Current account - which is best?

colsten

pennyalb said:

I'm an avid fan of challenger banks. I use Starling - brilliant phone app, quick and easy to do everything, no service fees. Interest rate of 0.5% AER on balances up to £2,000

It's a very long time since Starling paid 0.5% interest. There's also no £2,000 limit. Please verify your information before posting.

t8769

Yes, that 0.5% is pretty low, but still better than Monzo.

eskbanker

t8769 said:

Yes, that 0.5% is pretty low, but still better than Monzo.

The fictional one?

colsten

t8769 said:

Yes, that 0.5% is pretty low, but still better than Monzo.

Which 0.5%?

Costabit

Its very difficult to say which is best. Over the last several years I have had accounts with probably around 15 banking institutions. In any given period they have all been either great or useless.
FWIW my recent observations are
TSB - great branch service but shocking online and telephone problems
Santander - really good App and internet , good branch network but recent reductions in interest / cashback have hurt
Lloyds - probably my fav right now but the Cinema vouchers are losing their usefulness atm
RBS and Natwest - difficult to set up and do business with
Virgin - even harder to use online without problems
1st Direct / Monzo /starling - all fine if you don't need a branch network
Each one has its one value to me and I'm glad not to be limited to one , so think the key is to have several  

blue.peter

Costabit said:

TSB - great branch service but shocking online and telephone problems

Great branch service... if you can find a branch. Given that they're closing a lot of branches (my local one was closed about three weeks ago), online and telephone service are becoming increasingly important. I wouldn't describe their online offering as shocking, but there are certainly several opportunities for improvement there. (By chance, they invited me to complete an online survey yesterday. I gave them some food for thought on that subject.)

colsten

Costabit said:

TSB - great branch service 

This is of value only if you need a branch. I can count the number of times I have used a bank Branch in the last 10 years on one hand, mainly to get coins for parking. This is increasingly becoming unnecessary as most parking metres now have contactless payment facilities, or you can use an app to pay. There are also Post Office Banking Services, making Bank branches completely redundant for me, and I suppose millions of others

quirkydeptless

Costabit said:

TSB - great branch service but shocking online and telephone problems

I got great branch service as i was the only one in it! And that was well before Covid 19.

I needed to visit a branch as there was a time when that was the only way to open a current account, not long after the big IT failure from switching systems. I was only after the 5% interest. How times have changed.

floppydisk1

Metrobank is apparently good too. Not that I can say that. I was looking  as some free to use in europe cards and metro bank debit card is apparently free to use ( pay or cash machine ) . I said  OK, went down to nearest Metrobank, was told - come in 1 hr, came back, waited another 30 min while atlas 5 members of staff were twidling their thumbs and floating about back and forth, then opened the account. Guy wasn't happy with me saying NO  to overdraft  ( I am not switching, just want an account ), went to speak to his " manager " . After 5 min of them trying to change my mind I said , well guys, thank you for your time, they stopped and opened the account. I input all security questions in , went home. Couldn't  log in, been kicked out and account locked, called metro bank, after 40 min on the phone someone tried it with me, asked for security random characters - all good but again, account locked out so she said - there might be something wrong with the set up, hold the line and line went dead. After 30 min of  Vivaldi and no answer I got  how to put it mildly " not very pleased " gone down the bank branch just before they were about to close - all busy ( but  6 of them standing around and talking ), so account closed in less than 3 hrs and never again.  So much for all those customer satisfaction  tables. Open what you like, if happy - stick with it, if no  - change it....

colsten

Why on earth did you not apply for your Metro account online? Could possibly even have used their Refer A Friend offer (though the jury on that is still out)