M&S Bank closing all current accounts

pafpcg

born_again said:

cfw1994 said:

Bit bizarre that their weak excuse was “ The bank's said the move is due to customers switching to online banking, during the last year in particular.”. Yes, we ONLY use it online: that is a reason to keep it open   

It is a very strange reason.

Given FD, HSBC & other banks are pushing hard to get people to bank online as it's is cheaper....

Sounds more like contract with HSBC has come up & HSBC are wanting more £££ for providing them with the same poor service. 
Given M&S, like many retailers are not having a good time. Concentrating on their core business is a wise move.

My understanding is that M&S Bank is owned by HSBC not Marks & Spencer!  See the small print at the bottom of most documents: "M&S Bank is part of the HSBC Group.  Marks & Spencer is registered trademark of Marks & Spencer plc and is used under licence."

My assumption is that HSBC no longer think that the 'M&S' branding is worth what they are currently paying so plan to reduce their branding costs.  A large part of this change is the closure of the M&S Bank branches in Marks & Spencer stores in order to reduce direct operating costs.  From anecdotal evidence, one of the more popular features of using the M&S Bank branches is to obtain foreign currency at attractive rates - with the inevitable massive reduction in demand for foreign currency recently, the profitability of maintaining branches must have been questionable.  Add in that Marks & Spencer stores have also seen retail sales under pressure, the temptation to demand from HSBC higher rents for housing M&S Bank branches would have been inevitable.

Katiehound

Clearly M&S are on the ball ...not ....as seen by reading the RS closure terms.
I'm rather pleased I switched last year for a little bonus- it was never my 'main a/c'.

I also decided to close my CC with them in... November. This week I got a letter from M&S saying that because I had cancelled my DD for said CC I would need to pay a different way. What? for a credit card that no longer exists??!!

Yorkshire_Pud

jimjames said:

SamDude said:

eskbanker said:

SamDude said:

We may be referring to different things - I'm referring to the Monthly Saver, from their information:

M&S Monthly Saver
We'll make sure you don't lose out on interest you would have earned if your Monthly Saver had remained open for the full 12 month term. If your account is closed before maturity, we'll assume a maximum contribution of £250 has been made in each remaining month to calculate your interest.

To me it reads as 'close early and you still get the full interest as if it had matured at 12 months'.

That seems an optimistic interpretation - surely they'll only offer the compensatory interest if they close it?

The don't state "If WE close your account" or "if YOU close your account".
The fact that it can be misinterpreted is the issue.

My Reg saver ends in May so I think I'll leave it to finish and then transfer. I could get some interest elsewhere but 0.5% on £500 for 2 months isn't going to give a slap up meal.

It’s actually 0.5% on £2500 if you made the max monthly payment! Maybe a sandwich?

Yorkshire_Pud

MDMD said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Even more of a chicken up is if you opt to switch your M&S account. How then does one go about closing the Monthly saver with a nil balance. Do M&S do it and transfer the funds to your current account before it switches?! 

They get paid to do this job! But we sort it for them. Doh!

I was told the best thing to do is switch it and the MS will automatically be closed and paid into the current account before they send the balance over.

Sounds OK but what are the chances of that actually happening in the way we expect!?

MDMD

Yorkshire_Pud said:

MDMD said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Even more of a chicken up is if you opt to switch your M&S account. How then does one go about closing the Monthly saver with a nil balance. Do M&S do it and transfer the funds to your current account before it switches?! 

They get paid to do this job! But we sort it for them. Doh!

I was told the best thing to do is switch it and the MS will automatically be closed and paid into the current account before they send the balance over.

Sounds OK but what are the chances of that actually happening in the way we expect!?

Probably won’t but as the calls are recorded....

cstent70

Sea_Shell said:

Maybe they've realised that too many customers were just using them for access to the regular saver!!

Now they're regretting being so generous...maybe?

I wonder how many customers genuinely use M&S as their main current account, rather than a handy "add on".

I use the M&S current account as my main account.  I too have a regular saver and monthly saver.  I'll keep watching this site to look at best banks to switch to.

cfw1994

pafpcg said:

born_again said:

cfw1994 said:

Bit bizarre that their weak excuse was “ The bank's said the move is due to customers switching to online banking, during the last year in particular.”. Yes, we ONLY use it online: that is a reason to keep it open   

It is a very strange reason.

Given FD, HSBC & other banks are pushing hard to get people to bank online as it's is cheaper....

Sounds more like contract with HSBC has come up & HSBC are wanting more £££ for providing them with the same poor service. 
Given M&S, like many retailers are not having a good time. Concentrating on their core business is a wise move.

My understanding is that M&S Bank is owned by HSBC not Marks & Spencer!  See the small print at the bottom of most documents: "M&S Bank is part of the HSBC Group.  Marks & Spencer is registered trademark of Marks & Spencer plc and is used under licence."

My assumption is that HSBC no longer think that the 'M&S' branding is worth what they are currently paying so plan to reduce their branding costs.  A large part of this change is the closure of the M&S Bank branches in Marks & Spencer stores in order to reduce direct operating costs.  From anecdotal evidence, one of the more popular features of using the M&S Bank branches is to obtain foreign currency at attractive rates - with the inevitable massive reduction in demand for foreign currency recently, the profitability of maintaining branches must have been questionable.  Add in that Marks & Spencer stores have also seen retail sales under pressure, the temptation to demand from HSBC higher rents for housing M&S Bank branches would have been inevitable.

Perhaps correct....but what a billy bullsh*t reason to explain it away    My acct is only used online.     Close the branches if they are too expensive for you, but why close the accounts?

Maybe it'll be cutting off our nose to spite our face, but the account will not be moved to any HSBC one.....

Yorkshire_Pud

Yorkshire_Pud said:

How to withdraw all funds from the monthly saver? There’s no option in online banking to do so and it has to be done before the current account can be closed.

How to do it.

Phone M&S bank between 8am and 8pm 0345 600 5860.

Request closure of Monthly Saver and funds (without the interest see next paragraph) to be transferred to linked M&S current account. This was done immediately and I transferred all but £5 as a FP after my call to an external account.

The full Monthly Saver interest will be calculated and added to my current account in two working days so Tuesday.

Then I am free to close the current account using the online form or switch it using my chosen current account with another bank. I could wait beyond Tuesday if it suits me the main point is the monthly saver is now closed and the full interest should be added Tuesday next week.

Simples! (Fingers crossed).

cfw1994

and the full interest should be added Tuesday next week.

Please update us to confirm it *really* works!

NoodleDoodleMan

EarthBoy said:

Sea_Shell said:

So I wonder what will happen to customers who do nothing?

Their account is just closed and their balances...disappear?

What if you're in overdraft?


I don't have any M&S accounts, so just curious.

All questions answered in the FAQs on the website.
https://bank.marksandspencer.com/current-accounts/mands-current-account/

I don't think ALL questions are covered - I can't find a reference to the M&S Premium Club £10 monthly fee which is debited from this current account. Maybe I missed it ?

I called them and was told there was a letter in the mail to all account holders.

Just want to know how to continue paying this fee. I previously asked if it could be charged to an M&S credit card - no, that is not possible.

Maybe they'll change their policy on this ?