Natwest / rbs

thefirs

My card arrived today, just 11 days after I sent the paperwork. Very disappointed with the £3.5k limit (on a salary of £37.5k, homeowner etc), raised upon query to 4.1k reviewable in 6 months.

CS advisor unable to tell me how to register for online servicing - "call back tomorrow and ask for the internet team". Unable to set up a direct debit over the phone, I have to post them a piece of paper, when I receive it from them. Unable to tell me if the BT requested upon application was yet actioned.

Spouse's card not issued as requested.

Hmmm.. if this clunky service is going to be the order of the day, have to watch these muppets closely.

Anyone managed to get dosh from linemypocket for an application yet?

CrazyIndianZA

Well...4 years ago, with NO UK history (credit or otherwise), NW gave me 3k. Since then, it has gone up without asking to 10k.

On the balance transfer...no idea - it is not something that I have tried before and not something that was an option in Africa.

thefirs

thefirs wrote:

CS advisor unable to tell me how to register for online servicing - "call back tomorrow and ask for the internet team"

All is revealed. There is no internet service for non-current account holders. The cheery chappy at the online department was clearly embarrassed, agreed with my observation that they must be the only major financial institution left in the UK without such a service, and repeatedly said he would pass on my comments as "quite a few other people had asked about it". Seems it's all to do with being part of the old Southend Access servicing centre.

Oh dear, no wonder they can't afford to lend me even the price of a secondhand Ford.

simonleblank

Nat West have really hissed me off. I applied on-line for cc with £15,000 bt and was accepted. I have moved all of my existing cash into isa's (using my wife and 16 year old son as well) and into new savings accounts. Got my card through yesterday with a £2800 limit. I phoned to complain. Spoke to several customer service advisors, whose understanding of this cc was limited. I am totally upset and intend to close the account. Do you think I have redress under the Banking code?

colinw

Got my form yesterday. I think I will give this card a miss.

Stonk

Received RBS today. Very quick turnaround - under a week from application to activation.

However, the limit was only £3,100, compared to the £10K-plus that I am used to being offered. This is bound to be partly to do with the large balances I have on two other 0% cards, but I still thought it somewhat stingy. An alternative take is that their computer detects I'm a stoozer and has deliberately offered me a low limit, in which case hats off to them for having some intelligence!

I tried to sound despondant when I called Customer Services, saying I had wanted to BT, but the limit was not very high. They raised it a few hundred. I BT'ed it anyway, because any amount of free money is better than none. I can't see the point in cancelling a card purely because the limit is low. Are you trying to spite them? Honestly, they won't feel it.

Morgit

I'm new to the site and the forums, so let me say "Hi!" first.

I applied for the Nat West 0% card last Saturday, with the intention of transferring balance from another card.

I was reading with interest the "Tarting" guide, and was surprised to be advised never to purchase using a card you've BT'd to. The Nat West one I got has 0% for 9 months for BT and purchases, so I assume that I'd be ok to use that for purchases after the BT?

I currently have no idea what limit I'd have on the card, but understand that my credit score is reasonable. (We had a £6.5K limit on a Halifax card).

I have another question though... try not to shout at me! My wife and I have an account card with MFI, which they opeed on our behalf when we bought a kitchen last year. I'd be okay to transfer the remaining £2K to the NW card - along with the low-level balance on the Halifax card?

Stonk

The reason for not putting purchases on a 0% BT card is that the purchases are not usually at 0%, and if you make payments to cover your purchases then actually they get allocated towards reducing the BT-ed balance instead. So you end up paying the purchase interest rate on your purchases for a long time.

However, you've got a card offering 0% on purchases as well, so I don't see any reason not to put as much of both types of transaction on there as you possibly can! First priority is to BT onto it the high-interest debts from your other cards, then max it up to the limit with purchases while saving the money you would have spent in a savings account.

Just be careful not to do any transactions that are not at 0%, such as cash advances (cash withdrawals, buying foreign currency) or using credit card cheques. And remember to pay it off one way or another before your 0% ends ...

RichyRich

Morgit wrote:

I have another question though... try not to shout at me! My wife and I have an account card with MFI, which they opeed on our behalf when we bought a kitchen last year. I'd be okay to transfer the remaining £2K to the NW card - along with the low-level balance on the Halifax card?

Don't worry I won't shout at you! So long as your credit limit is high enough there should be no reason why you can't transfer your MFI and Halifax balances onto your NatWest credit cards at all. In fact, that's pretty much what it's designed for. The only way there should be a problem is if you have a credit limit less than what you want to transfer, in which case you could simply transfer as much as NatWest will allow you from MFI to NatWest.

Hope this helps.

By the way, I've had several cards with RBS/NatWest and have always found the staff at the Southend call centre very helpful. I don't see what the call centre being a former Access one has to do with accessing your account on the Internet though. As far as I know you can access Mint cards on the Internet, but the only reason I can get my NatWest one online is because of my bank account being with NatWest. Totally stupid.

realaledrinker

Very often cards will not allow you to BT from store cards, so your MFI one might not be possible.