Can you recommend a decent bank?

[LordMas]

Hi All,

I am with Barclays and they are putting my Current Account fee up from £6 a month to £10 a month. No change in service. All i get with the account is a decent overdraft that i never use and gadget insurance for my phone and laptop. (no breakdown cover for my car for example and i pay the AA for this)

Can anyone recommend me a decent bank account that you pay for but you get more benefits from then i do currently? I have heard bad things about Santander.

Thanks!

[HairyMaclary]

First direct.

[LordMas]

HairyMaclary said:

First direct.

The look pretty good and if i pay £1000 in a month for three months i get £125 from them.

Whats their iphone app like? Can you recommend the app? ty

[forest07]

First Direct been with them for over 20 years good service and I also use there regular saver which allows you to put in upto £300 with a good interest rate. For other savings I use the Santander 123 account.

TonyR

[SouthernBoy]

I used to bank with First Direct who were excellent. I switched last year to Nationwide for their 'Flexplus' paid for account which seems good value. It's £10 per month, but I get half of that back as they pay interest on the first £2.5k balance.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accou...

It's early days, but I don't miss First Direct really.

[romeogolf]

I recommend First Direct for their customer service. It's no-frills banking, there are no benefits with the account other than an interest-free £250 over-draft and the account is free.

I also have a FlexDirect account with Nationwide. Their customer service can be hit-and-miss, but 5% interest isn't to be turned down.

[PositronicRay]

I know Santander have a dodgy customer service rep, we've not had any problems. Over 3 1/2 yrs we've managed to earn £1500 cash back/interest. Not to be sniffed at.

[Patch1875]

We use Santander,First Direct and Nationwide.

Never had an issue with any of them but I prefer Santander online and their ap, First Direct seems a bit of a faff now to get things done.

[BRISTOL86]

Had nothing but positive experience with Halifax.

Managed the switch process flawlessly, mobile app is good and customer service - when I've had cause to use it - has been excellent.

[Craikeybaby]

I'm also keen to find out what the First Direct app is like, as I am thinking of moving to them from Santander.

[Funk]

SouthernBoy said:

I used to bank with First Direct who were excellent. I switched last year to Nationwide for their 'Flexplus' paid for account which seems good value. It's £10 per month, but I get half of that back as they pay interest on the first £2.5k balance.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accou...

It's early days, but I don't miss First Direct really.

I'm also a Nationwide FlexPlus customer and no complaints at all, they've been great. Nationwide app is very good as well, I'm on Android. I actually do more on the app than I do via the site.

[Foliage]

Funk said:

SouthernBoy said:

I used to bank with First Direct who were excellent. I switched last year to Nationwide for their 'Flexplus' paid for account which seems good value. It's £10 per month, but I get half of that back as they pay interest on the first £2.5k balance.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/products/current-accou...

It's early days, but I don't miss First Direct really.

I'm also a Nationwide FlexPlus customer and no complaints at all, they've been great. Nationwide app is very good as well, I'm on Android. I actually do more on the app than I do via the site.

Also a nationwide member, I get dividends and free travel insurances no complaints from me. I have the basic flexaccount

[Robertj21a]

First Direct often come out top in surveys, with Nationwide not far behind. Santander seems better than they used to be. It's the older 'traditional' banks that seem less popular nowadays - Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, RBS etc. Co-op has had quite a few problems and I'd always avoid them.

[Funk]

Robertj21a said:

First Direct often come out top in surveys, with Nationwide not far behind. Santander seems better than they used to be. It's the older 'traditional' banks that seem less popular nowadays - Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, RBS etc. Co-op has had quite a few problems and I'd always avoid them.

Seems you're right: http://www.which.co.uk/money/bank-accounts/reviews...

[KTF]

I have an account with pretty much every high street bank and have never had a problem with any of them.

My main account is with Santander who have been trouble free since I opened it years ago. The interest and cashback more than covers the monthly fee.

[Nickbrapp]

Craikeybaby said:

I'm also keen to find out what the First Direct app is like, as I am thinking of moving to them from Santander.

its absolute awful, like a child made it, every time you open it the page re centres, it brings up a stupid task bar, and you have to use it as a pin reader when you log onto the website and enter a code.

Its just a faff, and the service was ok over the phone, but how often do you really speak to the bank?

[Craikeybaby]

Thanks for the warning, I was looking to swap from Santander, although their customer service isn't great, their app is OK.

[henrycrun]

Nationwide

Banks are sshhiitt

[C0ffin D0dger]

PositronicRay said:

I know Santander have a dodgy customer service rep, we've not had any problems. Over 3 1/2 yrs we've managed to earn £1500 cash back/interest. Not to be sniffed at.

Another Santander customer, got the 123 Account purely for the interest and cash back although now they've put the account fee up it's not such a good deal for everyone. Can't really comment on the customer service as I've not really had a need to resort to it. Do all my banking online or via the app anyway.

[Sharted]

Foliage said:

Also a nationwide member, I get dividends and free travel insurances no complaints from me. I have the basic flexaccount

What dividends?