Bank Accounts !

Briony

Briony

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O.K. can anyone help me here.

I have been with Allicance and Leicester for ages and have had no problems.

The problems have now started since they have switched to Santander !!!!!!!!!!!:bang:

1st I had all the trouble wiht the scammed debit card then they sent me another one which took 3 wekks and it came through as the same card which was wrong. Had to send me another new one out with new pin etc, got that after another 3 weeks.

I now cannot pay any money in through the Post Office as card had been declined when paying in yet I can get an account balance :shrug: spoke to them re this and have tried 3 post offices all the same, so then they told me that I could pay in at a Santander branch, so off I trot, you guessed it "Sorry" can't pay in here as wrong sort code on cheque book we do not have that sort code on our system :bang::bang::bang::help:

O.K. had enough going to change bank accounts, go to First Direct, "Can I open a new bank account please" answer "Only if you can deposit the mimimum of £1500 per month.

What is this world coming to :cuckoo:

Can someone tell me where I can open a normal bank account where I can deposit money in and take money out when I like no matter how much it is?

Please not Barclays as switched the farm business from that for various reasons.

Pleeeeeeeeeeeease can someone help me I am going mad and apart form keeping money nder the mattress I don't know what else to do:shrug:
 
HSBC for me. Bloody good service and deposit/withdraw as much as you like. Internet banking is slick, easy to use and secure without needing a calculator/thumbscanner/iris recognition.

I withdrew £2k for work last week over the counter and was told I didn't even need to ring ahead! Barclays have a cap of about £2! :lol:
 
HSBC and Natwest. Have had a bit of hassle with HSBC but nothing that hasn't been sorted with a phone call/visit to a branch (but not my local because it's too small for anything that requires a computer system :thinking:). Natwest has been absolutely trouble free.
 
smoothedit said:
HSBC for me. Bloody good service and deposit/withdraw as much as you like. Internet banking is slick, easy to use and secure without needing a calculator/thumbscanner/iris recognition.
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+1 :thumbs:
Been with them for years and they've been excellent to me.

They're also one of the few banks the govt didn't have to bail out when the industry went pear shape 18 months ago.
 
Also - when I was choosing bank accounts -I found that the big providers offer only a small cash incentive to switch to them. The smaller emerging banks all offer you much more - eg gifts, points etc etc but do so because they do not have fast bank transfer, internet banking etc (generalisation I know). Also you know your money is (relatively) safe with the big banks, and they will have service departments to cope.
 
I've been with HSBC since I was 18 (I'm now 35) and I have never had a problem with them. About 3 years ago I changed from a normal HSBC account to a First Direct account (which is still part of HSBC) because of my mortgage but I have still never had a problem with them. I suppose part of that is because I have a lot more than £1,500 a month paid in to the account. My girlfriend also has a First Direct Account and she probably pays in just under £1,500 a month (Probs about £1,400) and First Direct are fine with her.

I'd imagine if you rung them up and managed to speak to someone reasonable and told them you earn £x per month (assuming it's less than £1,500) and the full amount will go in direct from your employer (assuming you have an employer) then I reckon you'll get an account with most banks.
 
Been with Lloyds TSB for over 20 years with a standard "Classic" account. No fees for that and no problems so far. They don't seem to have any requirement to pay in a minimum amount each month, although if you pay in over £1000/month they pay interest on the first £7000 of your balance at up to 4% if you have their "Vantage" add on..
 
I wouldn't be happy using an online banking service regularly that doesn't require a card-reader to be perfectly honest....particulary with some of the drive-by hacks that are in the wild at the moment. Card-reader protects you completely from those attacks.
 
Been with Nat West for about thirty years and only ever had one small problem which was quickly sorted out

Have a look at their Advantage Gold account, extended warranty on stuff like cameras and laptops, free travel insurance, mobile phone cover and car breakdown too along with discounts at attractions

Well worth 12 quid a month and no i don't work for them, forgot to mention the 24 hour UK call centres
 
mid_gen said:
I wouldn't be happy using an online banking service regularly that doesn't require a card-reader to be perfectly honest....particulary with some of the drive-by hacks that are in the wild at the moment. Card-reader protects you completely from those attacks.
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Smile has a three stage login process and you must have their supplied card reader to be able to make payments etc from the account online.
 
I've had LLoyds TSB account from being a young child (formerly just TSB) and never had any issues with them.

My partner and I had an HSBC account while saving for our home deposit, but we switched to a Joint Lloyds TSB account after our local HSBC refused to employ any cashiers on a saturday. Instead you needed to deposit notes or cheques using their machines (saves wages obviously at the expense of customer service). When we went with numerous bags of coins collected over a period of time we were told "You'll have to come back monday-friday for a full cashier service", as we are both fortunate to work full time, this is of no use to us at all therefore LLoyds TSB received the funds and our custom.

I Can't comment on their Online banking as I've never signed up for it and I'm never likely too either.
 
First Direct have always given me good service

Is there a charge to bank with first direct?

Banking with first direct usually costs £10 a month, but it's free when you pay in at least £1,500 to your 1st Account each month, or maintain an average monthly 1st Account balance of £1,500, or hold a selected first direct additional product.
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How about opening a savings account as well as a current account ? Sounds like it would qualify.

I agree about Barclays, avoid at all costs.
 
Oddly enough, I had all sorts of problems with Alliance & Leicester, but not a single one since opening an account at Santander.
 
my main account is with HSBC and ive had that 13 or so years with no glitches.

also got halifax joint account for bills etc and also good, but watch they get the right address. every time ive moved house theyve got the address wrong on their system.
 
Should mention Nationwide and its a big NO

My daughter opened an account with them and they were useless especially statements, came very sporadically or not at all and the counter staff in our local branch are less than helpful.

She has now switched to Nat West, decided Dad might have been right, but won't say as much
 
mid_gen said:
I wouldn't be happy using an online banking service regularly that doesn't require a card-reader to be perfectly honest....particulary with some of the drive-by hacks that are in the wild at the moment. Card-reader protects you completely from those attacks.
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Explain what a "drive by hack" is in this context please?
 
Keep it under the mattress.....My wife's mother does, she don't trust banks..!! Older generation, says it all, lol.
 
Skeleton1200 said:
Keep it under the mattress.....My wife's mother does, she don't trust banks..!! Older generation, says it all, lol.
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At the point people were queueing round the block to get their money out of Northern Rock, I'd have said she had a point!! :lol:
 
I've been with Natwest for about 4 years now, no major problems at all.

I got scared one day when I got home, tried to log in online but couldn't - I soon recieved a phone call from a UK call centre (scottish guy, much easier to understand than indian...). Anyway, he said that someone logged into my account from a public location, and as a precaution they locked my online access - even my correct password, pin etc wouldn't work. I explained that I had logged in on a college computer earlier that day to check if a deposit of cash had gone in - so we went through all the security stuff and it was sorted inside 10 mins! Brief panic on my behalf, but it shows that they're definitely on the ball.

I did forget the correct answer to one of my security questions but managed to get it after 3 attempts... :$ It was one which was set at the time of opening the account but the answer (in the real life scenario) had changed!! :bonk:
 
Another big plus for HSBC is how quickly they flag up unusual spends. When I bought my macbook pro 17" I had a phonecall in under 2 minutes (literally) asking to confirm it was me who made the purchase. Same last weekend when I signed up onto an iPhone contract but this time within 30 seconds of me hitting OK on the pin machine. Not such high value but presumably the common type of item to be purchased by fraudsters.
 
Don't go to RBS. They have just sold all thier branches and the business in them to Santander. Eventually all RBS branches will be re-branded. Guess where I bank? I'm looking elsewhere already; I've heard too many bad stories about Santander and their (lack of) customer service.
 
onomatopoeia said:
Explain what a "drive by hack" is in this context please?
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Actually, reading further into the story, turns out the malware came from a trojan rather than drive by, but the outcome would be the same.

There is malware out there that has been collecting bank details by snooping on online banking sessions, and then transferring money out to the crook's bank accounts.

This can't happen if you need a card reader to set up a new payee.
 
I agree with the above RE: Card Readers...

Whilst it's a PITA to do (almost every time I want to do a transfer, my wallet is elsewhere!) I know my money is reasonably secure, even if I were to give someone my details, they can't move any of my money, because they don't have;

a. My card
b. My PIN Number
c. The card reader (although they're easy enough to get)

All in all, having a card reader is a positive step in the world of scammers and crooks that we live :)
 
TriggerHappy said:
Another big plus for HSBC is how quickly they flag up unusual spends. When I bought my macbook pro 17" I had a phonecall in under 2 minutes (literally) asking to confirm it was me who made the purchase. Same last weekend when I signed up onto an iPhone contract but this time within 30 seconds of me hitting OK on the pin machine. Not such high value but presumably the common type of item to be purchased by fraudsters.
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:plusone: Been with HSBC for 14/15 years and never had a problem with them. Like triggerhappy, they deal with unusual purchases very quickly. Ordered £800+ worth of stuff for the nursery (first baby) and within a minute they were calling asking to confirm it was me who purchased it. Some might argue this is inconvenient but I'd rather take 1 minute on the phone answering their questions than people taking stuff out of my account!
 
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I've been with First Direct for about 18 years

I couldn't recommend them highly enough, great service always! Never had any problems at all!

Barclays have always been total pants in my opinion, nothing but trouble!!!
 
Briony said:
Can someone tell me where I can open a normal bank account where I can deposit money in and take money out when I like no matter how much it is?
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If that's all you want to do, then why bother with an account? .... ;)
 
mid_gen said:
Actually, reading further into the story, turns out the malware came from a trojan rather than drive by, but the outcome would be the same.

There is malware out there that has been collecting bank details by snooping on online banking sessions, and then transferring money out to the crook's bank accounts.

This can't happen if you need a card reader to set up a new payee.
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UPDATE :
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/11/zeus_cyberscam_analysis/

Turns out drive-by hacks have been used to get the malware onto machines.
 
mickledore said:
Don't go to RBS. They have just sold all thier branches and the business in them to Santander. Eventually all RBS branches will be re-branded. Guess where I bank? I'm looking elsewhere already; I've heard too many bad stories about Santander and their (lack of) customer service.
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RBS branches in England/Wales have been sold to Santander and the NatWest (wholly owned subsidiary of RBS) branches in Scotland.

RBS retains all it's branches in Scotland and all it's NatWest branches in England/Wales. (Edit - so if you want to stay with the RBS, move to NatWest if you are south of the border)

The sale was forced on them by the European Commision and it means that Santander now own all of Abby, A&L, Bradford and Bingley + 300 odd RBS branches and their customers plus other stuff.
Santander are absolutely mahooosive! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupo_Santander
 
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oh just remembered, avoid lloyds tsb. outragous charges if you live at the red end of your account to the point where if you get a couple of charges it can snowball quite quickly.
 
HSBC, been with them since I my first bank account, aged 13 or something. Never had any issues, great online service, lots of branches (that's very important for me) just brilliant service.
 
i have been with abbey (santander) for 20 years and only had one bit of trouble
like you my wifes card was used when the chip and pin was released which probably points to the place where the cards are manufactured.
also dont think that a card reader will stop anything my mates barclays account got fleeced easy enough and he uses a card reader at home.
if this happens then no matter what bank your with it is hassle
 
Nationwide worked a treat for me - Also has one of those card reader things, as mentioned above, so extra safety. The branch staff in my local were brilliant, knew people by name and really went that extra mile. No charges on the account and withdrawals via Visa were free of charges abroad - A big one for me at the time. No minimum amount either.
 
I recommend strongly Natwest, their customer service always impresses me both in branch and over the phone (it's answered after a few rings by a human not a machine), plus their internet banking is great. I've also had an account with HSBC for about 20 years and never had any problems but I don't really use it much.
 
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