Ulster Bank questionable customer service - claims account can only be closed in person, in Belfast

grifferz

Like many I expect, after seeing the Ulster Bank 5.2% easy access savings account in the weekly emails I applied for one several weeks ago. Immediately they took all my details and had me do an ID check with their provider HooYu which involved me sending a scan of my passport and a video of my face.

Initially all seemed fine - they responded within 24 hours that my application had been accepted. But then followed a few weeks of information arriving by post and SMS in dribs and drabs.

Finally 3 days ago the last piece of information arrived by SMS and I went to log in to the account online. "Your account(s) are currently unavailable," it says, and advises that new accounts may not show for two days. So I wait two more days.

It's still the same story today so I try to contact support. The only way is an online chat. I spent 35 minutes in the chat providing my details twice over and then doing the same as what it takes to log in to the online banking - successfully - before the chap told me that there was some sort of block on my new account and they'd write to me with further instructions.

At this point I thanked him for his time but said that I'd spent a long time on this and that I thought online savings accounts shouldn't be this difficult, so I'm disillusioned with this service and would like to close this unused account. He replied that there is no way to close the account online, it can only be done in a branch of Ulster Bank. I live in London, England, and this account is based in Belfast. It is advertised as available to all of the UK to be operated fully online. He was perfectly polite (as was I), but after all that effort he was completely unable to help me.

I fully understand the need for Anti-Money Laundering / Know Your Customer, but they took all those details, approved them and opened the account, and then blocked it immediately without telling me. It's really hard to get in contact with them and for an account that is minimum £5k deposit that worries me.

I'm not going to persevere with them and will have to try closing this half-open account by writing.

Thanks,

Andy

Malchester

Have opened ghe same account and, whilst it was slow going everything is now setup and working OK.

There was a problem with the app yesterday and this morning where sometimes when trying to log in the message that the account was blocked for security reasons. Then 5 minutes later it was OK and later still blocked. I rang their fraud helpline as told to in ghe message and they explained that there was an issue.

I have spoken to an agent on the phone a couple of times and ghd customer services number is 0345 742 4365. I have found them helpful.

Movement of funds in and out is instant which is what I wanted.

dcs34

I believe NatWest branches have the ability to perform services on behalf of Ulster Bank.

Ulrich

Just wanted to add to the OP's story so potential customers of Ulster Bank know the ugly truth.

I applied for a Loyalty Saver account on 4th Oct. As for today (+2 weeks), I have no up and running account despite them sending me a text that "Your savings account is now open" yesterday.
I also complained about their atrocious service last week (as that Hooyu service showed me Success but in fact my liveness was not confirmed "upon manual review" and they did not even notify me about it) and yet to hear about any development in that regard.

A complete waste of my time if you ask me. Yes, it pays higher interest but it's really hard to get that account up and running, they just don't seem to know how to do that. Would not recommend at all, parked my money in NS&I Guaranteed bond.

canary2211

Sadly, I have experienced very similar: statred application nearly three weeks ago. After a few days had the YooHo ID process which ended in a "sucessfully completed" message.  Nothing since. Tried customer services - very pleasant people but they couldn't tell me when I would have the account.  Going to Cynergy instead now. Cant stand the aggro! 

PS Cynergy account opened within 3 minutes. Funds transferred after 5 minutes. 

friolento

As an existing Ulster customer, the experience is slightly better. The applications sails through in 30 seconds and you are given a sort code and account number. The account doesn't actually show in the app or online until after an overnight run.

I share the pain of those who are new to Ulster - it was unusually laborious and painful when I first applied for a current account with them. I only persisted because of the £200 switch bonus (not currently on offer), and I am not using them on a day-to-day basis. I kept the account, though, in case it comes in handy at some point, and now it has because I could open the savings account in no time in the app. I am not concerned about account closing procedures as I don't expect a pressing need to ever close my Ulster accounts, and I am quite confident that it could be done in a Natwest or RBS Branch if a Branch visit is indeed required.