your Bank recommendations please

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 11:23

thinking of switching banks very soon - can anyone advise on their experiences with different banks?

best charges, best service etc...

thanks

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 11:25

All banks are the same, they are fine until you get overdrawn.

HSBC seem to have quicker processes than other banks in my experience.

System · 09/07/07 - 11:26

Royal Bank of Scotland is great, never go with clydesdale their a nightmare

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 11:26

Depends what type of account you are looking for? I've been with Natwest for ages and any problem I've had has been corrected as soon as possible. Halifax can be good for savings, but I've heard their customer service is not always that brilliant.

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 11:39

Smile are excellent, much better than the high street banks IMO.

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 11:52

I have nothing but praise for LloydsTSB. Really great service. They have always been very helpful, even when I have not been the best customer. I have been with them now for 3.5 years and have never had a problem.

On the other hand I would avoid Natwest like the plague!

fi~ · 09/07/07 - 12:02

Lisa1986 wrote: »

Royal Bank of Scotland is great,

thats who im with and never had a problem

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 12:24

Lloyds have always been great with me well at least 95% of the time. the other 5% is due to my not working.

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 12:41

The Co-Operative bank is fairly good (they are like most other banks with overdraft charges). They are also behind Smile i believe.

CANDYANGEL · 09/07/07 - 13:04

I'm with Natwest and i've had no problems with them and like being with this bank .

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 13:23

I've been with the Halifax since I was little, never had a single problem with them, and they've seen me through being a teenager, whilst I was at uni (they allowed me a reasonable overdraft but never let it get out of hand) and now I'm at work.

I recently had a problem with some card fraud and their customer services were excellent, did everything I needed them to do really quickly, and put my mind at rest even though the whole situation was very upsetting

Also, if you're going to be putting more than £1,000 in every month they pay really good interest rates - can't say that affects me though, as I spend it as soon as it's paid in

shantom · 09/07/07 - 15:56

*Joe* wrote: »

I have nothing but praise for LloydsTSB. Really great service. They have always been very helpful, even when I have not been the best customer. I have been with them now for 3.5 years and have never had a problem.

On the other hand I would avoid Natwest like the plague!

I wished i had your experience with Lloyds TSB, they have been really bad with me, Natwest was ok until i got overdrawn, one of their members of staff actually lied about something to me and it cost me £100. Im with Barclays now, great service, i have gone overdrawn twice, they charged me both times, i rang them up and they took the charge off my account straight away. My friend is also with Barclays and she too has had a great service.
I have read good reviews about Smile.

housewife · 09/07/07 - 16:07

Well im with natwest but im not giving you my sort code. lol!

belive940 · 09/07/07 - 16:47

fi~ wrote: »

thats who im with and never had a problem

Another vote for RBS. Never had a problem with them always been happy to help us with various things.:)

Mad Pixie · 09/07/07 - 16:55

Does it have to be a bank?

I had nothing but trouble with some of the big guys, particularly LloydsTSB, so about 5 years ago i switched to Nationwide Building Society and never had a problem with them.

They do everything a bank does but as they don't have shareholders as such, they don't think purely about profit!

Babe Rainbow · 09/07/07 - 16:57

Mad Pixie wrote: »

Does it have to be a bank?

I had nothing but trouble with some of the big guys, particularly LloydsTSB, so about 5 years ago i switched to Nationwide Building Society and never had a problem with them.

They do everything a bank does but as they don't have shareholders as such, they don't think purely about profit!

Ditto - Nationwide are brilliant

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 19:13

you need to consider what you want - halifax for example have high interest on a current account - useful if for example you get paid but the bills don't go out for a week or two, or if you can't be bothered transferring money to a high interest savings account each month. Nationwide don't charge if you use your cash point card abroad - useful if you are abroad a lot. Royal bank of scotland are very good, but charge for some types of account - but give fantastic discounts.

Decide what you want and then choose.

everyone will have good and bad stories of customer service - with whatever service industry you are discussing!

d0lphin · 09/07/07 - 19:15

Halifax were a nightmare for us.

The amount of interest we got on our current account in no way compensates for their incompetence when changing our account over. After 9 months of hell we changed to Barclays and Nationwide - I would particularly recommend Nationwide.

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 19:18

halifax were a TOTAL nightmare when I decided to leave them!

d0lphin · 09/07/07 - 19:23

tvaddict37 wrote: »

halifax were a TOTAL nightmare when I decided to leave them!

yeah we also had trouble leaving them!

They continued to take our mortgage payments out of an account that was closed! (don't ask, long story, you would think it's impossible to get an overdraft on a closed account but oh no)

We started the complaints procedure but they kept ignoring us so we abandoned it as we couldn't stand the stress!

Even this week we got a letter detailing a change in our account even though the account was closed last December. :mad:

madasaflake · 09/07/07 - 19:38

Been with Nationwide for years - everything is with them - and they have always done us well. Good interest rates as well.

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 20:22

Have been with Co-op Bank for over 10 years and have nothing but praise...

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 20:58

Abbey have been great with me, for business and personal banking.

Guru Tart · 09/07/07 - 21:53

williams96 wrote: »

Depends what type of account you are looking for? I've been with Natwest for ages and any problem I've had has been corrected as soon as possible. Halifax can be good for savings, but I've heard their customer service is not always that brilliant.

I agree with this. I have family who are with Halifax and I have to admit I have never seen a small queue in their branch ever. Always a very very long one.

Natwest on the other hand has been great for ages with me, since I was a wee lad.

gillypanda · 09/07/07 - 21:57

Another vote for Nationwide here. Their online banking is brilliant, and some of their cashpoint machines in the branches are better than the cashier service! Our local machine even gives you a photocopy of any cheques you pay in

[Deleted User] · 09/07/07 - 23:00

I'm going to throw Alliance & Leicester into the mix.

I left Barclays, who I'd been with since I was a youngster, for their online account which pays good interest as does the linked savings account.

Their switching service was excellent, they kept us informed every step of the way and have had absolutely no problems with them at all.

And it's so nice getting £5.53 per month interest (as it was this month) rather than the 0.01p I used to get off Barclays every quarter.

I did try to join Lloyds TSB before I read about the A&L account as that was paying good interest as well but found their customer service to be a joke. They sent me a letter telling me to go into a branch to provide ID and address verification so I dutifully went along. The staff there didn't know anything about such an account and I had to try and memorise what it said in the letter. They then spread all my personal documents out all over a desk in the middle of a branch so everyone could read them. Oh and then they lost all the paperwork! Needless to say, after that, I didn't pursue the application and got bugger all in either compensation for the inconvenience or as a incentive to proceed when I made a complaint.

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your Bank recommendations please

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