Ethical banking

gsmh

middlingditch said:

I bank with Triodos (switched from Smile (Coop) in 2020 - after 19 years - when their system downtime and degraded customer service just got too much) and haven't noticed any trouble with Faster Payments, or anything, really.

You may not have noticed anything untoward with faster payments, but how long did your last faster payment take to arrive? What happened the last time you made a large faster payment, say more that £1,000? Did the payments arrive in minutes like with most banks?

middlingditch

Daliah said:

middlingditch said:

Alex9384 said:

Does Triodos appear on all your credit files?

I don't know; I don't have access to all my credit files. Why?

It's easy, free, and a good idea to periodically check your credit files

Thanks, I know, and I periodically have a look at the credit files to which I have access. I don't have access to them *all*, though, that's what I was saying.

My "why?" meant "Why are you asking whether Triodos appears on all one's credit files?" rather than "Why would I check my files?". (Internet can be so frustrating with its potential for multiple interpretations!)

middlingditch

gsmh said:

middlingditch said:

I bank with Triodos (switched from Smile (Coop) in 2020 - after 19 years - when their system downtime and degraded customer service just got too much) and haven't noticed any trouble with Faster Payments, or anything, really.

You may not have noticed anything untoward with faster payments, but how long did your last faster payment take to arrive? What happened the last time you made a large faster payment, say more that £1,000? Did the payments arrive in minutes like with most banks?

To be honest I rarely make large payments - I have very little money to move around. Last time I made a payment over £1000 it would have been to pay off a credit card balance. I don't know exactly when it would have hit the credit card account; I would have just checked it got there the next day or the day after. Perhaps there would have been a 24-hour difference in it getting there compared with another bank, I don't know, but it wouldn't matter to me.

So, fair point that it might be something to consider if you're someone who moves large amounts of money around a lot and it's essential that it gets there in minutes. Everyone's different.

Daliah

middlingditch said:

Daliah said:

middlingditch said:

Alex9384 said:

Does Triodos appear on all your credit files?

I don't know; I don't have access to all my credit files. Why?

It's easy, free, and a good idea to periodically check your credit files

Thanks, I know, and I periodically have a look at the credit files to which I have access. I don't have access to them *all*, though, that's what I was saying.

My "why?" meant "Why are you asking whether Triodos appears on all one's credit files?" rather than "Why would I check my files?". (Internet can be so frustrating with its potential for multiple interpretations!)

You can have easy and access to them all. The link I posted explains how.

Different agencies record different data, which is why all should be checked.

gsmh

The problem is that Triodos clearly thinks its ethical stance absolves it of providing a banking experience comparable to that of other banks. It refuses to adopt NFC mobile phone contactless payment facilities like Apple or Google Pay. It feels that as long as a faster payment is completed within two days, then all is well. IMO Triodos believes that customers seeking ethical banking facilities will either not notice a subpar banking experience or will be unconcerned about it. Charging £3 a month for that substandard experience is just taking the proverbial.

I have communicated with Triodos on several occasions about my concerns. The replies are always similar and my concerns are not specifically addressed. Never will Triodos address the point that it is pretty much the only bank offering current accounts with no option to use Apple or Google Pay. Never will it accept its 'faster' payment services are slower than the rest of the industry. Triodos clearly manages to sign up enough customers to fuel its arrogance without needing to do anything to match what the other banks are capable of doing - including other banks which use a third-party clearing bank (which is often one of its excuses).

Daliah

gsmh said:

 Never will Triodos address the point that it is pretty much the only bank offering current accounts with no option to use Apple or Google Pay. 

Chase UK managed to launch without GooglePay but this can be bypassed by using Curve. Curve would almost certainly also solve the lack of ApplePay and GooglePay with Triodos.

The big question is whether their customers actually care about functionality they don't get with Triodos, and that they have to pay for this. I suspect they don't. 

gsmh

Daliah said:

Chase UK managed to launch without GooglePay but this can be bypassed by using Curve. Curve would almost certainly also solve the lack of ApplePay and GooglePay with Triodos.

The big question is whether their customers actually care about functionality they don't get with Triodos, and that they have to pay for this. I suspect they don't. 

Chase is absolutely an anomaly. No direct debits either. My post did point out that Triodos customers are assumed not to care about functionality, and clearly most customers don't care. It is sad that ethically motivated customers are content to be fobbed off with a third-rate service and are expected to pay for it.

When I used Triodos as my daily current account I used Curve to give me the functionality I desired, but I much prefer if if my bank directly offers Apple or Google Pay. It was the 'faster' payment service that drove me away.

WillPS

Barclays and Tesco Bank also don't support Google Pay directly (both support Apple Pay).

I agree though, the Triodos product is very sub-par in just about every sense and hard to recommend as a result. I found the sound and dance over their "sustainable" debit card when they insist on authenticating using a single-purpose lump of plastic and circuitry just about summed up the experience. All eco-fur and no knickers.

Grouchy

I'm tagging onto this older thread wondering if anyone has anything to add from more recent experience of banking with any of those mentioned positive or negative, or if there are any newcomers to consider.  Thanks

p.s. I'm not here to debate what ethical is, just to take the more generally accepted notion.  I'll then do my own research of course.  Also, not a savings rates debate.

Thanks.

Stuart_W

I'm still with the Co-op and still happy. Perhaps my demands are not very high - but it works for me. Faster payments, DDs,SOs, app, website, very little trouble. Some people seem to think it is a cess pit of unreliability but I haven't experienced that. I suppose happy customers keep quiet and those that have experienced problems (and I am not denying the experiences of others) often shout about them.