Internet Banking Recommendation?

"Fraser" wrote

Try looking at FirstDirect (part of HSBC bank) - they are totally geared-up for phone+internet banking, and have everything you're looking for. I've had no problems with them in over 10 years.

Citibank have been reported to have some problems with their internet portal, while many people seem to have problems with IF.com.

LloydsTSB is one of the "big 4" so you are unlkely to get the best long term deal from them and I also read that their new internet account has some odd restrictions/rules associated with it - so I would avoid them as well

Therefore, from your list I would go for Smile.. though if I was you I would also consider First Direct and Cahoot as alternatives.

Also, I would be tempted to go for a savings account from a 3rd party (whoever offers the most interest - INGDirect for instance) - rather than having in the same place as your current account.

I would also advise you not to immediately close your Bank of Scotland account but leave it open for a while with a minimal balance. (may help when remortgaging)

Finally , re: offers - I know Cahoot emailed me and said that if I referred anyone both I and the person referred would get 15 in Amazon vouchers, so if you're interested in that let me know.

Regards Sunil

remortgaging

I use Barclays, they were one of the first to offer on-line banking and are always at the front of technological and software improvements. I only use their branches a few times a year to pay in cheques.

If they ever annoy me i will move, but for 12 years they haven't. Until then its not worth the hassle, believe it or not, there are advantages for long standing customers. Earlier this year i realised i had messed up and i was about to go over drawn by about 500, i only had a fee free 250 overdraft. It was late evening and i went on-line to request an increase of overdraft, the system calculated that i could instantly get up to 4.5k and if i wanted a larger amount to phone a number. I thought this was pretty good, i took a 1k overdraft to see me through and have since changed it lower. I don't believe this would be available if my account hadn't been rated over a period of time.

If i were to move i would move to first direct. I have always considered them the best on-line bank offering the best value, remember though i have not used them. I like the idea of text & email alerts and they do offer 25 to move.

I think you will find most opinion on this site saying first direct. I wouldn't touch those amateurs from Halifax, but this is personal.

Bitstring , from the wonderful person Fraser said

I use Smile, with no problem. Getting money in/out through the local Post Office works just fine. Haven't tried it with Quicken/MS Money though. They (Co-op bank) are pretty on-the-ball - I'd have bought shares in them, if they weren't privately owned. It is occasionally offline for 10-15 minutes at 1am, but not as a regular event.

Their savings rate is not the best, so if you want maximum % on your savings, put up with the 3-4 day delay and try someone like ING (which seems to work OK now). Depends how often you move savings - if it's a regular thing, the Smile savings a/c might be better just because the money moves faster.

I also tried Egg (savings) and Cahoot. Both (IMO) rather dismal, unless you enjoy complaining and collecting compensation. Of course, they may have improved. 8>.

And if you ignore the first offer they come back and offer £35 :) I'm still trying to decide whether it's worth the hassle of opening an account for that, given that I probably wouldn't use it ...

I quite like Smile. Excellent value. They don't have any Money/Quicken access though. I think if that is essential to you, you might be interested in Nationwide's offering.

FWIW I really like Nationwide's online service. It works well for me but I don't see the point in Money compatibility, it's simple enough to do this manually and even if it was automatic I'd be checking it anyway. I have a postal account as well which makes paying in cheques easy and the money can be moved to a different account online if needed.

I've just started playing with MS Money 2004. As far as I can tell, only the Nationwide BS has decent compatibility with MS Money. There current account can be serviced on line/phone etc and you get a reasonable rate on their current account.

Pete

Cahoot have just dropped WAP support

Andy

I think I'm missing something here, an automatic download for Money is hugely easier if you have a lot of transactions. I don't see what checking has to do with it, I do that on the paper statements anyway by ticking them. Maybe you mean that you would only use Money for checking anyway?

i personally use cahoot. i have found them reliable, easy to use and on the odd occaison when i have had a query they've answered it expediantly.

theres a current account comparison tool at moneysupermarket.com . thats what i used when i wanted to change to a better interest rate current account.

heres the link:

:D

Hey,

Thanks to all who posted, I forgot to post this follow-up thank-you message earlier, hence it's very late arrival!!

I'm holding off the bank move until next month, when I'm also renewing my mortgage. I'll be checking out what the companies you all mentioned offer in terms of mortgages & current accounts. I'll no doubt be going for one of the account-offset ones.

Thanks again,

Fraser.