Current account recommendations

[bedonde]

Had enough of Barclays Premier. Been with them well over 25 years but having had a payment blocked today causing massive inconvenience and then spent 30 mins arguing with call centre in Mumbai trying to explain the payment I was trying to make wasn’t fraudulent, only for them to point blank refuse to unblock it, I’m out.
Any recommendations for current account providers which aren’t f***ing terrible?

[Silver Hammer]

Try First Direct, I would recommend. I have been with them 30 years. Also you speak to someone in this country when you call (well Leeds or Glasgow!)

Maxwell

[ferret50]

Search out Money Saving Expert and see witch bank is offering the best bribes to switch.

[bedonde]

Thanks. Not just about the bribes - it’s nice to have perks but also about ongoing service and not being st.

[ferret50]

But it's always good to trouser £175!

Plus enhanced savings rates......

[C69]

New authorised push payment reimbursement rules (to protect customers who are victims of fraud) come into effect tomorrow. The chances are they're going to cost the banks, so expect the frequency of unusual payments being flagged and / or stopped to increase.

In other words, your new current account provider may be just as stringent as Barclays.

[ChocolateFrog]

I've been with Nationwide for maybe 15 years and have no complaints. Only issue I had was transferring around 4k for a car which they blocked but they did immediately ring me and after a few questions they let it go through so seemed fair enough.

I moved from Halifax because they were st.

[bedonde]

Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind the bank’s systems flagging something and putting a hold on it until they’ve spoken to me. But arguing with them for half an hour on a Sunday morning and Dave from
Mumbai still refusing to unblock it? Nope, not on.

[200Plus Club]

Silver Hammer said:

Try First Direct, I would recommend. I have been with them 30 years. Also you speak to someone in this country when you call (well Leeds or Glasgow!)

Maxwell

Absolutely not the case now, strongly advise avoiding FD.
they've just offshored to India or similar. The only people left in Scotland are the complaints teams and high value teams , you now speak to genuinely clueless people on 1st line who generally give poor info and pass you onto hold over anything remotely complex
FD have just paid me £100 compensation yesterday after reviewing this week's latest trauma with their internal security team and first responders who both gave incorrect and different advice resulting in 3 cancelled transfers I needed to do.
I've been with FD for 20+yrs and although the app is easy to use anything not feasible in the app now leads to headaches and frustration.
Avoid at all costs if you do anything more than very basic app banking.

[Somebody]

Chase are decent. Wasn't Dave from Mumbai who answered last time I spoke to them.

[Sir Bagalot]

200Plus Club said:

Silver Hammer said:

Try First Direct, I would recommend. I have been with them 30 years. Also you speak to someone in this country when you call (well Leeds or Glasgow!)

Maxwell

Absolutely not the case now, strongly advise avoiding FD.
they've just offshored to India or similar. The only people left in Scotland are the complaints teams and high value teams , you now speak to genuinely clueless people on 1st line who generally give poor info and pass you onto hold over anything remotely complex
FD have just paid me £100 compensation yesterday after reviewing this week's latest trauma with their internal security team and first responders who both gave incorrect and different advice resulting in 3 cancelled transfers I needed to do.
I've been with FD for 20+yrs and although the app is easy to use anything not feasible in the app now leads to headaches and frustration.
Avoid at all costs if you do anything more than very basic app banking.

It is the case. I spoken to them recently, and still Leeds based. Another family member had a card compromised and spoke to them with no issues whatsoever. I've even called them at 3am before and they answered within 10 seconds. Excellent service.

They did have a short period of about 6 months about 3/4 years ago where their customer service levels dropped but they sorted that out.

[200Plus Club]

Sir Bagalot said:

It is the case. I spoken to them recently, and still Leeds based. Another family member had a card compromised and spoke to them with no issues whatsoever. I've even called them at 3am before and they answered within 10 seconds. Excellent service.

They did have a short period of about 6 months about 3/4 years ago where their customer service levels dropped but they sorted that out.

So Randeep didn't make a mistake that gave me £100 credit after the Scots based complaints team investigation determined I was poorly advised by their 1st line team then? Oh ok.
I've taken the £100 and am looking around at current Accounts after this weeks debacle
I had a 20 min conversation about them offshoring the 1st line team with their supervisor. They still have uk teams for certain tasks such as high value and complaints. Using the app is only part of the service, be thankful you've not dealt with the rest.

Edit to add it certainly is the fraud team and some back office sections located in India
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/39...

Edited by 200Plus Club on Monday 7th October 08:55

Edited by 200Plus Club on Monday 7th October 08:58

[nyt]

Somebody said:

Chase are decent. Wasn't Dave from Mumbai who answered last time I spoke to them.

+1

Decent app, decent saving rate. Very good customer services.

Only issue I've had is that I couldn't use their debit card in some off-grid places abroad, because it has no numbers embossed on it to run through a manual machine.

[EBRANDON1]

I use Chase as well, pretty decent.

Recently had to start using my Santander account more though as Chase doesn't take international SWIFT payments/ overseas pay. Santander app is much slower and feels outdated compared to chase.

Also really good anytime access savings account rate from Chase.

[Countdown]

Sir Bagalot said:

200Plus Club said:

Silver Hammer said:

Try First Direct, I would recommend. I have been with them 30 years. Also you speak to someone in this country when you call (well Leeds or Glasgow!)

Maxwell

Absolutely not the case now, strongly advise avoiding FD.
they've just offshored to India or similar. The only people left in Scotland are the complaints teams and high value teams , you now speak to genuinely clueless people on 1st line who generally give poor info and pass you onto hold over anything remotely complex
FD have just paid me £100 compensation yesterday after reviewing this week's latest trauma with their internal security team and first responders who both gave incorrect and different advice resulting in 3 cancelled transfers I needed to do.
I've been with FD for 20+yrs and although the app is easy to use anything not feasible in the app now leads to headaches and frustration.
Avoid at all costs if you do anything more than very basic app banking.

It is the case. I spoken to them recently, and still Leeds based. Another family member had a card compromised and spoke to them with no issues whatsoever. I've even called them at 3am before and they answered within 10 seconds. Excellent service.

They did have a short period of about 6 months about 3/4 years ago where their customer service levels dropped but they sorted that out.

Ive been with FD for about 28 years now and I'd still stick with them, however they are not as class-leading as they were in terms of Customer services as they used to be. Fortunately I can do almost everything I need to on the App or the website (both fairly clunky and outdated) but on the few occasions when I've had to phone them I invariably get the message "We are experiencing a higher than usual volume of calls" which is annoying and patronising.

[bedonde]

I think I have Chase, FD and possibly Nationwide on shortlist now.
Since I’ve never switched, a dunce question. How do you ascertain what kind of overdraft they’ll give you without actually switching and applying for it?

[Countdown]

bedonde said:

I think I have Chase, FD and possibly Nationwide on shortlist now.
Since I’ve never switched, a dunce question. How do you ascertain what kind of overdraft they’ll give you without actually switching and applying for it?

Their website normally tells you

First Direct

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/current-accounts/over...

I dont think Chase offer overdrafts

[EBRANDON1]

yes on my chase there is no overdraft.

Also Chase has no branches FYI, so if you need to get load of cash out for building work or whatever its useful to have another account that offers that.

[Dave Hedgehog]

bedonde said:

Had enough of Barclays Premier. Been with them well over 25 years but having had a payment blocked today causing massive inconvenience and then spent 30 mins arguing with call centre in Mumbai trying to explain the payment I was trying to make wasn’t fraudulent, only for them to point blank refuse to unblock it, I’m out.
Any recommendations for current account providers which aren’t f***ing terrible?

I moved from Barclays Premier to Nationwide, had excellent service the whole time, the only downside is are a little inflexible on personal loans regardless of what you can afford.

having just checked their website they have doubled the amount you can borrow to 50k

[bedonde]

Interesting. Mortgage also with Nationwide so may investigate further. Seem to come out ok on customer service from my limited research.