Thinking of opening a new current account (not switching) and would prefer one woth a UK call centre

UKX69

EarthBoy said:

Mum161111 said:

I prefer to be served by a teller, face to face inside a branch, rather than deal with a machine for paying in or getting cash,  even some £5 notes, out.  Then, safely, put the money in my purse with some privacy..

Many banks will direct you to use the inside cash machines for withdrawing cash, or paying it in, unless it's coins.

I went in my local TSB (before it closed) to pay some cash in, and I was intercepted by a woman asking what I'd come for, and when I said I'd come to pay money in, I was escorted to the inside ATM and shown how to pay it in there.  

I bank with NatWest and a while back they had a policy that when there was a queue someone would ask if you were paying in and if so, could you use the in-branch machine. Being an old goat I refused and told the young lady I prefer counter service. Incidentally, this morning my wife and I agreed that if NatWest closed our branch, we would switch to Nationwide.

Mum161111

I don't think you are an old goat!  I understand it is mostly cost cutting/money saving.  A while ago I had to use the self check-out in Marks and Spencer as all the manned tills had really long queues.  Something would not go through and I had to press the button and wait for help.  

After this, when I put my money in, the change came out and there were 12 two  pence coins in the change. I was not too pleased.  Even so, things are not going change and become as good as they were.  I wonder how many staff members have lost their jobs owing to all "these" changes.

DiamondLil

I bank with NatWest and a while back they had a policy that when there was a queue someone would ask if you were paying in and if so, could you use the in-branch machine. Being an old goat I refused and told the young lady I prefer counter service. Incidentally, this morning my wife and I agreed that if NatWest closed our branch, we would switch to Nationwide.

Since the mid 80s, my stock reply in that situation has always been "no thank you, I prefer to deal with a human; Skynet will be here soon enough".

These days that remark is usually met with a blank stare....

UKX69

Mum161111 said:

I don't think you are an old goat!  I understand it is mostly cost cutting/money saving.  A while ago I had to use the self check-out in Marks and Spencer as all the manned tills had really long queues.  Something would not go through and I had to press the button and wait for help.  

After this, when I put my money in, the change came out and there were 12 two  pence coins in the change. I was not too pleased.  Even so, things are not going change and become as good as they were.  I wonder how many staff members have lost their jobs owing to all "these" changes.

Self service check -outs! Another of my peeves. Again when these first appeared the store assistant would walk the queue and suggest the use of these would be quicker. I told one assistant that her job may soon be gone if these proliferate. She walked away. Glad to see that some shops are now talking them out. I’ll rant a bit more if I may……The banks give us chip & pin cards to protect us against fraud, ok, but they can also say you must have divulged your pin to someone else when your account gets emptied, so we won’t be reimbursing you. We are also very concerned that the environment is being polluted by waste paper, so we will be putting your statements on line. Not to mention the postage we’ll save. Phew, I could go on all afternoon. 😁

gt94sss2

Mum161111 said:

Yes, WillPS, there is a Nationwide Branch not too far away and I actually have a Savings Account there.  I'm probably very old fashioned but I always looked uponNationwide as not an actual bank.  The overall suggestions seem to be to use a card rather than cash - I need to move with the times.

Nationwide will no longer be using passbooks from February 2025

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/passbook-accounts/

gt94sss2

TheBanker said:

Mum161111 said:

Thank you very much for all these helpful replies and links.  My nearest TSB branch is not on the list for closure and, since it seems to have a UK Call Centre, that sounds like a good choice for me.

I prefer having access to a local branch and, although I am not enthusiastic about telephone banking, there times when it is very helpful and I prefer a UK Call Centre.  I'll look into the best TSB Current Account for me.  Many thanks.

Just bear in mind that we see new lists of branch closures being issued on a regular basis - so just because your branch is 'safe' for now it doesn't mean it won't be on next year's list. The only real exception is Nationwide who have their Branch Promise which runs to 2028 (https://www.nationwide.co.uk/about-us/branch-promise/).

HSBC have also promised not to close any more branches until 2026 at the earliest.

In some ways, this is more meaningful than Nationwide's commitment which is more location specific (i.e. we will keep at least one branch open in your town) rather than branch specific

WillPS

Mum161111 said:

Yes, WillPS, there is a Nationwide Branch not too far away and I actually have a Savings Account there.  I'm probably very old fashioned but I always looked uponNationwide as not an actual bank.  The overall suggestions seem to be to use a card rather than cash - I need to move with the times.

I have always resisted using the contactless part of my debit card (too fast!) but, again, it is the way things are going.

Not a bank, and they also don't do passbooks but if I wanted a counter service I'd say they'd probably be the one I'd go for, unless there was another building society present.

As others have said not being a bank will have no difference on how you use building society accounts day to day - the biggest limitation is likely to be lack of Post Office access, but then you don't seem too keen on that.

Rob5342

Nasqueron said:

It would probably be easier to get used to using a card for payments rather than going into the PO to try and withdraw cash from a person - you have a card to withdraw money and a good budget app might help more than cash

That's what I was going to say. You could have a seperate account that you transfer your weeks spending money into, and then spend with the debit card attached to that. It would be very easy to keep track of as all you'd need to do was check the app to see how much you had left to spend.

Like it or not, branch numbers and cash use are just going to keep declining so it's far easier to adapt to the change than try and keep doing things the old way.

Futuristic

To answer OPs question if you don't need a branch then go with Chase. Phone line is open 24x7 even for payments/blocked transfers late at night Wait times are minutes at most. 

Bigwheels1111

I joined First Direct 27 years ago I think it was.
Never regretted it not once.
I have not been into a bank for 3 plus years now.

The only issue I’ve had was with their fraud department.
As mentioned before, it’s handled by HSBC, They use foreign call centres.
Who on earth would believe the fraud call is genuine.