What would your perfect bank look like?

Unlike, according to Amnesty International, the Royal Bank of Scotland and other UK high street banks, including Barclays and Lloyds, my perfect bank wouldn’t continue to make financial investments in companies that produce cluster munitions despite a government ban on the production of the weapons.

My ideal – or as close to ideal as makes little difference – exists: it is first direct. When you want to see them they are there 24/7/365, any time zone, and they almost always answer immediately. It is a person who answers, and that person is always (in over 20 years experience) friendly, courteous, knowledgeable (they have all my info in front of them on a screen, and from their responses I would guess their screens are laid out so as to help them help), and empowered to act immediately on almost everything I ever want them to do. (I have only got into difficulties when they have to hand over to an HSBC operator, e.g. for foreign currency accounts.) fd offer all the services that other banks offer, at approximately the same cost – these services are a commodity very little differentiated among the banks.

An example. I called in a panic at 3am I was due to emigrate the next day with my whole family and I realized at the last minute that my employer had not paid for the tickets – I would have to do so at Heathrow. I did not have enough money. The fd person was friendly, calming, but did not have an immediate answer. She said: “Make a cup of tea, I will call you in 10 minutes.” Because it was fd, I trusted her to do so. She called in 8 minutes and said: “My power to extend your overdraft is limited – to go further I would have to ask a more senior manager, in the morning, and that is too late for you. But I have found a way round this. I have extended your overdraft as far as I am allowed; I have taken your wife’s details from your account and opened a VISA card for her and maxed its credit; I have maxed your VISA card credit. With all that, you can pay for your tickets with £46 to spare. And, by the way, your plane leaves from gate 43.”

That is about as close to ideal as it gets.

At the end of June I asked NatWest and Gold Card to cancel subscriptions to Sky. Instead the bank cancelled my direct debit to Gold Card which then charged me a late fee after the error was corrected. I have since written to Gold Card and NatWest and received four copies of the customer complaints brochure, an assurance that my complaint was important and would be dealt with in 10 days (6 weeks ago), a reference to an enclosure showing progress which wasn’t included, and no replies from any human being I have written to – only computer generated waffle from a variety of customer relations people who don’t appear to speak to each other. I only wanted to know that Gold Card had refunded the late fee and now I am inclined to pursue the matter all the way – that’s customer relations in the helpful bank!

In bullet points I would like:
– Banks to open all day on a Saturday (as per the rest of the Country!)
– Banks to open for business by 8-30am
– Call centres to be in the UK and staffed by people who speak good English.
– A more personal service
– Separate day to day banking and customers from the high risk “casino” side
We the taxpayer saved these organisations so now lets have a good customer-centred modern service…. Thank you.

My ideal bank would have permanent staff in the branch not floaters who move from branch to branch at the whim of the bank. A bank manager in every branch who you could see if you wanted to. No call centres, but direct numbers into your branch with phone being answered by a person not a machine. Instant electronic transfers with no excuses, such as, “Well it is very near the fraud level so we have to check it.”(£3000.00 took 4 days to move from one bank to another.) Stop trying to sell me things at the counter, if I want insurance or a loan I will ask for it. No big bonuses for the bosses. They earn enough anyway and if bonuses are being given out they should be given to the peopla at the sharp end. They are the ones taking all the flak for irate customers. Cut down on advertising. The fact that so many people stay with the bank they have been with for years surely proves that the general public are not stupid and they don’t belive all the hype. Straightforward charges would be good too, and they should reflect the cost to the bank, not be plucked out of the air as they seem to be now. I can dream I suppose!!!

I strongly object when if I buy currency using my debit card if I do not buy it from my bank they charge me for for spending my own money. I am not charged when I buy anything other than currency and my bank is not the best rate so I lose out .

1. No monthly “Overdraft Usage Fee”, ie, charge debit interest for ageed overdrafts as and when they are used and account is overdrawn, but not a fee each month if you do make occassional use of your overdraft facility. This is charging twice – and at a huge APR!
2. Call centres in the UK, staffed by people who speak proper English and who have the knowledge and ability to deal with queries and problems.
3. Staff who have the authority and discretion to deal with their customers as indiviuals
4. Decent credit interest rates on savings accounts (not needed on current accounts) and linkage of overdraft rates to Base Rate as they used to be, ie, abolition of “managed” rates like 19% on overdrafts when they used to be 3 or 4% over base.
5. Purchase of foreign currency from a different provider to your bank should be no different than using your debit card to purchase petrol and should not command a special charge by the debit card provider.
6. No more talk of doing away with cheques and reinstatement of cheque guarantee cards.
7. Stop “doing me a favour” – I’m the customer!

I have to say that apart from interest rates, my experiences with HSBC have been mostly good. But I feel all financial institutions should use Faster Payments (and Which?, when it assesses Best Buy savings accounts, should take that into account)

I would add to the suggestions already made:

1) A bank that does not offer me a so called financial review every six months when that review is simply an attempt to persuade me to take out a loan I don’t want or buy some other product from the bank;
2) A bank where I can close a savings account online when the introductory interest period runs out. Seems daft that I can open a savings account and at the end of the introductory period can transfer the entire balance in that account to my current account but cannot then close the savings account online “for security reasons” – I have to visit a branch! Plus I cannot open a new savings account until I close the old one; and
3) A bank whose online service doesn’t tell me that I need to fill in a form to do something and have to ring a paid for number to get that form (why can’t I download it?) only to find that the person at the other end of the line has never heard of this form but spends my call charge money trying to sell me something I don’t want.

Oh, and finally, a bank from which Ed Balls is kept as far away as possible!

Just one thing! I want to know the interest rate on each and every account. A large sign like a health warning on cigarettes at the top stating the percentage of interest being paid and charged and then where the amount is paid (or charged) on the statement not just the amount but the rate again. I am irritated by being asked by bank staff questions like, “When did you open this account, madam?” when i ask them to tell me the current rate being paid. WHY DON’T THEY KNOW THE RATES ON THEIR OWN PRODUCTS? and if they don’t know them, how on earth can we be expected to keep track. A long notice period should warn of any impending change in rate and their best alternative should be offered! Rant over!

A bank that openly aknowedges that there is no such thing as identity theft. That when a fraudster successfully circumvents security processes and steals money it is a bank robbery not an identity robbery.

First of all people should by now have learned that small is beautiful and large is a disaster. Why ?
A small unit can be easily controlled by its head, in large units the top boss does not really know what is going on. This means that a large unit like a large bank should be divided into smaller units with their heads having full authority over their units. Branch ‘a’ of a bank should be a cost centre with a manager having full responsibility and authority over the branch. The way it used to be.
Secondly, most of a bank’s income comes from trading, which often is a gamble. Ordinary depositors would like to feel that their money is safely invested and loans given either against a credible business plan or some security. Giving bonuses for proliferating loans only results in unsafe loans. That is why trading must be by a separate unit with isolated resources.

If it were possible everyone should withdraw all their money from the banks and set up a ‘People’s bank’ whose sole concern is to look after their customer’s (people’s) money in the best way possible.
There would be no gambling or risk taking with their money. Everyone would be paid according to their job description. There would be NO bonuses and they will not be included in any contracts. The customer should be treated with respect and helped with any problems that may occur. The number one rule should be:- The Customer ALWAYS comes FIRST.
I think the government has no backbone and won’t stand up to the banks. They should ban all bonuses and make them repay the taxpayer’s hard earned cash. So what if the present CEO’s leave, there will always be someone to follow. So what if a bank threatens to leave the country, there will always be another. If the government really cared about the taxpayer/people they would call the banker’s bluff and just tell them to go.

My ideal bank is already working on all the fantastic responses that preceed this one. I switched to Virgin One in 1998 and since then have only entered a branch (RBS) once to deposit my pension lump sum cheque. No one has wanted to give me financial advice or sell me any financial product, I have no knowledge of my bank manager, and I have no idea what the inside of a bank currently looks like. I’m not sure I am missing out on anything.
My ideal bank operates 24 hours a day online with tight security and offers me additional protection software such as Trusteer Rapport.I will be able to carry out the vast majority of account management tasks myself eg. setting up or cancelling standing orders and direct debits, transfers to other accounts eg. savings etc. I can send cheques and other communications in the addressed, 1st class postage envelopes provided “free” and also communicate securely online. When I phone, the pleasant UK citizen bank employee will take me through security, address me by my title and surname and have the authority to carry out the vast majority of what I am likely to request at that time. The phone service will be available 24 hours a day and I can phone by a special freephone number if I have an urgent problem while abroad. I can notify intention to travel abroad online and have absolute certainty that my cards will not be cancelled the first time I use them on holiday. When the bank has a new bright idea, eg Visa debit instead of Maestro, it will give me the choice of change or continuity and will not charge me exorbitant fees for any transaction remotely connected to currency exchange. My brank will honestly recognise the bleedin’ obvious, for example that chip and pin can be cracked by fraudsters and place me at the centre of it’s help systems rather than viewing me as a likely criminal.
My ideal bank will notify me of changes in interest rate in advance and will never be less than the average of the 5 best paying current accounts. My bank will allow me to take out cash without additional charge at any bank or building society ATM.
My ideal bank will not associate itself with self-agrandissement such as lavish hospitality or sponsorship and will concern itself only with ploughing all it’s reasonable profits into good customer interest rates, benefits and services. It will allow me to make my own decisions on which charities and political donations I wish to support instead of thinking that it knows best. It will listen intently to every word spoken by Vince Cable and be well ahead of the game in ringfencing my deposits in a completely safe “good bank” that is totally divorced from it’s casino-like revenue raising (or losing) activities.
My bank will try hard to keep its security and software at the leading edge. When it has to close its systems down for maintenance or change, it will endeavour to give me plenty of notice, do the work overnight and be up and running within 12 hours of the said activity starting or email me telling me exactly why if it can’t. It will never ever take 5 weeks to get me online again …. “every little bit helps.”

My main complaint about banks is the excessive money laundering security and misrepresentation of the Digital Information act.

Don’t you think it ridiculous that when you go to buy foreign currency, even with your passport for ID, your Debit Card is refused. But you can go next door and take out the cash from an ATM and then get your foreign currency. That’s nuts.

When I travelled through Siberia, many hotel foyers had cash machines that accepted my UK debit card and let me draw cash in Roubles, Euros or US Dollars. We must be bonkers not having multiple denomination cask machines here. What possible excuse is there for this other than to perpetuate Exchange Bureaux?

And why do banks hide behind the digital information act? For example, when they lose your money transfer, they won’t tell you where/who they sent it to using the act as an excuse. It is just nuts. and is letting them cover their errors.

I would like notification when interest rates change on any of my accounts, not just to be sold something, then find out that the headline rate was for period x.
Bank staff to serve customers, not make them wait while they complete routing paperwork.
Half of all bank bonus payments to be shared by account holders.

I bank on-line but when I have a query I need my call to be answered in clear English without a foreign accent.
I next want a decent interest to be paid on my current account credit balance – we are being ripped off by the banks at present. I suggest half the overdraft rate is a starting figure.

i would like to receive my statement the day after the final transaction and would find it very helpful if it also showed known future transactions

I want my bank to care about retainig customers and encouraging loyalty. The common practise of effectively taking away the interest on the money in your one year old savings account is a deplorable act that should have been seen at the outset as a sleazy and underhand scam.

I have little respect for the banking industry and it’s business practices and only wholesale reform will change that.

I’d don’t see why when a banker makes money on the stock market he gets a big bonus and I get nothing then when he makes a huge loss he still gets a big bonus and I get to pay for it. If they want to gamble then there should be a penalty for losing! And I should get a share of the winnings.
I’d also like to see the differential between borrowing rates and lending rates governed so that the banks cut is the same, as rates dropped the rate I pay on loans has stayed at about 8 or 9% but interest on my savings has dropped to 0.1%

When I access a savings account online I want to see the current rate of interest at the head of the account along with the other relevant information. I don’t want to have to search the site for interest rates and scroll through all of the available accounts just to check that it hasn’t changed.

If I paid over the phone using my debit card for foreign exchange purchased from a third party, I would be subject to a huge (around £45!) fee for use of the card. I can buy any other item without charge using my debit card, so what is the justification for this whammy?

My ideal bank would:
Offer free personal banking (as now) when you stay within their “rules”.
Continue to offer cheques.
Re-instate a cheque guarantee card – did they hope that stopping these would help them to get rid of cheques altogether?
Extend the “faster payment” system to cover transfers to/from virtually all accounts.
Raise the limit (£10,000 with my present bank) for the “faster payment” system. A customer who needs to move his savings when the bonus interest offer runs out (often after 12 months) can readily do so via a “linked current a/c” but if the sum concerned is over £10,000 the BACS transfer takes 3 working days. My suggestion would be to raise the limit for “faster payments” to £85,000 – the same as the compensation ceiling if a bank/building society goes bust. Apart from a £30 CHAPS transfer, the only way to avoid the loss of interest incurred by the BACS transfer is to move savings in £10,000 bites – withdraw from your old bank/building society on (say) a Monday, receive into your linked bank a/c on Wednesday (it usually takes 3 days) and make a faster (about an hour) transfer to your new savings a/c the same day (Wednesday). If it is a non-bank holiday week, you can repeat the process Wednesday – Friday.
Sums over £85,000 would still need be transferred by CHAPS transfer.
Alternatively, banks could offer good interest – say 3.00% gross with no bonus year – on their own Instant Access savings a/c’s. Did I catch sight of a flying pig?
PS Not many new cars for £10,000 these days!

I have the perfect bank no charges i stay in credit the bank is natwest

I am long-retired and probably untypical of Which members, because I do not have any special ‘gripes’
about my bank (Santander ) so I do not feel that it would be useful for me to attend the consultation tomorrow. Obviously, I would like a better rate of interest on deposits and am annoyed that banks tend to let their interest rates decline for existing depositors. There seems to be a general consensus that banks should ‘ring fence’ domestic (UK) banking from ‘casino’ banking (but they seem to be resisting this).

My ideal bank would look pretty much like the Co-op! I’ve only been inside their branch once, and do all my banking on-line, or by phone – staff are helpful, and sound like real pupil, not zombies reading from a script. I like its ethical focus, the fact I can withdraw money from the Post Office (there’s no free ATM in my village), the enhanced security, and the dividend!

Banks permitting us to transfer /port mortgages by simply substituting the new house for the old one: ie transfer collateral) if the risk of the mortgage’s is not increased ( ie loan no bigger, equity % no worse and quality of house no worse) . This change could even include those whose mortgage is under water.

Right now banks mistakenly thing the FSA require all mortgage ports to be treated as new loans or are just uncertain ( according to the Mortgage Lenders Association). They don’t .

This would allow millions to, for example, move for jobs, move nearer to relatives for child care support or down size even though they don’t meet the new much higher hurdles for new loans.

Please have this posed tonight. It is crucial for people and the economy. I can pass a detailed submission on this to the FSA if you like.

Graham Cox
Financial Economist

A Bank that pay’s attention to customers needs without the high pitched sales jargon.
Keep it simple and logical so that one can understand what is at stake at the end of the day.
Loyalty is a big issue, do something about it.
BACS transfers should not take 3 to 7 working days.
Make it child friendly, teach them the skills for the future such as mortgages, credit, debt and what it means and saving also.
Education, education is key and that if done well will bring loyalty.

It is essential that each branch has a manager in total control, with full authority and responsibility for the profitable operation of his branch.
Loans must be given against either some security or a credible business plan.