Oaknorth - Red fflags

Oniznorb

I have tried to set up an account with Oaknorth bank, and during the process, I have too many concerns to feel I can safely continue.

Firstly I can't set up online access to my newly created account until money has been transferred into it. 

Why is this necessary? It seems unreasonable as I want to confirm that my online access works before paying in any money.

Secondly the payment instructions tell me that my bank may not be able to confirm the payee details when transferring money.   

Why?   I can confirm who all the local small businesses are when I pay them online?

I can see that other people have saved with them, so has the application process always been like this?

Albermarle

Secondly the payment instructions tell me that my bank may not be able to confirm the payee details when transferring money.   

There are numerous threads mentioning this issue for many providers. These small banks use a big clearing bank for their bank accounts ( like Barclays, Nat West etc ) So when your bank asks for 'confirmation of Payee' it does not work.

It is not a problem in reality.

ForumUser7

@oniznorb I do the following, regardless if COP is available: Input the details, check them a couple of times, do a £1 deposit - confirm the deposit is received, make further deposits to the saved payee only.

*EDIT* You may need to do a deposit larger than £1 dependent on what the specific accounts minimum opening requirement is

eskbanker

Oniznorb said:

Secondly the payment instructions tell me that my bank may not be able to confirm the payee details when transferring money.   

Why?   I can confirm who all the local small businesses are when I pay them online?

They take the time to explain this at https://oaknorth.co.uk/personal-savings/confirmation-of-payee-scheme/, which includes the answers in the above posts.  Your local small businesses will have accounts directly with clearing banks, so it's all working as expected....

refluxer

FWIW, I've had quite a few accounts with OakNorth in the last few years (some fixed term and a notice account) and haven't had any issues. For all the accounts I opened, I was able to make a £1 test payment and check they arrived via online banking before making larger deposits. Just note that they seem to be a Monday to Friday bank so payments made after a certain time on a Friday don't appear until the following Monday morning.

One benefit of using OakNorth if you're looking at fixed rate accounts, is that they sometimes offer loyalty bonus rates when your fixed rate matures, which not all banks do. I've recently applied to renew a fixed rate saver at a rate of 4.50% for 1 year for example, which is higher than the best rate currently available. 

SamGFields

I opened an Oaknorth Notice account at 1am this morning.

Fired across 50 quid which was in my account within 5 mins. I received the 'set up your online account' email 2 mins later.

So, Oaknorth are quicker than Gatehouse, Ford and Sage (Who else Im with).

Hope this helps. x

cricidmuslibale

SamGFields said:

I opened an Oaknorth Notice account at 1am this morning.

Fired across 50 quid which was in my account within 5 mins. I received the 'set up your online account' email 2 mins later.

So, Oaknorth are quicker than Gatehouse, Ford and Sage (Who else Im with).

Hope this helps. x

Sage? Would that be Sage and Onion? Always good for a stuffing! (I suspect you meant to say Saga.) 😉