what would scooby do

I use LLoyds-TSB for private banking - don't want to do the "brand - loyality" thing and use them for business banking (unless they are good)

Anyone got any recommendations for me or good/bad stories etc..

ProperCharlie

We banked with NatWest until they were taken over by RBoS. It went right down hill after that - the final straw came when they wouldn't extend an overdraft to cover our payroll, so we told them where to stick it (ironically we have been in credit on our current a/c ever since). We are now with Barclays. They have been ok, although it seems they also suffer from high turn over of bank managers. when we moved the manager told us he had been with Barclays 20 years etc etc, and within 6 months he was off to Allied Irish! Since then, another couple have been and gone. Can't recommend them outright, but they haven't done anything bad enough to warrant moving to someone else.

what would scooby do

GaryK

agree with Charlie, used barclays for years with no real problems except the biz banker changed too often, no chance to develop a relationship with anyone. With natwest now, they're ok but fall far short of their advertising slogan 'There is a better way', IMHO there is no such thing as a good business bank, they just dont understand SME business well enough, they should stick to what they know.

Gary

ProperCharlie

it was almost funny when we left natwest - for some reason we didn't even have an account manager at that time - the last one had left and for some reason they just didn't get around to appointing a new one. so we started the process of trasferring everything to braclys, no one from natwest contacted us to find out what was going on, months went by and everything was almost in place with barclays when suddenly some head up guy from nw phones up:

"Err, it seems that you are leaving us?"
"that's right, have you only just noticed?"
"well there does seem to have been a bit of an oversight, i would be very happy if you would come down to the bank and we could discuss it over lunch etc etc grovel grovel"
"no thanks - bye!"

it was quite a big account by that time...

TopBanana

Cater Allen are very good. Free banking if you have over £5,000 in the account and stick to less than 20 transactions a month (IIRC)

ProperCharlie

a mate of mine uses carter allen for his IT consultancy - they are good value for smaller type businesses.

we were promised online banking from Barclays, a year or so ago - still waiting and getting pretty bored of signing cheques...

trouble is that the high street banks pretty much have a monopoly, so they are not exactly breaking their @sses trying to improve their service. the main positive thing about barclays corporate is they don't have call centres. they also give you a free lunch a couple of times a year

(you got to take what you can get )

[Edited by ProperCharlie - 1/26/2004 2:54:38 PM]

Matt Churchill

In my experience, a lot of it is down to the person you deal with. To a large extent, a lot of Banks offer the same, or a very similar, product set - with a couple of exceptions, so if you have a manager who you like and have a good relationship with, it will always help things.

Just my humble opinion

TopBanana

That's true, but pretty much everyone I've spoken to at Cater Allen, call centre staff included, have been very attentive and helpful

Dream Weaver

I use Lloyds TSB and they are very good. Dont hassle you with phone calls, but good for advice when you need it.

Their online system is pretty good as well.