Boring: BANKS

Post by **Donald** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:09 am

I have a current account with Barclays but frankly their operational conduct is shocking. That and they closed my closest branch and the next nearest one has more counters for business/premier users than regular users, and their staff just sit there gawping at a huge queue.

I want to switch to some other manipulator. Halifax? Lloyds?

I'm more of a shoebox saver so keep my balance low, usually sits around £1500-2000. I have never really used savings accounts as I tend to move things about often and the 0.0000X% interest rates aren't appealing enough.

I have zero debt and an agreed £1k overdraft with 0% interest on the full amount. I'd like to keep that, just in case.

What can the discerning users of LG tell me about banks other than they're all crooks? Not interested in HSBC because they once authorised a card payment (not a DD) that took me less than a pound overdrawn and then charged my £35 for it.

Post by **ek9sid** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:31 am

I will always say, NEVER go with HSBC. Had nothing but issues with them. Even more so when I've been abroad, notified them, and they still blocked my card and then I had to phone them (which cost a fortune) just to get it unblocked. They couldn't figure out that I was in the country that I said I was going to be in. And then the very next day, did the same thing again!

Now got an account with Lloyds and can't complain. My bank balance is always anywhere between £0-£1000 as any other money I take out and keep in my safe. Local branch is just around the corner so deposit money if/when required.

Post by **indigolemon** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:58 am

Donald, I know a lot more about banks than I want to due to my work. Grab me on IRC if you want info's

Post by **Donald** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 12:15 pm

Excellent. Will hopefully catch you before the end of the day.

ATR84 · Post by **ATR84** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 12:27 pm

Nationwide always been good for me.

Post by **Donald** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 1:23 pm

As much as I appreciate people commenting...

Saying they're good without a reason why isn't too persuasive. I'm not too interested in encounters with managers etc because there's a lot of wiggle room with character. More after hearing about the things that are true to all branches i.e. company-wide policy.

Post by **Vtecmec** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 1:29 pm

Most banks are still actively raping their customers (i.e. Barclays - high overdraft fees, no interest paid out, etc.) I'm with HSBC, if you look at their level of rape it's much lower than the rest ( <5%mortgages, low overdraft interest, good interest with their savings accounts +bonuses).

I believe HSBC do this because they are in better financial shape, and that is the sort of business I've chosen to look after my cash.

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 4:44 pm

Donald wrote:Saying they're good without a reason why isn't too persuasive. I'm not too interested in encounters with managers etc because there's a lot of wiggle room with character. More after hearing about the things that are true to all branches i.e. company-wide policy.

Ok...

Been with Lloyds for donkeys. Very, very happy with them.

Initially started using them after my dad switched to them, following a totally jobby experience with Barclays (with whom he'd been business and personal banking for a decade or so when they suddenly decided his personal account was good for raiding for cash to transfer to his business account, without telling him).

To hedge my bets (and get more of the pointless jobby they give out to kids) I also had a Midland account back then (was it coloured elephant china money boxes from Midland???). When they ditched the Griffin and became faceless (and worse, filled their branches with machines instead of people) I proudly took out my pitiful amount sat in the account and closed it. I'm sure they noticed...

Anyway, I've been extremely happy with Lloyds ever since, meanwhile witnessing partners and friends be totally drokked off and drokked about/treated jobby by Natwest, Halifax, Scabby and their successor, Santander.
(I even remember having problems several times when trying to pay money IN to a friends account when he was with Halifax!) Sort code and Account number? Check. Pass book number? No, what the drokk is that? Can't do it without that... WTF? Are you a bank, or just playing at it? Wankers. Not to mention the argument I had with them when they said they would sit on a £10k bankers draft for 3 days, instead of paying it into his account instantly

But anyway...

I've also had a Coventry bank account (best interest at the time, for use as a joint account with the ex, purely for paying bills). That was fine, but in common with most ex building societies, there are some little quirks about how they do business that aren't as slick and simple as the main banks. I forget the details now. Closed it when the ex and I split up and tbh, I wouldn't have a joint account again - just no need these days with online transfers and the like.

So a few things I like about Lloyds, they don't ring me up or email me pointless jobby, they don't bombard me with crap through the door, the online banking system is simple and straight-forward (simple but secure without stupid pointless over the top security bollocks I've seen on some others) whenever I go into a branch there are people there that are courteous and helpful, whenever I go in for a review they're not pushy etc. When I was a student longer than normal (a good few years longer

) they'd write to me at the end of each year saying assume I'm not longer a student so will change me to a graduate account in a months time, I'd just ring them up and say "no, I'm still a student" and they'd say no problem, that's sorted, your account will stay as it is" etc.
I could possibly get more interest elsewhere, but the difference is worth absolutely bugger-all, so I have no reason at all to change. They have recently been changing their overdraft rates and fees (used to be bugger all) but when I've looked around, they look pretty lenient still in comparison to similar type accounts elsewhere.

If you keep an overdraft of that size at the time of switching to any bank though, I'd be surprised? I'd have thought they would give you less initially, then perhaps ramp it up?

nb: I expect that's a decent sized balance in their eyes, for a student, so you should be looked on favourably

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 4:48 pm

HSBC do this because of the Billions of cocain dollars they launder/laundered for the cartels. It gave them wiggle room. All thats stopped though... The DoJ has clear cut proof of hundreds of billions of dollars going through them but they are to big to take out the entire board and they cant just take out one or two.
Since the racket was exposed hsbc have been in awful shape internally and are basicaslly reeling. Under the eye from many different regulatory institutions and credited up to the eyeballs they are hanging onto their retail customer base through giving the best rates on the market, like you say, but those rates are basically subsidised cash borrowed from another bank. Rich people are leaving in droves, I mean who wants to be with a bank that got caught?. Dodgy dealings, yes. Getting caught?

no.
This is while they close thousands of positions in the UK and are hiring thousands of chinese in the Pear river delta to save money. Just wait for the HQ to move next.
When the next one (financial flashbang) hits they'll be one of the first to go down the toilet/cut the business in half and let the retail section sink or swim. If you have a variable rate mortgage with hsbc I would seriously consider burning the house down and getting out now.
Just my opinion. And that of a lot of financial pundits but thats besided the point. Its all available information.

You bank like I do. Low level, under the debt threshold, save your own money somewhere else and dont trust the bastar-ds. Get a basic account at co-op (totally fubar as a bank but the basic account means you never get bothered with credit offers or un expected anything.) and buy gold Britannias.
We are in a Bear market and history shows bear markets in stock are bullish for gold. The Ponzi scheme of QE is almost ready to topple and the london property market bubble (inflated by diversifying cartel drug money now that HSBC is too hot to deal with

) is going to burst all over the country like a puss filled boil. Add the fact we are heading for negative interest rates across europe

and its not a good time to be banking at all.

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 4:53 pm

Oh, one thing, it took me 5 mins on the phone to update ALL of my address details with coop while the missis had to jump through hoops, visit multiple branches, under go security questions like she was isis and generally give the whole of a saturday morning to the same endevour with natwest and lloyds.