Backup bank account suggestions

born_again

Ah.

So a bit pointless then 🤦‍♀️

eskbanker

born_again said:

GeoffTF said:

Nationwide issues Visa cards which hopefully will work when your Santander MasterCard is down. Provided that you do not apply for an overdraft, they do their best to make sure that nobody can overdraw your account, and do not hold you liable if they do. You can use it as small payments account to keep it active.

When has Santander been down?
Never had any issues.

Just to be clear, you mean "I've never had any issues [with them]" rather than "They've never had any issues"?!

As I understand it, banks are required to notify the FCA of all operational or security issues (that meet certain reporting thresholds) but I'm not sure that the FCA routinely publishes this data, even though it has sometimes been made available:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5972822/it-and-security-glitches-reported-by-banks-q2-to-q4-2018

https://www.fca.org.uk/freedom-information/information-operational-incidents-reported-fca-december-2022

TheBanker

born_again said:

Ah.

So a bit pointless then 🤦‍♀️

Not really - the person who started the thread banks with Santander, and wanted suggestions for a second bank so they don't find themselves stuck if Santander have an issue like Barclays have. Very sensible - I imagine that before Friday a lot of Barclays customers hadn't thought about opening a second account somewhere else.

And Santander have had issues. They had quite a big one a few years ago: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57131476

And they have occasional issues with their mobile app - but generally they seem quite good at keeping everything else working so not as bigger problem for customers as Barclays have caused. 

Hoenir

born_again said:

GeoffTF said:

Nationwide issues Visa cards which hopefully will work when your Santander MasterCard is down. Provided that you do not apply for an overdraft, they do their best to make sure that nobody can overdraw your account, and do not hold you liable if they do. You can use it as small payments account to keep it active.

When has Santander been down?
Never had any issues.

My current car has never broken down. Doesn't mean it never will. 

born_again

eskbanker said:

born_again said:

GeoffTF said:

Nationwide issues Visa cards which hopefully will work when your Santander MasterCard is down. Provided that you do not apply for an overdraft, they do their best to make sure that nobody can overdraw your account, and do not hold you liable if they do. You can use it as small payments account to keep it active.

When has Santander been down?
Never had any issues.

Just to be clear, you mean "I've never had any issues [with them]" rather than "They've never had any issues"?!

As I understand it, banks are required to notify the FCA of all operational or security issues (that meet certain reporting thresholds) but I'm not sure that the FCA routinely publishes this data, even though it has sometimes been made available:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5972822/it-and-security-glitches-reported-by-banks-q2-to-q4-2018

https://www.fca.org.uk/freedom-information/information-operational-incidents-reported-fca-december-2022

Personally.

TheBanker

Banks have to publish their Major Operational and Security Incident data (although it's a bit odd as the defenition of a Major Incident is based on a now defunct foreign law and defined in a foreign currancy...)

You can find the data for each bank here: https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mandated-voluntary-information-current-account-services/providers-links

polystyrene

TheBanker said:

If you are with Santander, you will have a Mastercard. So it might make sense to open your alternative account with a bank that issues Visa debit cards.

A good and sensible point. Thank you.

polystyrene

born_again said:

When has Santander been down?
Never had any issues.

I have had the odd occasion when I simply could not get the app or their website to work - though only something like a few hours overnight. Whether that is classed as "down" or maintenance...