KROO

yorkshireOAP

Hi,

Has anybody had experience of online bank Kroo? I was about to move Marcus savings to chase, but heard Martin mention this bank which has current account about to pay 3.03%. Thanks in advance.

eskbanker

Yes, see the existing thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6368168/kroo-bank-discussion

samlad80

Tried to open an account and still waiting after 9 days… lots of concerns on review sites about problems with withdrawals being held and app freezing. I would urge caution 

george9071

Opened my account at the beginning of January, my ID and application was accepted within 3 hours, which was quite quick compared to some of the other online bank accounts I have. 

My experience with KROO has been relatively good so far, my card arrived very fast, customer service response was fast. One small problem I did encounter was when I needed to update my mobile number by contacting customer service (very helpful!) and then I had to provide ID, hopefully they automate that service soon.

Overall, it’s a good bank.

overspender22

On day 5 of waiting for a reply to a message on ‘chat’

c-m

samlad80 said:

Tried to open an account and still waiting after 9 days… lots of concerns on review sites about problems with withdrawals being held and app freezing. I would urge caution 

Seems like the free £20 offer combined with Martin's mention on TV has really caught them off guard. 

Remember Chase's £20 offer last year? So many applied that there was a 5 week waiting list at the peak of it. 

As for withdrawals, pretty much any new account is going to having you jumping through hoops when making your first large withdrawals. I had this with Halifax trying to withdraw £1000 to another account in my own name. Flagged as fraud and they suspended my access to online banking. So it's not something that is new to digital banking or Kroo. It's more pressure on the banks to combat fraud. 

gpward

After reading about Kroo on here I applied for an Easy Access savings account. After 17 days, I gave up and asked them to cancel my application and delete my details. I then received emails saying they were reviewing my account. Today, 26 days later, they sent me an email asking me to verify my ID. I have no wish to give my business to such an incompetent, inefficient company, so I finally got the message through to cancel my application. 

I applied for another account with Shawbrook Bank on the same day after they were lauded on here for their good interest rate. Same story, except their comms were even worse. After almost four weeks of hearing nothing from them I cancelled my application via phone. 

Of course, coverage on here is no guarantee of competence. But why does service have to be so awful?  

Middle_of_the_Road

gpward said:

After reading about Kroo on here I applied for an Easy Access savings account. After 17 days, I gave up and asked them to cancel my application and delete my details. I then received emails saying they were reviewing my account. Today, 26 days later, they sent me an email asking me to verify my ID. I have no wish to give my business to such an incompetent, inefficient company, so I finally got the message through to cancel my application. 

I applied for another account with Shawbrook Bank on the same day after they were lauded on here for their good interest rate. Same story, except their comms were even worse. After almost four weeks of hearing nothing from them I cancelled my application via phone. 

Of course, coverage on here is no guarantee of competence. But why does service have to be so awful?  

The banks with offers on new higher interest accounts are struggling to process all the applications.

MikeMu

Having spoken to a couple of people with an account, seeing Kroo on a comparison site and Martin Lewis recommending them, 3.85% interest 0n their current account certainly caught my interest.

Too good to be true?

Opening an account on their app was easy and quick.

A sample transfer from PayPal went ok.

Transferring funds from my existing current account not so much.

I have been asked for a statement from the outgoing account before Kroo would accept transfer INTO my new account, on the pretext of protecting my money. Really?

Red flags started flying that they were phishing for information. Are they a real bank?

They then reduced the demand to just the header of the statement at the same time showing reluctance to give me their fscs number. More red flags.

I am in my late sixties and had bank accounts, business and personal, all my life. Never have I been asked to show where a UK, inter-bank transfer was coming from in order to be accepted into my account.

I fear Kroo is very unprofessional, bumbling their way around trying to find their feet. The problem is they are likely to be the next unwelcome banking statistic. Trust is a real issue!

Needless o say , I’ll be closing the account as soon as I can get my money back.

boingy

MikeMu said:

Having spoken to a couple of people with an account, seeing Kroo on a comparison site and Martin Lewis recommending them, 3.85% interest 0n their current account certainly caught my interest.

Too good to be true?

Opening an account on their app was easy and quick.

A sample transfer from PayPal went ok.

Transferring funds from my existing current account not so much.

I have been asked for a statement from the outgoing account before Kroo would accept transfer INTO my new account, on the pretext of protecting my money. Really?

Red flags started flying that they were phishing for information. Are they a real bank?

They then reduced the demand to just the header of the statement at the same time showing reluctance to give me their fscs number. More red flags.

I am in my late sixties and had bank accounts, business and personal, all my life. Never have I been asked to show where a UK, inter-bank transfer was coming from in order to be accepted into my account.

I fear Kroo is very unprofessional, bumbling their way around trying to find their feet. The problem is they are likely to be the next unwelcome banking statistic. Trust is a real issue!

Needless o say , I’ll be closing the account as soon as I can get my money back.

I don't know quite what  has triggered their request for "proof" but I've had an account since late January and I can assure you they are real and they are FSCS registered. Is your transfer inward particularly large? My largest single payment in has been just under 5K and my biggest payment out was about twice that. There were no problems with either. The response time from customer services can be slow, particularly a couple of months ago when they were swamped with new applications.

The current interest rate is 3.6% rising to 3.85% next month and that interest rate beats that of many savings accounts and this is a current account. 

TheBanker

Any bank might ask for proof of the source of funds being deposited, especially if it's a large amount and/or going into a new account. It is not unusual and there are threads here about well established banks making similar requests, and subsequently freezing accounts because the information is not supplied or sufficient. So the fact they have asked for information is not a red flag, it is simply their way of complying with certain regulations to prevent money laundering and fraud. 

There is no FSCS number as such (and even if there was, why would you trust a Kroo advisor to give you the correct one, as you appear not to trust them?). Kroo's website shows their FRN to be 953772, and the FSCS website shows them to be protected. 

They are a fully licensed bank - the hurdles to achieve this status are high (as Revolut are finding). If the regulators didn't believe they had a viable business model they would not be allowed to provide banking services in the UK. And as a fully regulated bank, if they treat you badly you have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service, and if they go bust the FSCS will make sure you don't lose money (subject to their rules and the £85k cap). So really nothing to worry about.