any bank/building society with a personal touch?

[chilistrucker]

hi all, sadly finance is not my stronest point.
so, i'm with the halifax, and not very happy.
2 years ago, was starting to do quite nicely, was putting savings away every month, had life insurance with them and all was well. last year was tough, had to give up my well payed job, to take care of my dad who was terminally ill. bang went the savings, and had to stop the life insurance as it was an expense i could do without.
things have changed, and next month i go back to my former well payed job
popped into the halifax today, to see them about a temp overdraft, as i'll be going from weekly to monthly pay. i'll have all my bills covered, and money to take away with me for the first month, but just wanted abit of a safety cushion, should something arise. i wanted a £200 o/draft for 2 months.
just got a straight no.they were not concerned about my reasons, the "computer just said no."
fair enough, i guess everybank has guidelines it has to go by, but in the longer term this will cost the halifax my custom. yes i know, they are hardly going to miss me, i'm just 1 customer and they are not bothered. i sent an email of complaint, and fair play they just phoned me, but to be honest it was a waste of time, as all it really was, was an acknowledgment of my complaint, and to be told the computer still says no. they don't seem to be bothered about you as an individual customer. are all bank and building societies the same today?

is there anywhere out there that people would recomend as a decent establishment for me to do my banking with these days, someone that treats you as the individual you are, rather than just another number?
or am i just dreaming?

any thoughts, or recomendations will be appreciated, thanks.

[Sarnie]

First Direct seem to be the current flavour of the month with PH'ers in this section

[jinkster]

Handelsbanken....

[custardkid]

Think you may struggle to get a normal bank to lend you money if you've not had a job for 2 years.

Try capital one near prime credit card if you need a safety net

[whoami]

jinkster said:

Handelsbanken....

Yes, income dependant though.

[chilistrucker]

Thanks all.
I was only out of work for the 1st part of last year and lived off my savings.
At work tonight, but will look at suggestions over the next couple of days, thanks.

[northandy]

First direct, they will even give you £100 for opening an account.

I am very happy with them,

[expensivegarms]

I'm really really pleased with Lloyds at the moment, use it for both business and personal. No complaints so far!

[Adam B]

northandy said:

First direct, they will even give you £100 for opening an account.

I am very happy with them,

£125 now I think

Been with them for 20 years, been brilliant

[jinkster]

whoami said:

jinkster said:

Handelsbanken....

Yes, income dependant though.

Seems to be branch dependant.

[sumo69]

If you really want a personal service and dependent on a branch being nearby, Metro Bank gets good reviews from a service viewpoint.

David

[Deva Link]

I know some peoplr have their issues with NatWest, but they've always worked OK for us (not that I ask much of them) and they have a "pink zone" overdraft limit of a couple of £K (it might vary by customer) on the current account which you can dip into without any hassle or extra charges. The first £100 is interest free too.

I guess it's just their name for an arranged overdraft and presumeably any bank could do the same.

[paulrockliffe]

jinkster said:

whoami said:

jinkster said:

Handelsbanken....

Yes, income dependant though.

Seems to be branch dependant.

I'm with Handelsbanken, great bank, great service. I don't think it's income dependent, but I got the impression that they're less likely to want you as a personal customer if you don't want to borrow money from them. Obviously that's where they make their money, so it's understandable. I don't think they would have let us move our accounts there if we weren't taking out a mortgage at the same time.

Anyway, if you ask the question, you'll get an answer made by a person that is based on your personal circumstances, your likely future needs and how nicely you ask.

As an example of the level of service you'll get, I got a letter with a debit card asking me to call a number to activate it, like you get from most banks. The number was the mobile number of my branch manager.

[jinkster]

Sadly, I had to leave Handelsbanken because the internet banking service was ancient. I'm not always at my laptop and more often than not take my iPad/ iPhone with me away to places. The branch I was with I couldnt fault. If they had kept the internet banking service up to date, I'd still be with them.

I moved to Child and Co which are apart of RBS, based in London and although they are RBS you do speak to Child and Co with any issue and they issue the debit card and cheque book from branch.

[mx stu]

Deva Link said:

I know some peoplr have their issues with NatWest, but they've always worked OK for us (not that I ask much of them) and they have a "pink zone" overdraft limit of a couple of £K (it might vary by customer) on the current account which you can dip into without any hassle or extra charges. The first £100 is interest free too.

I guess it's just their name for an arranged overdraft and presumeably any bank could do the same.

Another vote for Natwest, however I've only ever had a accounts with them so don't have much to compare them to!

I've been with the same local branch all my adult life starting when I was 13/14 and they gave me a Sony Walkman for opening an account ;-). When I grew up and went to Uni there was absolutely no problem with a £2k interest free overdraft and I've stuck with them in the 10 years since.

Now I'm far from an affluent individual however around two years ago I got a named 'manager' in branch who I can call or e-mail directly with any queries I have. I've met with him periodically to check everything is running smoothly.

Then last Sunday I opened up a new standard joint current account with my wife via the website and it said something along the lines of we're pleased to offer you this account as a Private account (despite us not hitting the income or savings criteria). Took that option anyway but had to take some ID documents into branch to complete the set up. As I walked in to the branch said manager spotted me, came straight over and said hello Mr X good to see you, how can I help. I said I've been asked to bring the ID documents in, he said we don't need to see them took me into one of the rooms and sorted the final bits of setting up the account straight away. I asked about the private thing and he said you don't need that, you've already got me to sort any issue you may have.

We are currently in the process of setting up a first direct mortgage with one of the conditions being that you have to have a first direct current account. I had planned to move our main income/ bills account to them but think actually I'll just transfer enough to pay the mortgage each month and stick with Natwest.

[anonymous-user]

They are all the same TBH.I've been with Barclays for decades & never had a problem. But I rarely go to a bank now. All done online, no need to visit a branch, so no personal touch is good for me..

I guess they have all tightened up on lending/over drafts etc as they got blamed when people took the piss before & it all went pear shaped. Understandable.