What’s the best bank?

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AB22 Easy Tiger said:
I’m planning on returning to the UK in the next 6 months. I won’t have a job but will have a significant amount to transfer from my US account.

Hints for the best bank.
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Guess you must already have an account to change into UK £ sterling. At moment all banks are offering virtually nothing in interest rates.
I moved back to UK. Used MONEYCORP for currency transactions .If you have large sum ,you could negotiate a better deal. As you know exchange rates vary all the time .Do your homework,some charge per transaction etc.Rates are in your favour at exchange rates are low at moment, better for you.I did mine gradually ,as you know currency trading is bit of minefield ,FCA approved are better risk .Good luck
 
becs said:
I've been with Nationwide for years and never had any bother.
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Another vote for Nationwide in terms of day to day banking.

Switched from Lloyds about 8 years ago because they pissed me about too much. Nationwide have been great to deal with.

No idea about FX transfers though.
 
No such thing as a best one. Many have various perks & always good practice to have more than 1 for when stuff goes wrong

Nat west are shite.
First direct for all Martin Lewis bigs up their great customer service, setting up online banking is massively over complicated & a right pain in the arse (some might see that as a good thing as it makes security better)
Co-OP I use for small spend for the cashback but the faster payments are slow, but theres never any queues in branch if you have a local one.
Lloyd's pays about 0.7% interest on balances upto £5k so canny as a bit of a savings account.
Virgin pay 2% on first £1,000 & have a linked savings at 0.5% (but dropping to 0.35% soon, but suspect the likes of Marcus will follow)
 
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For day to day banking, First Direct always seems to win the votes that moneysavingexpect runs. Its an online/phone only offshoot of HSBC (but for some things, you can use their branches too).

I use Nationwide, and its been excellent to the point where I don't see any point in changing to FD.

I'd avoid Halifax, from personal bad experiences. Plural.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

App-based banks lead our customer service poll – see how your bank did

Challenger bank Monzo has taken the crown in our latest banking customer service poll – knocking First Direct off the top spot for only the second time ever
www.moneysavingexpert.com www.moneysavingexpert.com
 
Epping said:
Barclays I've been with since I was 16 and never had an issue.. others will say otherwise mind

Starling bank I've found spot on for online

Moving decent wedges of cash across borders I last used Moneycorp and they were spot on.

Sent 150k to new Zealand and a similar amount to Australia.. they wait for best spot rate then go.. minimal fees too
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I normally use Moneycorp for transferring cash overseas, always seem to give competitive rates,
Currently banking in the UK with Nationwide
 
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Everyday one for bills and direct debits I use Santander.

Transfer disposable income into Starling account and use that for everything. Advantageous when abroad (when the world is more normal) as you can withdraw currency and use card with no exchange rates or transaction fees. App based but can still make cash and cheques deposits without any fuss
 
becs said:
I've been with Nationwide for years and never had any bother.
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I've always found them very reasonable. When I helped arrange the Hazey football tournament, Disco's ineptitude ended up pushing me into a negative amount when I didn't have an agreed overdraft but they handled that really well and without fuss and that positive attitude lingers in my memory.
 
I use a fair few banks
Barclays ....seem a bit too stringent to the point of ridiculousness and tears.
But at the same time have failed on the data protection front.

First Direct....absolutely excellent until this last year, but likely covid issues made them less able to cope.
Online banking is fine. Foreign exchange payment easy ( don't know about value).
Best is fast answering of phones by humans.

HSBC, Metrobank, Santander all OK. No complaints, no raving. Hard to speak to humans.

Some accounts offer free* yearly world wide travel insurance for two which is actually a great perk.

*Obviously not free, there is a monthly charge of £12, but the travel insurance would cost more than that.
 
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