When all look (almost) the same, how do you choose?

Casper7

I have been with Halifax for 10 years.

I have a:

• Current account where the salary is paid in > pay the CC via direct debit > transfer the rest to a saving account > leave around £200 for emergencies.
• Credit card
• Saving account
• Saving account for my kid (not child account, just separate saving account)
• ISA instant saving account

As you can see, they are all managed via one app. But after checking interest rates I started thinking about moving to another bank.

Since I am an old school person, I decided to look at Nationwide, HSBC, NatWest, and Barclays. 

They all have different rates for instant ISA, but Nationwide and NatWest could be the highest.

I am not sure which one to switch too, as these rates usually last for 12 months before having to move somewhere else.

Some banks appear to offer decent rates on some accounts when you have your current account with them.

I have not left the "Cave of Halifax" so not sure how best to manage my accounts.

Should I transfer all of them to a new bank? or just open new ones and keep the old? does having a dormant account affect credit score or pauses as a fraud risk if got hacked?

Do you recommend any of the mention banks or any other ones to be be dealt with in long term?

eskbanker

Casper7 said:

I have a:

• Current account where the salary is paid in > pay the CC via direct debit > transfer the rest to a saving account > leave around £200 for emergencies.
• Credit card
• Saving account
• Saving account for my kid (not child account, just separate saving account)
• ISA instant saving account

I doubt I'm alone on here but personally I'd pick the best (for my requirements) in each of those five categories, rather than trying to have them all with the same bank.

pridehappy

First of all, I’d suggest looking elsewhere out of the main banks for savings products. Local building societies like Skipton Building Society and Leeds Building Society often offer better rates and are still simple and easy to use.

From a customer service standpoint, I’d definitely choose Nationwide as I have found their accounts to be impressive, the possibility of a future “fairer share” payment, 5% interest and free overdraft for one year and good savings rates if you wish to stay with them. I also find their branch service to be better than others and periodically offers are sometimes released. Their kids current account is also very good too.

NatWest arguably does a better ISA and more guaranteed rewards but other than that there’s not much else to draw.

Lumiona

I have an account with most of the big banks thanks to switch rewards. Most are dormant, the only accounts I have give me cashback or rewards. It's not overly difficult working with different banking apps. Halifax is a good all rounder, but poor on interest rates for savings.

In your shoes I'd open a couple of empty Current accounts with Halifax and switch them out for £200 rewards and try other banks.

WillPS

eskbanker said:

Casper7 said:

I have a:

• Current account where the salary is paid in > pay the CC via direct debit > transfer the rest to a saving account > leave around £200 for emergencies.
• Credit card
• Saving account
• Saving account for my kid (not child account, just separate saving account)
• ISA instant saving account

I doubt I'm alone on here but personally I'd pick the best (for my requirements) in each of those five categories, rather than trying to have them all with the same bank.

^this^

Aside from the obvious advantage of being able to 'pick and mix' the best product, you'd also be far less exposed in the event one of losing access to a/the bank - either because of a suspension or because of a group-wide IT problem.

I'd recommend getting at least 2 current accounts for this reason in separate banking groups.

As for long term recommendations - no, I don't have any. My longest held accounts are with Natwest but I stopped using them almost completely for a period because they didn't reward me to do so - that changed when they introduced Natwest Reward but if they withdrew this again I'd soon move my activity elsewhere. Banks aren't loyal to me as an individual and I'm not loyal to them; instead I gladly take whatever rewards I'm offered. On savings interest rates change all the time (even when the base rate is stagnant) so you have to look semi-regularly to check they're still doing the best they can for you.

GeoffTF

For what it is worth here are the Which? customer satisfaction ratings:

https://www.which.co.uk/money/banking/bank-accounts/best-bank-accounts/best-and-worst-banks-a8VTn0B0PJNC

First Direct is almost at the top of the table, but HSBC (which is the same bank) is almost at the bottom. The big high street banks are mostly on a tight band. What matters to you might not matter to someone else. Some want branch service, others do not. Some want a flashy card, others do not want to attract attention. Some like to shop around to save a few pounds, others want a simple life.

I would suggest that you have a MasterCard with one bank and a Visa card with another bank. I would also suggest that you have your savings accounts with separate banks.

eskbanker

GeoffTF said:

For what it is worth here are the Which? customer satisfaction ratings:

https://www.which.co.uk/money/banking/bank-accounts/best-bank-accounts/best-and-worst-banks-a8VTn0B0PJNC

I'd also look at the 'official' figures, i.e. the biannual survey formally conducted as a regulatory requirement, involving a substantially larger sample - there should be another update of this within the next week or so, reflecting more recent perceptions:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/personal-banking-service-quality-great-britain-february-2023

jbrassy

I agree with others in terms of the pick and mix approach. There's little advantage in having all your financial products with one provider.

If it was me, I would ditch Halifax as their offerings aren't the best. I would always recommend First Direct or Chase for a current account, American Express credit card (with Barclaycard Rewards as a back up and for spending abroad), and a Tandem easy access savings account (paying 5% interest). 

If you have that financial set up, you can't really go wrong.

GeoffTF

eskbanker said:

GeoffTF said:

For what it is worth here are the Which? customer satisfaction ratings:

https://www.which.co.uk/money/banking/bank-accounts/best-bank-accounts/best-and-worst-banks-a8VTn0B0PJNC

I'd also look at the 'official' figures, i.e. the biannual survey formally conducted as a regulatory requirement, involving a substantially larger sample - there should be another update of this within the next week or so, reflecting more recent perceptions:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/personal-banking-service-quality-great-britain-february-2023

That is interesting eskbanker. Nothing about telephone service, which I would have thought was the main differentiator. The online service should be adequate for all of them and I do not use a mobile service, so I would not give that rating much weight. I do not overdraw, so I do not care about that rating. I almost never go into a branch, but it is nice to know if the branch service is up to scratch. Nothing about how easy it is to move your money, or how likely you are to be compensated if something does go wrong.

eskbanker

GeoffTF said:

eskbanker said:

GeoffTF said:

For what it is worth here are the Which? customer satisfaction ratings:

https://www.which.co.uk/money/banking/bank-accounts/best-bank-accounts/best-and-worst-banks-a8VTn0B0PJNC

I'd also look at the 'official' figures, i.e. the biannual survey formally conducted as a regulatory requirement, involving a substantially larger sample - there should be another update of this within the next week or so, reflecting more recent perceptions:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/personal-banking-service-quality-great-britain-february-2023

That is interesting eskbanker. Nothing about telephone service, which I would have thought was the main differentiator. The online service should be adequate for all of them and I do not use a mobile service, so I would not give that rating much weight. I do not overdraw, so I do not care about that rating. I almost never go into a branch, but it is nice to know if the branch service is up to scratch. Nothing about how easy it is to move your money, or how likely you are to be compensated if something does go wrong.

I guess everyone's looking for different things from their banks, so it's always been difficult to compare what's essentially subjective qualitative data - the FCA did insist on banks publishing more quantitative statistics, but I don't believe they've ever managed to get them into a convenient tabulated format to support side by side comparison, so they rather clumsily just provide links to each one individually:

https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mandated-voluntary-information-current-account-services/providers-links

However, these encompass quantifiable measures like speed of opening accounts or replacing cards, and complaint volumes, rather than the metrics that you're interested in, although again 'how easy it is to move your money' is subjective and 'how likely you are to be compensated' is unlikely to be felt suitable to share!

GeoffTF

eskbanker said:

GeoffTF said:

eskbanker said:

GeoffTF said:

For what it is worth here are the Which? customer satisfaction ratings:

https://www.which.co.uk/money/banking/bank-accounts/best-bank-accounts/best-and-worst-banks-a8VTn0B0PJNC

I'd also look at the 'official' figures, i.e. the biannual survey formally conducted as a regulatory requirement, involving a substantially larger sample - there should be another update of this within the next week or so, reflecting more recent perceptions:

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/personal-banking-service-quality-great-britain-february-2023

That is interesting eskbanker. Nothing about telephone service, which I would have thought was the main differentiator. The online service should be adequate for all of them and I do not use a mobile service, so I would not give that rating much weight. I do not overdraw, so I do not care about that rating. I almost never go into a branch, but it is nice to know if the branch service is up to scratch. Nothing about how easy it is to move your money, or how likely you are to be compensated if something does go wrong.

I guess everyone's looking for different things from their banks, so it's always been difficult to compare what's essentially subjective qualitative data - the FCA did insist on banks publishing more quantitative statistics, but I don't believe they've ever managed to get them into a convenient tabulated format to support side by side comparison, so they rather clumsily just provide links to each one individually:

https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mandated-voluntary-information-current-account-services/providers-links

However, these encompass quantifiable measures like speed of opening accounts or replacing cards, and complaint volumes, rather than the metrics that you're interested in, although again 'how easy it is to move your money' is subjective and 'how likely you are to be compensated' is unlikely to be felt suitable to share!

You are right eskbanker, those statistics are not easy to digest. The intent of my last sentence is that there are no statistics on what really matters, and there are unlikely to be either.

For "how easy is it to move money", what I had in mind was how much of my time does it take to make it happen, and how quickly does the money arrive. With Santander, I had been regularly making £20K+ debit card payments to my stockbroking accounts for over more than 10 years. Never any problem, the money went straight through. Santander has started blocking them. It takes me half an hour to an hour on the phone to get them unblocked. How does that compare with the competition? I have no idea. If another bank is better, how long will that last? Nobody has any idea about that one.

This is like a game of battleships. There is no way of predicting what level of service that I will get in advance. My 123 Lite account is financially generous. £5+ average cash back for £2 per month. Better the devil I know perhaps.