iWeb Change to Scottish Widows

Rollinghome

I've always found the branding of "Scottish Widows" very bizarre.  Is it only intended for Scottish widows, or is it run by Scottish widows?  And what is that young woman doing trotting about dressed as a come-and-catch-me nun?

So I find adopting that weird name for Iweb odd, when I suspect that the typical user of the two brands and the products they buy is very different. A while back, Iweb had a £200 sign up fee and users were likely to be holders of larger portfolios with the intent of avoiding the extortionate ad valorem fees of the likes of HL. I'd have expected Lloyds to try to steer Scottish Widows customers to one of their more expensive brands. I wouldn't expect much interest from current Iweb clients for Scottish Widows products.

If the intention is to segue towards higher fees then they'll need to keep an eye on all the trading fee-free platforms now available which undercut all the HSDL brands, including Iweb.

jimjames

ColdIron said:

Does this mean that IWeb have a SIPP offering again via SW after ditching AJ Bell?

Do SW offer a modern SIPP anyway? I can't see much beyond workplace pensions, stakeholder pensions etc with limited fund choices

Well Halifax/Lloyds do so I wonder if that's a SW product underneath. It would make sense that business was kept within the group rather than paying out to a third party like AJ Bell.

https://www.halifax.co.uk/investing/start-investing/share-dealing-services/sipp/transfers.html
https://www.lloydsbank.com/investing/help-and-guidance/i-already-invest-with-lloyds/sipp-explained.html

mebu60

Rollinghome said:

I've always found the branding of "Scottish Widows" very bizarre.  Is it only intended for Scottish widows, or is it run by Scottish widows?  And what is that young woman doing trotting about dressed as a come-and-catch-me nun?

Bring back 'widow' #3 I say (Amanda Lamb 1999 - 2005). 

Albermarle

boingy said:

wmb194 said:

someone said:

Kinda strange as they recently rebanded iWeb a little. Maybe this this was just some prep work to merge the offering.

Yes. I suspect someone's belatedly woken up to the idea of trying to reinvigorate the far stronger and better recognised SW brand and this is any easy way to do it. iWeb has always been a weird one in the Lloyds stable, IIRC it was just a small dot com era broker Halifax bought in 2003.

Having had dealings with Scottish Widows over the years I consider it an inferior brand to iWeb !
But I can see that this may be a minority opinion. If this is the start of screwing up iWeb I guess we'll all be looking for the next best replacement..

There have been plenty of comments on these forums about their clunky website, underinvestment etc .
I think though they have recently been through a period of upgrading their IT, so maybe there will be some improvements.

Do SW offer a modern SIPP anyway? I can't see much beyond workplace pensions, stakeholder pensions etc with limited fund choices

I do not think they offer a SIPP, but they do have a personal pension offering. 'Ready Made Pension' - just tell them your age and proposed retirement age and they do the rest.

mebu60

Email just received: 

We’ve got some exciting news to share.

This autumn, IWeb Share Dealing will become Scottish Widows Share Dealing. Like IWeb, Scottish Widows is part of Lloyds Banking Group. Scottish Widows is one of the UK’s most trusted financial brands, with over 200 years of experience helping people plan for their financial future.

It’s a new name, but the same low-cost, reliable investing.

What’s coming your way:

You’ll still receive the same Share Dealing service – with some great new features, shaped by your feedback and backed by the strength of Scottish Widows. Here’s what’s coming soon:

• A brand new app – trade on the go, anytime

• Free regular investing – invest monthly through our new plan without paying the usual £5 commission

• A fresh new look – we’re refreshing the design, but our service will stay the same

• See what’s changing and how it benefits you

 

What’s not changing

Your charges will stay the same. You’ll still enjoy:

• No account fee for your Share Dealing Account or Stocks & Shares ISA

• Commission-free international trading (1.5% FX rate still applies)

• £5 commission per trade for UK shares and funds

david72

While IWeb may not be so well known, I’m rather surprised that Scottish Widows is apparently seen by some as a “trusted” brand. It has always had the feel to me of an ancient (literally so) business somehow still shuffling along, which probably hasn’t kept up with the times (societally or technically) and is probably only too happy to charge as high fees as it can get away with, too. I mean, the very name is a constant reminder (and antiquatedly sexistly so) that it’s not really intended to benefit you, only your partner after you die, not exactly cheery!

It's also not entirely clear from the announcement blurb whether IWeb customers will be moved to and restricted to(?) an app-only system, being rather silent about whether a standard web interface will still be available (which many people find much easier to use and refer to when dealing with stocks and shares investments - trying to look up detailed share/fund information on a small mobile phone screen is really very far from optimal)?

(It also rather looks as though Scottish Widows have been accumulating systems and technical debt almost as badly as Clydesdale/Northern Rock (Virgin), just look at all the login links, what a mess (who even knew that all the gathered dust in the back offices had even evolved into its own embedded "bank" at some point?)! And there's a definite underlying vibe of many of these systems more being intended for parasitic fee-charging middlemen to login in to "on behalf of" their parasitised hosts, sorry, clients (Scottish Widows has never really struck me as an actual directly "customer-facing" brand, more one of those shadowy grey intermediaries only ever "recommended" by middlemen/salespimps with vested interests in ensnaring people who do not DYOR) - I guess all these layers are maybe what happens when you're a femme fatale widow who causes the death of a succession of husbands in order to live off the various insurance policies…?)

GeoffTF

ColdIron said:

Does this mean that IWeb have a SIPP offering again via SW after ditching AJ Bell?

Do SW offer a modern SIPP anyway? I can't see much beyond workplace pensions, stakeholder pensions etc with limited fund choices

Yes and yes. The Lloyds and Halifax brands already have SW SIPPs, and existing AJB SIPPs are being moved to SW SIPPs by default.

EthicsGradient

david72 said:

While IWeb may not be so well known, I’m rather surprised that Scottish Widows is apparently seen by some as a “trusted” brand. It has always had the feel to me of an ancient (literally so) business somehow still shuffling along, which probably hasn’t kept up with the times (societally or technically) and is probably only too happy to charge as high fees as it can get away with, too. I mean, the very name is a constant reminder (and antiquatedly sexistly so) that it’s not really intended to benefit you, only your partner after you die, not exactly cheery!

It's also not entirely clear from the announcement blurb whether IWeb customers will be moved to and restricted to(?) an app-only system, being rather silent about whether a standard web interface will still be available (which many people find much easier to use and refer to when dealing with stocks and shares investments - trying to look up detailed share/fund information on a small mobile phone screen is really very far from optimal)?

(It also rather looks as though Scottish Widows have been accumulating systems and technical debt almost as badly as Clydesdale/Northern Rock (Virgin), just look at all the login links, what a mess (who even knew that all the gathered dust in the back offices had even evolved into its own embedded "bank" at some point?)! And there's a definite underlying vibe of many of these systems more being intended for parasitic fee-charging middlemen to login in to "on behalf of" their parasitised hosts, sorry, clients (Scottish Widows has never really struck me as an actual directly "customer-facing" brand, more one of those shadowy grey intermediaries only ever "recommended" by middlemen/salespimps with vested interests in ensnaring people who do not DYOR) - I guess all these layers are maybe what happens when you're a femme fatale widow who causes the death of a succession of husbands in order to live off the various insurance policies…?)

I don't think it will be app-only - this is their explanation:

How will I log in?

Keep logging in as usual for now through your IWeb account. After the change, you’ll get a new login page, but your login details won’t change. We’ll guide you to the new pages (like the login screen). Just remember to update any saved links after the change.

You’ll be able to log in as you do now as well as through the Scottish Widows app. If you’re not already using the app, you’ll need to register with your account details - these won’t change.

Changes to IWeb | IWeb Share Dealing

Zekko

I specifically use IWeb because their fee structure. I don't mind their basic website - it's functional for my needs.

If their fee structure changes, then I'll re-assess, and simply move my funds if I can get a better deal elsewhere!

Eco_Miser

Note that while SW have an existing app, the share dealing service will be using "A brand new app", i.e. untested so far, also incorporating the existing functionality.