Atom Bank

mikewill34

As a Santander 123 account holder, I am now looking to switch to the Santander 123 Lite account and transfer my savings to a specific savings account.
There were two mentioned in last nights' "Martin Lewis Money Show" are Atom Bank and Aldermore.
I have looked at their web sites and I like the look of Atom best.
Does anyone have any experience of using them?
/Mike Williams

wiseonesomeofthetime

I have the 0.50% Instant Saver with Atom Bank, and transfers between it and my Monzo account are literally instant!
The app is not the best, but performs its function.

I have had fixed savers with both companies and both were excellent. Funds moved promptly to nominated account upon maturity.

mikewill34

wiseonesomeofthetime said:

I have the 0.50% Instant Saver with Atom Bank, and transfers between it and my Monzo account are literally instant!
The app is not the best, but performs its function.

I have had fixed savers with both companies and both were excellent. Funds moved promptly to nominated account upon maturity.

Are you using an Android or iOS app?
Does it have fingerprint Id?
/Mike Williams

ashteadgirl

I have had  fixed tern accounts with them for several years. Have found the app OK ( android phone) after initial set up. I had difficulty loading passport snap and facial recognition can be a bit slow. I use password entry  to get  around this. All documents held in vault and get maturity reminders, interest certificates  and final statements all very promptly.

wiseonesomeofthetime

mikewill34 said:

wiseonesomeofthetime said:

..

Are you using an Android or iOS app?
Does it have fingerprint Id?
/Mike Williams

Atom app on android. 

No fingerprint ID.

Choices are Passcode  |   FaceID   |   VoiceID

mikewill34

I have been reading the Atom Bank's documentation
Extract from Terms and Conditions

To register in the App, you’ll need to set up ‘Your ID’ with Atom by providing us with three types of security information: a six-digit passcode; a scan of your face (‘Face ID’); and a recording of your voice (‘Voice ID’).

Extract from Privacy and Data Policy

Your biometrics in order to allow you to log-in, in other words your photo and a recording of your voice. This is stored as an algorithm.

This implies [to me] that they are capturing data by using front camera or microphone and storing it on their servers and are NOT using the built-in security of your device.
As a computer programmer is would never say that data was stored as an "algorithm", but I can understand that describing what happens might a) frighten off some people b) expose their security mechanism.
I can only assume they use what is a fairly typical mechanism where on registration the data is one way encrypted and the hash is stored, then when you are required to identify yourself the sign-in data is encrypted and hashed, then only when the stored hash is the same as the incoming has you are verified.

/Mike Williams

Snot

I’ve found Atom to be excellent, was initially a bit dubious about app only access but have had no issues. Called them on two occasions and don’t think I waited any longer than a minute to speak to somebody. The app is straightforward to use.

wiseonesomeofthetime

I have seen that Atom Bank's Internet Saver is currently 0.37% to new customers.
https://www.atombank.co.uk/instant-saver/

How long before they inflict that on existing customers?

Speedbird676

I have previously had a 1-year fixed with Atom and currently have an instant access. I've never had any issues with them and transfers out to my linked account are instant.

I've never tried Aldermore, so cannot comment.

soulsaver

Have a look here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6147853/atom-bank

jbrassy

Instead of Atom Bank, why not switch to Virgin Money. They offer 2% interest on the first £1000 in the current account, then they have a 0.5% linked easy-access savings account. On top of that, they're currently offering free wine if you switch. The Android app also has fingerprint login and is generally easy to use.