Anyone have Citibank in the UK? Any good?

[v15ben]

I'm a Brit, my missus is from the US and moving here later this year.
Currently looking at changing my/our banking to a bank that is good in the US +UK.
Citibank keeps getting mentioned, but I don't know anyone who has an account with them in the UK.

Just wondering if anyone uses Citibank in the UK + how practical it is here to use as my main bank account?
I assume it's easy enough to use the card for purchases + get cash out of ATMs etc.
How is their customer service though?
Any issues/difficulties that you wouldn't get from a 'normal' UK high street bank?

I'm also looking at HSBC as an alternative.
More of a UK presence and have had decent service from them in the past.
Not sure they are much good in the USA though.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

[krisdelta]

Never used Citi or HSBC, but HSBC do seem to have the concept of international accounts and appear to have commercial and consumer products in the US. May be worth giving them a call or asking Citi about their international accounts.

[melhookv12]

Haven't you posted this already with a few decent replies ??

[nstar]

I bank with Citibank in the UK and have done for over 12 years or so.

You can pay in cash cheques etc at Lloyds branches (although it takes longer to clear) or send cheques by post.

Telephone banking is based offshore in India which I do find to be a pain at times, however compared to other offshore call centres the staff are pretty good. Having said that I very rarely need to call, not sure when I last did in fact!

Not sure if their premium account (Citigold) have a UK call centre, you do get a UK based relationship manager with that. I find you can do most of what you need online. I have a USD and EUR account with them too which is helpful for foreign payments etc. You can also change the linkgage of your debit card online to your other currency accounts (useful if travelling).

The only issue is the branch network is pretty limited, there's one not far from my office in Central London and there are a couple at Canary Wharf.

Let me know if you need any more info.

[davepoth]

If you're staying here and visiting the US then I'd be inclined to go with HSBC. Their branch network is still limited to major cities in the US (east coast, west coast and Chicago) but if you are going to be in the UK then that's not so much of a concern. I have to say that every time I've dealt with HSBC either as a personal customer or in business they've been competent, which is quite high praise when you think about it.

[toohuge]

I would avoid HSBC if I were you. The advertising etc. is very misleading.

We bank with HSBC (premier) and it has been a disaster every country we have moved too and it is easier to open local accounts when you get there, rather than faff around with HSBC and their complete lack of customer service. We are planning on moving our entire banking relationship, but their offshore service is pretty good.

You will be fine with Citi here and if they can streamline the process for you, then that is all the better.

Chris

[toohuge]

I would avoid HSBC if I were you. The advertising etc. is very misleading.

We bank with HSBC (premier) and it has been a disaster every country we have moved too and it is easier to open local accounts when you get there, rather than faff around with HSBC and their complete lack of customer service. We are planning on moving our entire banking relationship, but their offshore service is pretty good.

You will be fine with Citi here and if they can streamline the process for you, then that is all the better.

Chris

[v15ben]

melhookv12 said:

Haven't you posted this already with a few decent replies ??

Helpful reply, thanks

Thanks everyone, very useful information indeed.
A decision to make between HSBC and Citi I think.

[boxst]

I have a Citibank UK account in pounds and another in dollars. I use the dollar account to hold any US money while the exchange rate is not favourable. All this is free if you have more than $2000 in there.

I don't have any complaints about them, customer services have been helpful about how to transfer money into the US account from, erm, the US.

[v15ben]

Looks like Citi are the one we're going for.
They do seem more international friendly and so far at least have better service here and in the US.

[Zigster]

I've been with Citibank UK since sometime in the midmid 1990s. I've always been very pleased with the service and have recommended them to a few friends.

I rarely go into a branch so don't find the lack of a branch network a problem (I can always pop over to the one by St Pauls if I have to). Paying in cheques can be done at any Lloyds branch.

The online banking does all it needs to.

There was a slightly down patch when they moved their call centre from Barcelona to India - the usual problems you get trying to deal with Indian call centres. I moaned at them bit about it (and I'm sure others did as well) and I thought they had moved them more near shore - I'm sure one of the guys I spoke to one time said they were back in Spain, though I could be misremembering. Either way, the call centre has been good again for a while.

I keep thinking about "upgrading" to Citigold but I'm not sure I'd use the extra facilities (e.g. personal account manager) so haven't bothered investigating. I think Citigold is free as long as you deposit at least £5,000 per month with them.

[v15ben]

That's good to hear.
We'll be living in Milton Keynes, but will regularly be in London so if we really need branch service, we can always go into one when we're in town.