Is this normal? (Conister Bank savings account)

galacticaphantom

Hi, 

I opened a fixed rate savings account with Conister Bank. I also recently opened one with Skipton International. Compared to Skipton, Conister was quite a different process after opening. With Skipton i was able to set up online facilities so could see where my money was after depositing etc.

https://www.conisterbank.co.im/

With Conister i recieved an email with an attached PDF that had my account details. When i asked whether i was able to set up online accounting i was told "We don’t have an online platform as yet, it is coming though, and we will let our customers know when it is available to use. Until that time, our communications are by phone, email, post or face to face."

So currently i just have an account number where i need to deposit 50K, with no method of confirmation other than an email or postal receipt i guess. 

I don't have any reason to believe it's not normal, however it does feel a bit off in this day and age. Having said that, i only have the one other savings account to go by. 

Does anyone have any experience with this, or with this bank, who can advise whether this is simply standard procedure?

Many thanks!

eskbanker

In terms of what's "normal", I suspect that most forum members will be UK-based and familiar with using UK accounts, so imagine that there won't be much experience with using Isle of Man banks, but would assume that players like this are likely to be too small to be able to afford functional online platforms, etc.

BeachNut

I've used Conister for several years, and they've slowly got worse, with email responses very slow or not at all, no online id verification (even though they temporarily added the facility during covid but then withdrew it).

galacticaphantom

BeachNut said:

I've used Conister for several years, and they've slowly got worse, with email responses very slow or not at all, no online id verification (even though they temporarily added the facility during covid but then withdrew it).

Hi there, apologies i just saw this, thank you for your response.

That's not so good to hear. Do you have a savings account with them? What is the procedure with statements and checking in, withdrawing interest etc?