Zenith Bank

shortwriter

I've just opened a 6 month fixed rate account with Zenith using the link from MSE. Should have done some research but assumed it was OK as on MSE. I'm now worrying that this is not a trustworthy bank and my money has been lost. The telephone number appears to be manned from a woman in her kitchen who can't answer my questions. I did get an email confirming I had set up an account but nothing confirming my deposit. It all seems very unprofessional and because there is no online access to the account I can't check whether my money has been received. I see others have expressed concerns in the past but can anyone confirm that this is a legit bank? What happens when the fixed rate term comes to an end? Thank you 

eskbanker

https://savings.zenith-bank.co.uk/apply/6-month-470 answers the maturity question:

When the deposit matures the funds will be transferred back to the bank account details provided by you in the online application

Obviously the time to verify the legitimacy of a financial institution is before funding an account with them, but they are FCA regulated and FSCS protected, as with all others shown on MSE (unless specifically labelled otherwise):

https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=001b000000MfbBBAAZ

Eyeful

Learn to use these registers for your protection.
FCA register to get the FRN of a company  
FSCS register to check if it is covered up to £85k by the FSCS 

Example: Zenith Bank
https://register.fca.org.uk/s/search?q=zenith bank&type=Companies
FRN 451720
Now type this number in to register below & how much you will save there
https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/check-your-money-is-protected/

This will tell you if your are protected or not

subjecttocontract

I've had a few fixed rate accounts with Zenith (in my case all via the Raisin platform), they have all been ok with no problems.

shortwriter

Thanks, everyone. I received an email today confirming receipt of my funds which makes me feel a lot better. I've read a lot of complaints from people not receiving their funds on maturity for a long time afterward, and generally complaining about poor customer service. So we'll see, I guess

VNX

shortwriter said:

I've just opened a 6 month fixed rate account with Zenith using the link from MSE. Should have done some research but assumed it was OK as on MSE. I'm now worrying that this is not a trustworthy bank and my money has been lost. The telephone number appears to be manned from a woman in her kitchen who can't answer my questions. I did get an email confirming I had set up an account but nothing confirming my deposit. It all seems very unprofessional and because there is no online access to the account I can't check whether my money has been received. I see others have expressed concerns in the past but can anyone confirm that this is a legit bank? What happens when the fixed rate term comes to an end? Thank you 

I wouldn’t be happy putting my money with them on this basis, they are a genuine institution and protected but I don’t like no online access 

Albermarle

VNX said:

shortwriter said:

I've just opened a 6 month fixed rate account with Zenith using the link from MSE. Should have done some research but assumed it was OK as on MSE. I'm now worrying that this is not a trustworthy bank and my money has been lost. The telephone number appears to be manned from a woman in her kitchen who can't answer my questions. I did get an email confirming I had set up an account but nothing confirming my deposit. It all seems very unprofessional and because there is no online access to the account I can't check whether my money has been received. I see others have expressed concerns in the past but can anyone confirm that this is a legit bank? What happens when the fixed rate term comes to an end? Thank you 

I wouldn’t be happy putting my money with them on this basis, they are a genuine institution and protected but I don’t like no online access 

They are bit in the dark ages still.