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Abbey - any good?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I'm gonna open up a new bank account if a couple hours and I was thinking of going with Abbey, what do you suggest? Not Lloyds or Barclays.
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If you don't have an issue with your money, it shouldn't matter which bank you choose.
Just make sure you pick one with the services YOU require, and a type of account with the APR you prefer out of the available choices.
I'm with Lloyds, and have had absolutely NO problems in over 10 years.
SDA
As for Abbey, well, any bank that is prepared to steal £120 from an old woman on her deathbed is obviously run by filth who should be put in prison.
Any First Direct personal experience you want to share?
I'm fully aware that they are the same company, but they have totally different staff, and completely different call centres and online stuff.
Stupid comment really, Im sure if researched you could find examples of where all banks have charged old dying people - as unfortunate as it is.
It would be very naive to think that abbey are the only bank to have done this.
I'm probably just biased because HSBC, not content with US$22bn profit, are now charing current account customers at First Direct.
Indeed, but the same names- Abbey, HSBC, RBS- keep getting mentioned as having the worst customer service, and the same names- Nationwide, Co-Operative Bank- keep getting mentioned as having the best customer service.
Customer service is shit really. Thankfully I only use the account to pay Direct Debits or as a place to hold cash before I withdraw it...
They are quite different, and of course a large majority of HSBC profits are made outside of the UK. As for First Direct, it isnt as bad as they made out in the newspapers, you either had to pay in £1500 a month or take out another service from them. What they didnt broadcast so widely was that this 'service' could include a savings account with £1 in it.
I'll grant you HSBC normal accounts are crap, but I've definitely no complaints about First Direct.
You are more likely to leave your husband/wife than you are your bank - statistically speaking I mean, not just you personally.
At the end of the day, yes, they're charging for a service, but everywhere's going to start doing this before long - especially as the financial ombudsman has finally started doing something about the extortionate bank charges. And it's not like many people with First Direct are having to pay - and i'd rather pay a little for an account with First Direct than pay £13.95 a month for whatever gimmicky 'bonuses' i'd get with another bank for a 'plus' account.
Well, they always seem happier for me to make a monthly deposit...