Boards
name and rate your bank
co-op
customer service - good. always pleasant. pick up the phone in good time.
availability of cash - money on tap.
bills - clear and concise.
time it takes for a card payment to show online - sometimes 3 days!! what the hell, man.
overall - they seem nice
bank of scotland
awful
BoS
fine. 5/10
Bank of Scotland/Halifax: wanks
They've lost documents for my credit card application THREE TIMES.
First Direct
customer service - 24/7 phone serviced answered within 3 rings
availability of cash - £500 limit cash withdrawal which is the largest limit I've had
bills - all online, any questions answered quickly
time it takes for a card payment to show online - Pretty quick, the cash gets debited straight away anyway
Bonus criteria:
Online service - excellent
App - not on android
9.5/10
Is the app not on android anymore?
I've just moved away from first direct (despite really liking them) to Nationwide, because they offered a better deal for a mortgage if I banked with them.
Anyway, I had a first direct app.
Well, look at that
there is one! Searched for it when I first joined and hadn't bothered since. Cheers!
10/10 bank review
Natwest
It's a bank, it does bank things, and nothing out of the oridnary
Though major props for the emergency cash feature when you lose your debit card. 6/10
Halifax
Customer service: bit shoddy. Phoned up the other day to change address things after boyfriend was able to do his over the phone (same account). Was told I couldn't, as I'd never signed up for phone banking. So went into a branch the next day to sort it, but FUCKING HELL IT HAD BEEN SORTED ALREADY the useless pricks.
Fraud prevention: Much better than Santander who I was with before (who didn't notice £600 go missing by a fraudster) but that said I've had my debit card blocked TWICE without any notification cos they thought there was some fraud happening (there wasn't).
Online transfers and payments: fiddly. If you want to pay someone you've never paid before, you have to go through an automated phone call rigmarole thing. It's rubbish.
Other bits: £5/interest a month ain't bad. Plus I have their Clairty credit card which means I can withdraw cash abroad for free.
In summary: too lazy to change/10.
basically ^this
have a beef with them re: an insurance claim from four years ago. but never bothered to change bank. £5 per month reward fee.
should move to santander as their 123 account is lucrative.
In summary: too lazy to change/10
Santander are awful. Really wouldn't recommend them.
Had a current account for a few years but so, so many instances of accounts being blocked without any notice we just got fed up of it. Then the actual REAL fraud was the nail in the coffin. Against my better judgement I opened an ISA with them earlier this year, transferred by M&S one into it and heard nothing. A few weeks later I phoned and asked where my money was, and they said "oh, it's not been transferred over because you filled the form in wrong." I asked why they hadn't contacted me about it and they said "it's not our problem, you need to contact your current ISA provider." WHAT THE HELL?? Useless. So my ISA's still with M&S and I closed the Santander account the other day, the idiots.
A phonecall to make a payment online?
What's the point in that?
I have the same with Lloyds
Fucking stupid.
If you want to pay someone you've never paid before
then they call you to verify it's ACTUALLY you who's doing it. IIRC a number comes up on the online banking screen and when they call you, you have to recite it? IDK, the boyfriend deals with it thankfully.
coop have a little card reader thing
cutting edge shit
those card things are a pile of fucking wank.
absolute bullshit concept and execution.
theyre fine
You must have sausage fingers or something
RBS
HSBC
EVIL/10
to be honest they've always kept my money safe and never screwed me around
Lloyds TSB
The only issue I have is that while it's fine to extend your overdraft online you have to call up to reduce it. Everything else tickety boo/10.
is 1 or 10 the most?
1 is bad 10 is good
like every out of 10 scale in the history of ever
ignore the fat chump
what about the music chart top 10?
what about it?
1 is the best
Co-op, errr.....have you read this?
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/aug/29/co-operative-bank-loses-709m
I'm with Santander
Best feature - When in Spain, you can withdraw cash from Santander ATMS at market rate with no fees.
stuff like that never affects the average worm
remember all those turkeys queuing for days outside northern rock....laughable
I know, but people and money never behave in rational manner.
Also applies to money markets, hence the mess that we're in.
Barclays
Customer Service - Not bad, not great either. Can wait a while on the phone, though they've always been very friendly and helpful when you get through.
Availability of Cash - Very happy to give it out. They gave a credit card for crissakes, with a far bigger allowance than needed.
Bills - Pretty straightforward.
Time it takes for a card payment to show online - Quick as you like
Overall - A bit 'Evil Empire', but no real complaints. Their online security is fiddly as fuck, but I'm sure it works.
Santander
123 account.
Good: get about £12 a month cash back per month (as our mortgage is with them too) and 3% interest on our savings.
Bad: Customer service and internet backing is a bit rubbish. WHY can't I overpay my mortgage online? That just seems like it should be a thing.
Also have an HSBC current account, no complaints with them.
Rank your bank?
Barclays. Pretty good.
Barclays
8/10
helped me sort shit when I got robbed, nothing else to report
National Bank Of Islam
decent.
Customer service in branches - (anecdotal tip)
For good customer service, I always use a branch in the affluent part of town. The staff are friendly, helpful, understanding and patient because they spend all day dealing with polite and reasonable customers within their catchment area. Kensington and the City of London Santander is always stress free.
The same cannot be said of Peckham and Lewisham Santander. Never again. I feel sorry for the staff. I'm sure they are nice, but have been worn down by their catchment area.
This doesn't apply to the Canary Wharf Santander - if you're non-white, the staff assume you are a local immigrant/overseas worker who speaks English poorly and go into condescending mode.
Same thing for supermarket service and you get the best deals in the middle-class catchment areas - competition for the yummy mummy pound (as reliably informed by my sister).
I have a few banks I deal with
Halifax - give me free money, but advertise to me before I can get onto online banking. Keep taking accounts of mine offline. Cancelled a direct debit without my authorisation or asking. Were good at paying me back some PPI though, but that's because they lied to me when they gave me a credit card.
Overall: Wankers/10
First Direct - top drawer, cheap, great mortgage, infact they paid me £100 for getting the account I needed to open my mortgage which only cost £99, so they paid me a quid to arrange it basically. Not pissed me off once in 30 months with them. Call centres really are friendly.
Awesome/10
RBS - Used to bank with these at work. Depends who your relationship manager is, but the internet banking for business really is excellent and their call centres are friendly and comparatively efficient.
I like them/10
Barclays - Our current work bankers are really worse than useless. Generally have to ask the RM (we're on our 3rd one and nothing improves) five or six times before anything gets done. Actually, that's generous. Missed deadlines, broken promises and a dreadful internet banking system.
Appaling/10
Barclays
Customer service: not much experience. They blocked my card when the cinema swiped instead of used the chip and pin system. They repeatedly called and sent SMSes to ask if it was fraudulent activity.
Availability of cash: gave me a credit card as a student. It expired before I used it.
Bills: Nice icons -- Ping It, contactless, direct debits all carry a little pictogram, which I approve of.
Other: I think their online and mobile banking options are excellent. I worriedly check my balance wherever I am.
smile
No gripes. Been with them for well over a decade with current accounts, credit cards, and loans. All offline queries sorted efficiently by phone. Their online banking interface has barely changed since they started (which is mostly a bonus - KISS innit). Not mad impressed with the way they've been pushy in punting third party security software at times in the past, but they seem to have knocked that on the head now. Not a PLC, so not in the column marked 'evil', which is nice.
Their smilemore account is fairly decent - twelve quid a month or sutin for worldwide travel insurance, car breakdown/homestart cover, and phone insurance for the whole household, plus airport lounge freebies.
smile/10
Shout out to Yorkshire Building Society, who we have our mortgage with - all is well with them, and they come recommended.
you've pretty much sold them to me now
*investigates*
just a fackin subsidary of coop, innit
yorkshire bank
just whatever isn't it
they keep my money safe
Chris the Bank
5.6