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Frightened of Unusual Banks recommended on mse? Are they safe?
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Good tale Bigwheels. Years ago (I think 25+), Mrs UKX and I were looking for a home for 50k for a while and a deposit with my bank, NatWest in conjunction with Norwich Union as it was then, caught my eye. A 5 year fixed, but I can’t remember the full details. We saw the bank advisor who was at pains to emphasise many times that she would not receive any commission on this transaction. So we mulled it over and decided to go ahead. We deposited the cheque and sat back. A few days later the paperwork came through and straight away I spotted that indeed she didn’t get commission, but NatWest did - to the tune of £1500 from Norwich Union I think it was. Straight on the phone to cancel and it was back in my account next day. Although I’ve been with NW for 50 years, I still check and re-check everything. I refuse to be tucked up!
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A feature common to many scams including those promoted on Facebook and other social media is that they claim to be authorised and have FSCS protection when this is not true. So it is imperative that you verify the claim.
A Financial Services Register check is the absolute minimum one should do if interested in dealing with a new firm you have not used before. This will also provide you with genuine contact details (including website) of the firm so that you don't fall for a cloned firm scam.
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i always get the banks from the MSE site so i can't imagine MSE would display them in the league tables if they are fraudulent banks? and if they are fraudulent banks, it would become pretty obvious pretty soon so MSE would know about it and not showcase them so to speak?
i also look at reviews on the banks so such scam would soon be flagged up everywhere in the reviews. hence me forever asking for personal experience from members on here on banks that I have not heard of, even when they are flagged up on the MSE website.
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One would hope MSE would be adequately vetting the providers they list in their tables, but that would not stop me performing my own checks. MSE would not be held liable for your losses if they were ever to make a mistake. Although I don't think they've ever listed a scam, in the past they have listed accounts where FSCS savings protection did not apply and this was not made clear. In the past they also listed a cash ISA provided by a firm with a very dubious past, which was subject to regulatory enforcement and went bust within a year of being recommended, leaving people's money locked up for several months.
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On the subject of MSE's fallibility, this recent thread challenged their claim that a currency broker was "FCA authorised" - it was corrected as a result of being highlighted here (I assume) but that wouldn't have been any consolation to anyone who took it at face value before that:
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I used to work in the same building as HTB. I can confirm they are real. :)
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i feel that as a large website that gives people money saving tips that they should do some due dilligence before putting bank names into league tables. fair enough they are not responsible for the league tables and they are not advertising the banks in any way, however as a large platform, they are making the "unknown" banks very visible so it is almost like indirect advertising for the banks as that is how social media works, and so I do think a large website like this has some responsibility in doing some basic due dilligence before hosting a "name" on their website, and certainly not to host or even mention a name that is fraudulent and scam without the warning as such!
just like newspapers shouldn't print false information about someone as they can be sued for libel! or the bbc posting fake news.
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If you are trying to argue the case for being able to take information at face value, I'd avoid mentioning newspapers! 😂
As has been discussed and exemplified, it is unwise to rely entirely on a large website like MSE to do your due diligence for you. If you choose not to perform basic checks that could protect you then, contrary to your belief, the responsibility for your actions is all yours.
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It's very quick to check whether a firm (within a group, if applicable) has the full FSCS protection, and this is all the skepsis and reassurance I need if the interest rate and/or bonus offer are worth my while. I have accounts with all the challenger banks, and with a large number of Building Societies. The only group of providers I don't usually go with are Credit Unions as their rates are generally unattractive and they sometimes have rather opaque T&Cs. Going by the FSCS website, they are also the group with the most failures.
Once in operation, I keep an eye on interest rates in my accounts and move my money if the rate is no longer competitive, but I usually leave a token amount behind in case there is reason to go back for the same, or a new, account with the same provider. For example, I have had a 1p reserve in Marcus since September 2020.
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even the bbc? lol
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