Charter savings bank - lots of complaints

25_Years_On

Personally I think all these smaller and some larger financial organisations can struggle when masses of people start opening leading rate accounts.

Descrabled

I know that Cambridge were struggling because My Saver went from 1.5% to 2.1%. l had to ring about a problem with one of my other accounts and was told they were snowed-under. Expect they will try to stay a little further below the competition as BoE rates continue to increase.

ForumUser7

Descrabled said:

I know that Cambridge were struggling because My Saver went from 1.5% to 2.1%. l had to ring about a problem with one of my other accounts and was told they were snowed-under. Expect they will try to stay a little further below the competition as BoE rates continue to increase.

The Cambridge Your Saver has now been withdrawn, so I agree with your expectation that they won't try to top the tables anymore.

I saw their phone lines were busy, so instead I sent them a secure message. Granted, it was a relatively quick and simple query, but they got back to me and answered it the very same day. Amazing customer service as always, even when the phone lines are inundated.

SJMALBA

FWIW, I withdrew some money from Charter yesterday, and it arrived in my nominated account this afternoon, as expected.

Albermarle

There are probably a few issues happening at once.
Due to fast moving savings interest changes, after a long moribund period, there are more savers looking to change provider than usual. Some several times a year.
The best rates tend to be offered by the smaller providers, who can quickly become swamped with applications/money.
Many customer service offices can still not get the staff they need, and may still be affected by working from home issues. We have had posters on the forum unable to make contact for days and panicking they have been scammed etc
Also there seems to be an increase in the number of new applicants for new accounts being asked for detailed ID info, which can be time consuming and a faff. Although I think the majority of applications go through automatically still.

jaypers

Never had any issues with Charter. Been a customer since 2019.

cricidmuslibale

Albermarle said:

There are probably a few issues happening at once.
Due to fast moving savings interest changes, after a long moribund period, there are more savers looking to change provider than usual. Some several times a year.
The best rates tend to be offered by the smaller providers, who can quickly become swamped with applications/money.
Many customer service offices can still not get the staff they need, and may still be affected by working from home issues. We have had posters on the forum unable to make contact for days and panicking they have been scammed etc
Also there seems to be an increase in the number of new applicants for new accounts being asked for detailed ID info, which can be time consuming and a faff. Although I think the majority of applications go through automatically still.

I have to agree with all of the above, unfortunately. On the last point, it seems more than a little unfortunate / unnecessary and to be honest really rather off-putting to anyone looking to save more rather than spend more, when ID info for new applications for new accounts cannot be verified electronically whenever possible, especially e.g. if the applicant(s) has/have been living at the same address for several years and are clearly visible on the electoral register!

kassy64

I opened an account with them last week at 2.25% easy access and my bad only deposited an initial test £50 with them (min £5,000 initial deposit required), obviously that was refunded to my nominated bank on Tuesday and I have since put in the required amount this morning and it was credited within 2-3 hours. I can't comment on withdrawals as I haven't yet but my initial feedback for opening etc is good considering it was over the weekend as well, and they dealt with my !!!!!! up efficiently.

MiserlyMartin

I cannot get any money into my Charter Savings account. I sent them an opening deposit by BACS -  two days later it was sent back to my bank!

I sent them another deposit this morning, if there before 1pm it should show same day. That hasn't appeared either. I sent them a secure message 2 days ago asking if they have got my opening transfer, but they haven't replied to that either!

MiserlyMartin

ForumUser7 said:

Descrabled said:

I know that Cambridge were struggling because My Saver went from 1.5% to 2.1%. l had to ring about a problem with one of my other accounts and was told they were snowed-under. Expect they will try to stay a little further below the competition as BoE rates continue to increase.

The Cambridge Your Saver has now been withdrawn, so I agree with your expectation that they won't try to top the tables anymore.

I saw their phone lines were busy, so instead I sent them a secure message. Granted, it was a relatively quick and simple query, but they got back to me and answered it the very same day. Amazing customer service as always, even when the phone lines are inundated.

The Cambridge website was down when I tried to open one. It was just in confirm cookies grey screen mode with no option to confirm or reject your cookies