Alliance & Leicester Plus account

CannyJock

I get £50 for opening an A&L Premier Direct account from cashback sites. Put money in then take it out to meet their minimum funding requirement, close it when the cashback clears, wait 3 months then repeat.

I only started doing this after they whacked me for bank charges when their online banking didn't transfer funds same-day between A&L accounts (A&L Premier Direct, to A&L Premier Current to allow a monthly payment to my A&L Regular Saver - payment out of Current to Regular saver was actioned first and they refused to refund the £ 50 charges for being "overdrawn" for x number of hours).

So I've had mixed experiences but now make a point of getting compensation while the high court case has everyone in limbo.

PROLIANT

terafarma wrote: »

The few posts above with similar, or near similar experiences can't all be wrong with regards to Nationwide, can they?

If your banking experience with Alliance & Leicester has been good fine, but not everyone can vouch for such with them. You seem to have a bias and soft spot for A&L which I do not begrudge you.

Nationwide's internet and in-branch banking can not be faulted for clarity, ease of use and simplicity of banking transactions.

Get real and see the rubbish that A&L's online banking is all about

I have been with the Halifax, Lloyds, NPBS, Barclays and I use internet banking everyday almost to manage my finances, so yes other people may have issues but most of the posts regarding A&L and most other banking complaints boil down to people not having enough money in there accounts to pay direct debits...nail on the head, when it doesn’t swing in there favour out comes the dummy, I switched to A&L because of there services and account facilities and the fact they were the only bank who would give me a proper current account with an overdraft facility, as for there internet banking service well I’m sorry but there service is more secure than any of my previous banks, they tell you 48 hours in advance when a DD is going to be presented to your account and it is so easy to use, at the end of the day it is personal preference and people are different but hey that post was a bit over the top and misleading with regard the online service, come on.

groovychick69

I have been with AL since sept and have had nothing but trouble. I opened 2 accounts with them, 1st 1 no problems, 2 nd one they transferred all the payments from the 1st one and didnt set up the standing order from 1 to the other meaning that i got charged when a DD went out and there was no funds. Finally got the situation sorted in dec and jan, feb was no probs. March (today) nightmare!!!! Standing order didnt go over because it is a day late due to bank holiday even though today isnt a bank holiday, got charged another £25 for the privilage of them paying it!!!! My wages went in today and the DD went out today they arent affected by the bank holiday however it appears that AL are. Charges dept are going to contact me but i'm still waiting for the letter from Dec which they have sent twice!!! Funny how i get my bills but not their letters!!!

Internet banking is a joke, with HSBC i could move the money in the blink of an eye, with AL it's takes the rotation of the earth!!!

Sorry to moan but i'm off, they will be getting no more of my money, off to lloyds in the morning, branch within walking distance and internet banking which updates instantly!!

terafarma

PROLIANT wrote: »

I have been with the Halifax, Lloyds, NPBS, Barclays and I use internet banking everyday almost to manage my finances, so yes other people may have issues but most of the posts regarding A&L and most other banking complaints boil down to people not having enough money in there accounts to pay direct debits...nail on the head, when it doesn’t swing in there favour out comes the dummy, I switched to A&L because of there services and account facilities and the fact they were the only bank who would give me a proper current account with an overdraft facility, as for there internet banking service well I’m sorry but there service is more secure than any of my previous banks, they tell you 48 hours in advance when a DD is going to be presented to your account and it is so easy to use, at the end of the day it is personal preference and people are different but hey that post was a bit over the top and misleading with regard the online service, come on.

PROLIANT
I have nothing more to add with regards to A&L's online banking. May I refer you to groovychick69's post above/below. I rest my case!

PROLIANT

groovychick69 wrote: »

I have been with AL since sept and have had nothing but trouble. I opened 2 accounts with them, 1st 1 no problems, 2 nd one they transferred all the payments from the 1st one and didnt set up the standing order from 1 to the other meaning that i got charged when a DD went out and there was no funds. Finally got the situation sorted in dec and jan, feb was no probs. March (today) nightmare!!!! Standing order didnt go over because it is a day late due to bank holiday even though today isnt a bank holiday, got charged another £25 for the privilage of them paying it!!!! My wages went in today and the DD went out today they arent affected by the bank holiday however it appears that AL are. Charges dept are going to contact me but i'm still waiting for the letter from Dec which they have sent twice!!! Funny how i get my bills but not their letters!!!

Internet banking is a joke, with HSBC i could move the money in the blink of an eye, with AL it's takes the rotation of the earth!!!

Sorry to moan but i'm off, they will be getting no more of my money, off to lloyds in the morning, branch within walking distance and internet banking which updates instantly!!

Sorry to hear that you have had so much bother with A&L, you however are in a credit worthy situation where other banks will give you the facilities that you require which allows you to shop around, one thing to point out though, I have a lloyds account and money does not transfer instantly, it can take up to 3 banking days, I know cos when I transfered £300 out of my savings account to my current account they took the p**s. Good luck finding your new bank

Surfer

I am sure that is a deliberate ploy to ensure that you edn up with a penalty payment no matter how careful you are with your money. I still cannot understand why you end up in debit with them when you wages are paid into the cannot, i.e. wages ikn on a Friday, draw some money on the Friday but your statement shows that you have exceeded your limit on the Friday although you had nealry £200 in the account. Total rubbish internet banking operating with technology that is antiquated! I have no credit issues but I do not want an overdraft even though my balance sometimes drops to under £10.

greatsite_2

I closed my account because of there behind the times on line banking, I also got caught out by the lengh of time it took to transfer money between accounts

MarkyMarkD

Most of the comments here are covered by understanding the terms and conditions of the account. And many of them are no different for any other bank.

To have a go at a few in turn:

Transferring money in same day and expecting that to be on time to mee an outgoing direct debit or standing order

You can't do this with 90% of banks. Direct debits or standing orders are processed overnight just after midnight. Transferring money in on the same day from another account is too late. One or two banks let you do this, but most don't. It's not an A&L foible.

Cannyjock - you weren't overdrawn "for a few hours"; you failed to have funds in the account by close of the previous banking day, to meet your payment. That's what the Ts & Cs require (as 90% of banks Ts & Cs do).

Funds withdrawn not appearing online straight away

Your available balance is reduced instantly online for any ATM withdrawal or debit card spending. If you can't work out that a £10 difference between your statement balance and your available balance is because you've just withdrawn £10 from an ATM, then you need a better memory. Yes, it would be nice if transactions were listed straight away in detail, but that's not how it works. It doesn't exactly stress me.

Wages not being available on the day they are paid

I don't understand this point. My salary is available and showing online first thing in the morning (just after midnight) every single month. All BACS credits inwards, in fact, show first thing as they are processed overnight - before any outgoing amounts. How exactly were these funds credited to the account?

Once again the transaction might not show in the statement listing, but it's in the available balance which is what matters, and is what determines whether you can withdraw the money.

On-line time-out

The on-line time-out period is 15 minutes, not 5. And there is a pop-up which says "are you still using internet banking - press ok" which keeps it online. If you ignore the pop-up because you are engrossed in your e-mail, then you'll get logged off, but you don't have to.

This is actually less irritating than, for example, Egg who simply log you off without warning after 15 minutes.

"not reflecting a payee payment for 48 hours"

I don't know what this comment is supposed to mean. Outgoing payments hit the account when they hit the account, as with any other bank.

Delays with money moving from one A&L account to another

You can't make a standing order payment on a non-banking day. And if you had DDs due out on the first day back after the bank holiday (Tuesday) you needed funds in the account by the previous banking day (Thursday).


I'm not saying that A&L's internet banking is perfect - it's way from that. But it's perfectly possible to run your finances using the information it gives you. Nearly all the problems noted arise from people making wrong assumptions about how things work - most particularly, thinking they can move money on the day a payment is due, by which time it's in fact already too late.

Surfer

Marky just because you work for A & L don't try and blind us with science. Their Internet banking is the absolute pits, rubbish, years behind in technology, etc, etc, etc! Wages are paid in by BACs at midnight but because they are so far behind with their technology, withdrawals reflect that you have exceeded your overdraft for that day and not not change. What about when you make a payment directly out of the account. This payment is not reflected for 48 hours. Yes I am senile and sometimes cannot remember if I paid direct out of the account another account £100 or perhaps £120 as I have a load of negatives showing although wages were paid in that morning, ATM withdrawals not showing, also for nearly 48 hours, because it is a joint account, my wife may make a withdrawal but because this is not reflected and I am unable to mind read as yet, it is difficult to keep track and avoid going over the limit.

PROLIANT

Surfer wrote: »

Marky just because you work for A & L don't try and blind us with science. Their Internet banking is the absolute pits, rubbish, years behind in technology, etc, etc, etc! Wages are paid in by BACs at midnight but because they are so far behind with their technology, withdrawals reflect that you have exceeded your overdraft for that day and not not change. What about when you make a payment directly out of the account. This payment is not reflected for 48 hours. Yes I am senile and sometimes cannot remember if I paid direct out of the account another account £100 or perhaps £120 as I have a load of negatives showing although wages were paid in that morning, ATM withdrawals not showing, also for nearly 48 hours, because it is a joint account, my wife may make a withdrawal but because this is not reflected and I am unable to mind read as yet, it is difficult to keep track and avoid going over the limit.

The fact that the bank doesn’t reflect ATM Transactions in real time is irrelevant, the balance available is the figure you should go off, this is updated in real time and always shows an accurate figure.