Bank Switch 2023 NatWest / RBS / Halifax

thegraingers

So we last switched a couple of years ago from HSBC to Santander and decided it was time to make another switch.
Would have gone to First Direct, but too soon after being in their sister bank HSBC.
Ruled out TSB due to the poor customer service rating.
Then NatWest came up with a much better rating, so decided to switch to them.
But then it got more complicated as we have a joint account, NatWest needed me to set up a single person account and then add my wife before we could switch. Creating the initial account in my name was a fault free process, then it got more difficult, told them who I wanted to add, then they asked my wife to give her details, prove she was a real person and provide some identification documents.
This is all an online process. Then we received a message saying one of the documents wasn't valid and needed updating. So we attempted to log in again but our log in details weren't recognised. So we clicked the password recovery link which said it was going to send us a reset code. The code never came. On the reset screen it said to phone them if there was a problem, so we phoned them only to find they had no access to our application and couldn't even send the reset email again, they did suggest we visited our local branch.
So that's what we did, the bemused lady in the branch also had no access to our application and could do nothing more then watch us unsuccessfully try to access the application.
So called them back, they suggested emailing a support team, which we did.... they never responded.
In a later message it gave a command for the banks chat bot which would get a response from a human being... tried that, no one ever responded.
Thought it might be possible to learn from my mistakes and join NatWests sister bank RBS, but got the same result.
Closed both those accounts as after a month they started asking for my monthly account fee.
Still getting reminders about the request to add my wife to the account despite the accounts being closed.

All is now good as we have now joined the Halifax, they had a similar process, but we had an appointment with a real person who did all the paper work to set up the join account and we got out £175 last week for switching.

In my opinion the NatWest group are relying far to heavily on automated systems and have too few humans who can step in and help if things go wrong, good luck to anyone who try's switching to them and wants a joint account.

pridehappy

Really surprised that NatWest, as big as they are, still require you to open a solo account when switching before making it joint. Recently switched my 2 main accounts to Virgin Money and Nationwide, both allowed me to open a joint account instantly. Pleased you have finally found a solution with Halifax, will definitely bear this in mind in future.

datz

thegraingers said:

All is now good as we have now joined the Halifax, they had a similar process, but we had an appointment with a real person who did all the paper work to set up the join account and we got out £175 last week for switching.

In my opinion the NatWest group are relying far to heavily on automated systems and have too few humans who can step in and help if things go wrong, good luck to anyone who try's switching to them and wants a joint account.

To be fair, almost all of the banks are trying to automate as many of their processes as possible - along with pushing people online and closing branches. The days of going into a branch and seeing a 'real person' are numbered. But I don't believe we are at a point where their digital offerings can replace 'physical', even if the traditional banks seem to think otherwise (or more likely that the cost savings more than offset any lost business).

And yes, I do love being told to go into branch because something can't be handled any other way, at the same time as they are closing branches, and with the earliest appointment slot over a month away. Or, in another instance (different bank), being informed that they were closing my closest branch because of low footfall and everyone banking online, when the reality was that it often had queues almost out of the door whenever I passed it.

Anyway, it seems the swiching bonus was one of your main motivations. Perhaps would have been easier and more rewarding to open two sole accounts for two switching bonuses, and then worry about converting one or both of them to joint account(s) later.

Rob5342

The old fashioned banks are still stuck in the dark ages with their processes, modern banks like Starling and Monzo let you open joint accounts in 10 minutes in the app.

You'd be better off keeping your main banking in one place and each having an individual account you move around for the bonuses. That will avoid the hassle of going to a branch and you can get double the money.