Nationwide or TSB?

clevans165

Hope this is okay to share;
I’m looking to open a new savings account and I’ve seen 2 suitable accounts, one with Nationwide and another with TSB. I know one is a building society and another is a bank. 

Does anyone have any experiences with Nationwide or TSB? Which is better?
Thanks

DiamondLil

I have accounts with both - Nationwide's online banking suits my eyes better, (TSB format is written for 4 year olds or Janet & John fans). There's not much to choose between them in my opinion. Depends upon what you mean by "which is better ?"

eskbanker

clevans165 said:

I’m looking to open a new savings account and I’ve seen 2 suitable accounts, one with Nationwide and another with TSB. I know one is a building society and another is a bank. 

Does anyone have any experiences with Nationwide or TSB? Which is better?

Lots of people have lots of experience with both, and many others!  What does 'better' (and 'suitable' for that matter) mean to you?  Some will be attracted by maximum interest, others by local branch availability, customer service reviews, app functionality and/or appearance, online facilities, etc, etc....

newatc

Certainly for online access and attributes, Nationwide is best. I would also choose Nationwide for better saving products.

colsten

I wouldn't use either of them for savings as their offerings are now mediocre - perhaps with the exception of Nationwide's Start To Save account, which atm still offers relatively decent value for small amounts of savings (max £100/month). Everything else they offer can be beaten easily - e.g. two Virgin Media current accounts are easier to run than a FlexDirect, and the attached Virgin instant access saver has a better rate than comparable accounts at TSB and Nationwide. But my criteria for 'good' accounts might be different to the OP's criteria. I am selecting based on best interest rates, which I usually find on https://moneyfacts.co.uk/

clevans165

DiamondLil said:

I have accounts with both - Nationwide's online banking suits my eyes better, (TSB format is written for 4 year olds or Janet & John fans). There's not much to choose between them in my opinion. Depends upon what you mean by "which is better ?"

What I mean by “which is better” is reliability, service and whether anyone has had severe issues with either of them.
sorry for any confusion!

colsten

clevans165 said:

DiamondLil said:

I have accounts with both - Nationwide's online banking suits my eyes better, (TSB format is written for 4 year olds or Janet & John fans). There's not much to choose between them in my opinion. Depends upon what you mean by "which is better ?"

What I mean by “which is better” is reliability, service and whether anyone has had severe issues with either of them.
sorry for any confusion!

Don't kid yourself. You can have severe issues with any financial institution. Depending on how you use the account(s), any of them might block, or even ban, you. However, most people don't have any severe issues with any bank / building society.

If by 'reliability' you mean the safety of your money: you just need to look for FSCS protection. Literally all mainstream companies do have it, and certainly TSB and Nationwide do. If you mean availability of their online/app services: TSB has a chequered history, probably the worst of all UK financial institutions (google for details). Although I personally never had any problems with TSB (or Nationwide, or any other UK bank for that matter).

As to Service: what do you mean by 'service'? What service do you expect to get / need on a savings account?

BananaRepublic

I was with NatWest for 20 years, but switched after a series of serious screw ups. I’ve been with Nationwide for 20 odd years, never a problem, online banking is good, branch service is good. The only negative is that there aren’t huge numbers of branches down here. 

NottinghamKnight

clevans165 said:

DiamondLil said:

I have accounts with both - Nationwide's online banking suits my eyes better, (TSB format is written for 4 year olds or Janet & John fans). There's not much to choose between them in my opinion. Depends upon what you mean by "which is better ?"

What I mean by “which is better” is reliability, service and whether anyone has had severe issues with either of them.
sorry for any confusion!

TSB have had significant IT issues and their service can still be less than perfect - the flip side being they have paid out a lot in compo which is generally far better than any marginally higher savings rates.

clevans165

colsten said:

clevans165 said:

DiamondLil said:

I have accounts with both - Nationwide's online banking suits my eyes better, (TSB format is written for 4 year olds or Janet & John fans). There's not much to choose between them in my opinion. Depends upon what you mean by "which is better ?"

What I mean by “which is better” is reliability, service and whether anyone has had severe issues with either of them.
sorry for any confusion!

Don't kid yourself. You can have severe issues with any financial institution. Depending on how you use the account(s), any of them might block, or even ban, you. However, most people don't have any severe issues with any bank / building society.

If by 'reliability' you mean the safety of your money: you just need to look for FSCS protection. Literally all mainstream companies do have it, and certainly TSB and Nationwide do. If you mean availability of their online/app services: TSB has a chequered history, probably the worst of all UK financial institutions (google for details). Although I personally never had any problems with TSB (or Nationwide, or any other UK bank for that matter).

As to Service: what do you mean by 'service'? What service do you expect to get / need on a savings account?

Yes pretty much and the way they treat they’re customers, 

ranciduk

I opened a TSB current account online on Saturday

debit card arrived in mail today 

so far so good