Decent bank anyone?

Decent bank anyone?

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Discussion

crofty1984

Original Poster:

15,830 posts

203 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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I'm fed up of HSBC. Can anyone recommend a bank that has: decent phone bank service and online banking where I don't have to arse about with one of those silly calculator things?
HSBC used to be alright with online banking until they started fannying about with those keychain security fob things, but at least their phone service was decent, so that stopped me from binning them. Now the last 4 times I've called it's been "we may not be able to answer your call for at least 25 minutes..." so sod 'em.

eybic

9,212 posts

173 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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First Direct always score highly although they are part of HSBC I believe.

tr7v8

7,186 posts

227 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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I'm with Nationwide. The Flex type accounts work very well & pretty much break even at £10 a month but with free travel insurance & phone cover.

IIIRestorerIII

841 posts

227 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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HSBC have phased out the keyfob things now. They even have TouchID on their iPhone app so much easier to log in.

Funk

26,254 posts

208 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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Another Nationwide FlexPlus customer here - been great and for basic login etc you don't need the PIN device (it's still needed for setting up new payees and larger transactions though). Their app is also excellent on Android.

Haven't needed to put the breakdown cover, travel/mobile insurance or such to the test but heard it all works as it should when you do.

AndrewEH1

4,917 posts

152 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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eybic said:
First Direct always score highly although they are part of HSBC I believe.
Yup, First Direct is seemly the PH bank of choice.

I've been happy for the last two years.

davek_964

8,796 posts

174 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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crofty1984 said:
I'm fed up of HSBC. Can anyone recommend a bank that has: decent phone bank service and online banking where I don't have to arse about with one of those silly calculator things?
Natwest only uses the calculator things if setting up payments to new accounts. Personally, I wouldn't want to move to a bank that insisted on LESS security these days. (Particularly since I know somebody who's parents discovered a couple of weeks ago that ~£9k had disappeared from one account, and ~£18k from another account and as far as I know, they still haven't found out how).


Jockman

17,912 posts

159 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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davek_964 said:
crofty1984 said:
I'm fed up of HSBC. Can anyone recommend a bank that has: decent phone bank service and online banking where I don't have to arse about with one of those silly calculator things?
Natwest only uses the calculator things if setting up payments to new accounts. Personally, I wouldn't want to move to a bank that insisted on LESS security these days. (Particularly since I know somebody who's parents discovered a couple of weeks ago that ~£9k had disappeared from one account, and ~£18k from another account and as far as I know, they still haven't found out how).
Same with HSBC. I only use the fob to set up new accounts. I get online every day without one.

RicksAlfas

13,355 posts

243 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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First Direct. Basic online banking can be done via a phone app, using the phone security.
More advanced requirements such as setting up a new payee need additional security, but again it's done by the phone app, and not by a keypad device.

They have a 6% regular saver account too (max £300 per month).

Jockman

17,912 posts

159 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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6% regular = 3% in total over 12 months.

Better off in Santander123 ??

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

144 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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I had a Santander123 account for a while now. No problem with it and no calculator thingy. Cash back on bills and the interest is pretty good.

Teebs

4,265 posts

214 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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C0ffin D0dger said:
I had a Santander123 account for a while now. No problem with it and no calculator thingy. Cash back on bills and the interest is pretty good.
Same here. Customer service (when I've needed it) has been excellent. I manage to get £40/month back from them (£35) after their fee.

Recommended.

theaxe

3,557 posts

221 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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I've also heard good things about First Direct, I think there are some referral bonuses available too.

However I'm very happy with Santander as they're paying me £35 a month at the moment.

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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Moved from HSBC to First Direct about 6 years ago.

Hard to believe they're owned by HSBC - the service is leagues beyond anything I ever had with HSBC.

loafer123

15,404 posts

214 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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I have accounts with several banks. First Direct and Metro Bank are streets ahead of the rest.


GrizzlyBear

1,072 posts

134 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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To be honest I can't tell the difference between HSBC and First Direct, they are both rather similar and are a bit average in my opinion, nothing outstanding other than their regular savers, no credit interest on current accounts, so a bit behind the times. Also the last time I checked they still limit you to £10K/day as a faster payment! granted that first direct do tend to answer the phone much quicker than HSBC.

I have found Santander the best of the banks for customer service, especially if you qualify for Select, but even though they claim to offer preferential rates to select customers,they are the same as the 123 customers and aren't exactly market leading since funding for lending was excreted on to the market - although they recently released a 5% regular saver but only £200pm. They have a more sensible limit of sending £100K a day if needed. Amazingly their branches are actually open on a Saturday afternoon. Other banks please pay attention, some of us actually work long hours on 5 of the 6 days you are open... Their staff remained professional even when I made large withdrawals. Also when they did mess up they gave me a sensible "shut up" payment.

TSB offer a quite good 5% on £2.5K in the current account, 5% regular saver, also you get 5% on first £100 you spend on a debit card - Ok it is only £5, but in these days of heavy market interventions by central banks you have to take what you can get...

Lloyds, their club Lloyds is OK 4% on £5K + regular saver and you can get a few free cinema tickets.

Nationwide - the flex direct is good, especially when combined with the regular saver, Not sure if anyone else noticed this but really annoying how deposits doesn't seen to show as received until after the weekend.

Barclays haven't bothered with for years, do they even offer any decent interest rates?

Edited by GrizzlyBear on Friday 6th May 22:33

-Pete-

2,892 posts

175 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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Very happy with Nationwide, if I changed then First Direct would be high on my list.
Bad experiences with (in order of uselessness) Santander, Lloyds & Barclays.
I've heard Nat West are worse.

brickwall

5,192 posts

209 months

Friday 6th May 2016
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Teebs said:
C0ffin D0dger said:
I had a Santander123 account for a while now. No problem with it and no calculator thingy. Cash back on bills and the interest is pretty good.
Same here. Customer service (when I've needed it) has been excellent. I manage to get £40/month back from them (£35) after their fee.

Recommended.
Another here. The online system is very usable (if not as shiny as Lloyds TSB), they have a reasonable app, and very good customer service on the rare occasions I've had to go to a branch.

Teebs

4,265 posts

214 months

Saturday 7th May 2016
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brickwall said:
Another here. The online system is very usable (if not as shiny as Lloyds TSB), they have a reasonable app, and very good customer service on the rare occasions I've had to go to a branch.
The online access "just works", nothing fancy or complicated.

drainbrain

5,637 posts

110 months

Saturday 7th May 2016
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I've had a brilliant idea to simplify banking and make it more effective.

a) A bank could open a shop and call it a 'branch'. People could take their incoming funds to it and call them 'deposits'. People's suppliers could send them payment demands, called 'bills'. People could be issued with blank vouchers by their 'branch' which they could fill in and send back to their suppliers as payment for these 'bills'. Their suppliers could 'deposit' these vouchers in their own banks who could send them to people's banks to honour. This 'honouring' could be done between the banks without having to further involve people or their suppliers.

b) Standing beside this, there could be a system for paying for things, especially (though not exclusively) smaller purchases by using preprinted vouchers called 'cash'.

I'd be pretty confident that these methods could be largely implemented effectively for hundreds if not thousand of years, especially b), without making a fkup of them.

I've also had a brilliant idea to help banks profit from lending effectively.

Before lending the bank should check, using independent expertise, that any borrower has more than enough realisable security to repay the loan in the event of default. The bank should also carefully and diligently encertain that the borrower has sufficient income to comfortably meet the terms of repayment of the loan.

Again, I'd be confident of that very simple system working effectively into perpetuity.

IMHO simplicity and transparency lie at the heart of effective 'decent' banking. But then, I'm not a financial expert never mind a banker.