Handelsbanken, Santander or Nat West.
Discussion
Long overdue, we are binning HSBC.
The short list is Nat West, Santander and Handelsbanken.
Nat West appeals because there is a local branch and if you bank with them you get preferential access to other group companies, E.g. Lombard.
Santander also has a local node and I believe they are well thought of, given their high street operation.
I am told Handelsbanken are good to work with, though when they last gave me a quote they were chuffing expensive and I would still be using HSBC counters.
We will be keeping Barclays alongside whoever we choose, because we already have accounts with them and they are reasonably okay.
The short list is Nat West, Santander and Handelsbanken.
Nat West appeals because there is a local branch and if you bank with them you get preferential access to other group companies, E.g. Lombard.
Santander also has a local node and I believe they are well thought of, given their high street operation.
I am told Handelsbanken are good to work with, though when they last gave me a quote they were chuffing expensive and I would still be using HSBC counters.
We will be keeping Barclays alongside whoever we choose, because we already have accounts with them and they are reasonably okay.
We are doing the very same!
Handelsbanken are good on paper, and had very useful chat with lovely local account manager... However, he very apologetically stated that they couldn't handle our foreign income, and ironically for a foreign bank had a very low tolerance for any foreign income. So they're out
Santander were highly recommended to us a couple of years ago, but annoyingly have now got rid of their local managers. Still a possible, but if you want an RLS of high value they seem to want personal guarantees.
Best for us so far is NatWest, but that is only because I had a personal banking relationship with a manager a couple of years ago. However he's moved to a different role so can't directly assist, and the rest of them appear to be about as useful as the ol' chocolate teapot...
In short, it's a right PITA....
Handelsbanken are good on paper, and had very useful chat with lovely local account manager... However, he very apologetically stated that they couldn't handle our foreign income, and ironically for a foreign bank had a very low tolerance for any foreign income. So they're out
Santander were highly recommended to us a couple of years ago, but annoyingly have now got rid of their local managers. Still a possible, but if you want an RLS of high value they seem to want personal guarantees.
Best for us so far is NatWest, but that is only because I had a personal banking relationship with a manager a couple of years ago. However he's moved to a different role so can't directly assist, and the rest of them appear to be about as useful as the ol' chocolate teapot...
In short, it's a right PITA....
Buffalo said:
We are doing the very same!
Handelsbanken are good on paper, and had very useful chat with lovely local account manager... However, he very apologetically stated that they couldn't handle our foreign income, and ironically for a foreign bank had a very low tolerance for any foreign income. So they're out
Santander were highly recommended to us a couple of years ago, but annoyingly have now got rid of their local managers. Still a possible, but if you want an RLS of high value they seem to want personal guarantees.
Best for us so far is NatWest, but that is only because I had a personal banking relationship with a manager a couple of years ago. However he's moved to a different role so can't directly assist, and the rest of them appear to be about as useful as the ol' chocolate teapot...
In short, it's a right PITA....
Yes. Isn't it. Banks don't seem to be bothered with the troublesome business of banking anymore.Handelsbanken are good on paper, and had very useful chat with lovely local account manager... However, he very apologetically stated that they couldn't handle our foreign income, and ironically for a foreign bank had a very low tolerance for any foreign income. So they're out
Santander were highly recommended to us a couple of years ago, but annoyingly have now got rid of their local managers. Still a possible, but if you want an RLS of high value they seem to want personal guarantees.
Best for us so far is NatWest, but that is only because I had a personal banking relationship with a manager a couple of years ago. However he's moved to a different role so can't directly assist, and the rest of them appear to be about as useful as the ol' chocolate teapot...
In short, it's a right PITA....
But even if we put our money in a (chocolate) teapot, HSBC has to go.
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