped.

For typical everyday operation relying on online or mobile banking or if in it for the rewards Lloyds is better because of the rewards. If you need or value good branch interaction, fast telephone banking, fast cheque processing then steer clear of Lloyds.

magritte

My closest two Barclays branches are closing soon, and I believe we will see more and more of those closures.

I wouldn't choose my account based on branch proximity... unless I had problems  accessing apps/online/phone banking. 

wasty

hoc said:

 Lloyds is the only bank I've repeatedly encountered attitude from clerks (at multiple branches).

Yes I agree.  
I once used a Barclays Branch that was not local to me and the cashier engaged me in a very friendly conversation about my accounts, I suspect that what he was actually doing was trying to establish that I was who I was claiming to be, but in a very nice way.