Can you recommend your bank to me?

I was going to suggest First Direct (cheques get paid into HSBC) but if you left them before that might not help!

I was also going to suggest First Direct?

What was the reason you left them?

Ive been with Barclays for about 25 years and internet banking with them for 10 years now. Never had a problem with them.

I did some temp work for Natwest(5mnths) and bank with Lloydstsb. I think there all as bad as each other personally - from what I have seen Lloyds are better. But for everyone person who recommends one bank there is another has clashed with it.

I've been with Lloyds TSB for 17 years (well TSB before) and have never had any problems with them.

The internet banking service is great (instant transfers between linked accounts, frequent payee list) and is a godsend for me. I've arranged overdraft increases online and all have gone through straight away.

I phoned them a couple of weeks ago to arrange a loan payment break, waited for a maximum of 1 minute before my call was effectively dealt with.

I bet someone is going to tell a story from hell now ?

I'm with the Halifax and find them excellent

Online banking with instant transfer between accounts - and you can even watch the equity in your house plummet if you have a mortgage with them [:'(]

On-line statementsand easy to set up transfers to regular payees

Phoned them today to put the new TV on the house insurance and they were friendly (man asked me if I could phone his wife to tell him that a season ticket for the rugby wasn't unreasonable as a Christmas present if H had been allowed a new TV!) - but also efficient

Quick drop point for cheques in the branches, and have always been very helpful with mortgages and loans

I've been with Natwest for years and never had any major problems with them. I do my banking online and transfers from account to account go through straight away, also had no problems when calling them as well and they seem plesant enough.

Does Nationwide count? or not cos they're a building society? I think they're v good, have never had a problem with them and always good service in branch plus internet banking is good.

I'm also with Natwest, they're ok but not great, will probably move everything to Nationwide once my graduate interest free overdraft comes to an end.

H is with RBS...they've been ok too I think and were definitely better for him than HSBC who started messing him around a couple of years ago.

I can recommend Smile Internet bank (Co-op bank).

We have all our accounts with them (3 current, 2 savings and 2 Isas!), and they all do immediate transfers online. The phone customer service is excellent, and with regards to being an internet bank, its not a problem as you can use any post office as your bank to make withdrawals or deposits. Also, they are an ethical bank, which wasn't an initial selling point, but helps!

I would second Halifax, never had anything but good service from them.

First Direct were fantastic, our only issue was that about 18 months ago we kept going overdrawn, so we started using Solo cards (because that way the transaction was instant, rather than updated overnight, so we couldn't go overdrawn by being careless) and their solo cards aren't chip and pin. Because everywhere now is chip and pin, we were having more and more problems using our cards. They wouldn't allow us to swap for another 6 months and so we were getting increasingly frustrated.

Hi

Regular lurker alert but I do post occasionally!!

I can heartily recommend Co-operative Bank. They have online banking with immediate transfer between linked accounts, you can set up your own bill payments and check direct debits etc online. The telephone banking customer service has always been excellent in my experience and they have some branches - however you can pay in cash and cheques at the Post Office (though cheques take an extra day or so to clear) and also withdraw cash over the counter at the PO. One thing I should mention is I have very high standards when it comes to customer service and I have never had any problems with the Co-op. (They also scored very highly in the Watchdog viewer survey on banking if you have any faith in BBC surveys).

As an extra bonus they are also ethical and don't invest money anywhere dodgy. Plus you can become a member of the Co-op and get money back twice a year as a dividend (how much depends on amount invested etc - last year we had £150 back for doing nothing but having a bank account and a mortgage!).

Hope that helps

T

PS - I don't work for them - honestly!!

I am with barclays and the halifax and never had any problems with either of them

I use HSBC and find them brilliant. Their online banking is easy to use and I've never had anything but good service from them. I've been with them for 18 years.

I was with RBS as a student and have nothing good to say about them. I was constantly getting charges for going over my overdraft limit when I didn't think I had, then one month I proved it. My statement came through with a charge for going over my overdraft limit on a day when I had taken out a ministatement which showed I was almost £200 within the limit!! They reimbursed me the charge and I left them. I also had a similar problem with them not crediting cheques I sent to pay my credit card then charging me late fees. After having to call and get charges refunded in 5 out of 6 months, I chucked in the credit card too.

I have a sole account with Abbey National that I've had since I was old enough to have a current account. I wouldn't recommend them particularly, although I don't have any specific gripe with them. Just a lot of little niggles. The internet banking isn't great either. They're very good with my ISA though.

H and I bank jointly at Nationwide and NatWest (owned by RBS - he had to get a staff account and I refused to let him go with RBS after my student experiences!) and both have been fantastic. NatWest online banking is much better than Nationwide though.

Have also had an account with Lloyds TSB. They were mostly fine and their internet banking is great, but they do have a nasty habit of randomly cancelling your overdraft so your card gets declined in the supermarket/dentist/petrol station and you have to ring up, stay on hold for ages, then go through the overdraft application again with someone in another country whose first language is not English.

Like someone else said though - for everyone who loves a bank, someone else will have had a bad experience with them.

TBH I think that will be a problem with lots of bank. Natwest do Solo cards although I'm not sure if they have chip and pin though, you are actually credit scored for Debit cards - there are lots of people who can't have one. I understand that people like Tesco's have up to 6mnths to present your purchase on a debit card.

I'm with the Co-op, and they offer all that you're asking for

They're especially good for internet banking etc. and transfers are very quick between account, and instant between other Co-op accounts.

They don't have many branches (but do have one on Cornhill in London, where I hold my account), but money does in through the Post Office.

I've just phoned Smile - the Co-op bank - and they answered within 3 mins (and apologised, unprompted, for the "hideous" wait!) The guy I spoke to was very friendly, all their call centres are UK based, they answer within 20 seconds of putting someone on hold "95% of the time" and their internet banking system seems good, clear and workable.

Helen, I don't think that any other solo cards are signature only (R works in retail and said only First Direct have this problem, First Direct want to keep them for "customers unable to use chip and pin" apparently). I'm sure our credit history is fine as we've both been given normal Visa Debit cards from alliance and leicester.

Thanks, everyone. I *think* we're going to go with Smile. They've won a fair amount of awards (came second to First Direct in a couple though) and they're part of the co-op, so ethical as well.

Yay!!! Im glad to be of service. They do have a current account which you pay a bit for but you get roadside assistance and all sorts of other goodies.

I've just moved to First Direct from Nationwide, and the difference is amazing. I was taken aback when they answered the phone! And they sort out any problems, which Nationwide didn't do, they just cut you off or lie in my experience.

I'm sure I've bored everyone stupid here with my Nationwide problems - the last one being that they closed my account on 30th Oct and my bills were meant to come out on 3rd Nov. I sent a letter to the Financial Ombudsman about them today as I cannot get the problems sorted due to no-one there giving a ***.

Smile would be my second choice after FD. Good luck!

Seeing the post title, I was going to suggest A&L - we switched from Natwest and I can't praise them highly enough.

We have our business accounts with them (so no banking charges) and personal accounts. I transferred across £10K recently and it was instant.

I had problems with a card clone and they sorted it same day, with monies refunded same day.

I take cheques to the Post Office.

And I'm getting 8% interest

We left Natwest because of their bad telephone service ...

Either you've been very lucky or I've bene very unlucky...

Today, for example, I transferred £450 from my joint account to my sole account at 9.30am. By 4pm it still wasn't showing up, so I phoned them - 25 mins on hold, followed by someone telling me she doesn't know where the money is, and putting me on hold again...5 mins later I was cut off. Phoned back, 20 mins on hold to be told that anything over £250 'can' take up to 24 hrs to show up in the other account.

I've had nothing but problems with their online security (I couldn't enter my passcode, then when I could, I couldn't change it...) and when I tried to set up some DDs today they only have councils from A-C listed, and only credit card companies from A-B. At this point I gave up (which is why I was transferring the money, so I could pay with the debit card instead)

I asked a week ago for someone to call me about the issues we were having. Asked again this evening. Still waiting for that call...

I hope they continue to work well for you though.

WSS.

I left Halifax in a huff but to be fair, most of the time they were excellent too.

I'm probably too late but was going to suggest HSBC. I have a solo card with them and it's chip & pin, also internet banking & telephone banking are really easy to use.

I've started to have a problem recently with their Indian call centres as the staff seem to have very poor English and not understand what I'm asking. However, I just do more on internet banking to avoid them.

I bank with Yorkshire Bank who are a part of Clydesdale Bank. I have been with them for 10 years and have always been excellent with me. I also had a bank account with Barclays who messed me about for 4years so I closed it.

I have heard good experiences with Natwest bank.

HSBC work for me, their online service is really good and any messages I send I get a call/message back within 24 hours

H uses Nationwide, we have a joint and mortgage their aswell, the only problem we have had with them is money appearing in our account that isn't ours and they take forever to find out where it is supposed to go

I'm with Co-op bank. A friend recommended them after I got seriously annoyed with Natwest.

They are the best bank I've been with. They answer the phone so quickly in the main call center and have sorted out any problems instantly. The other nice thing is I have a number for my branch aswell, so I can give them a call if I need to.

It's really easy to make an appointment, and you can often walk in and get anything sorted. My chip and pin stopped working when I was in town (card somehow got damaged) I just popped in to the branch, she orderd me one and a day later I had it.

The only problem is they don't have that many branches and the branches are quite small - but there's never hardly a queue at mine only a couple of people in front at most. And like a previous poster said you can pay things in at the post office (cash is credited instantly, but cheques can take a couple of days longer)

I find the online banking excellent - the instanst account transfers are great, and it's easy to see your DD, SO and who you've paid etc.

I hope you find one that you like xx

My vote for HSBC bank. The employe to the bank is very helpful. I have never face a huge problem their.