... I decided on the following guidelines:
1) I needed to get back into the good habit of putting money into savings regularly, so a monthly savings product that automatically took money from my current account each month would ensure that I didn’t overlook it or opt out any month
2) I wanted ... Read review
Advantages: A good rate of interest was offered Disadvantages: Poor call centre, Poor customer service, Staff misled me, Failed to open my account correctly
...very well indeed: Abbey’s (nee Abbey National) Fixed Rate Monthly Saver. The account was described thus: “Fixed Rate Monthly Saver (Issue 6) offers you a really high 7% AER for a minimum of 12 months as long as you pay in between £20 and £250 a month by standing order and don't make any withdrawals”. So I got my automatic monthly payments, I got a competitive interest rate (considering the Bank of England rate at that point was just 4.5%), and my ... ...with some other similar products. Abbey also state that paying in more than the maximum £250 per month results in you getting 0.1% paid on the whole balance for the remainder of the term, although I didn’t think that it was likely to happen to me!
Having made my decision, I investigated ways to apply for this new account. Unfortunately, applying online isn’t an option, as Abbey need to see proof of your identity before they will open ... more
Last summer, I graduated from university and began my first “proper” job. Having been brought up to have a savings habit (something that I had been unable to continue with consistently during my student years), one of the first things I wanted to do with my new income was to get saving again and build up a little bit of financial security. Now, there are many different savings options out there to choose from and the choice can be quite bewildering, so I had a careful think about what exactly I needed from my new savings account. I decided on the following guidelines:
1) I needed to get back into the good habit of putting money into savings regularly, so a monthly savings product that automatically took money from my current account each month would ensure that I didn’t overlook it or opt out any month
2) I wanted a decent rate of interest, especially now I’ve got to pay tax on my returns (and before anyone comments that I should have got an ISA, I actually already do; this was going to be a parallel savings product)
3) I didn’t want my money locked into a product that would make access difficult over the short or medium term in case of any unexpected bills arising or a delay in finding a new job after my current contract ends
After much internet research and scouring of the Times money supplement, I spotted something that seemed to fit my needs very well indeed: Abbey’s (nee Abbey National) Fixed Rate Monthly Saver. The account was described thus: “Fixed Rate Monthly Saver (Issue 6) offers you a really high 7% AER for a minimum of 12 months as long as you pay in between £20 and £250 a month by standing order and don't make any withdrawals”. So I got my automatic monthly payments, I got a competitive interest rate (considering the Bank of England rate at that point was just 4.5%), and my money would be tied up for just a year. At the end of the year, the interest would be paid on the money I’d saved and my account would become a Monthly Saver offering (at the time of writing) 5.2% gross interest. If I paid in less that the minimum £20 or withdrew money from my account, then I would only get 0.1% interest paid for that month, but at least I got the option of withdrawing money if I needed to, something I wouldn’t have got with some other similar products. Abbey also state that paying in more than the maximum £250 per month results in you getting 0.1% paid on the whole balance for the remainder of the term, although I didn’t think that it was likely to happen to me!
Having made my decision, I investigated ways to apply for this new account. Unfortunately, applying online isn’t an option, as Abbey need to see proof of your identity before they will open the account for you - this leaves you with the choice of going into a branch or making a postal application. You can, however, download and print off the relevant application forms from their website (www.abbey.com) as I did, as I found it difficult to get into a branch. The form started off easily enough, covering personal details and the amount you wanted to save each month, and finishing with a standing order mandate to be completed and sent on to the bank you wanted your monthly payment to come from. This did throw me slightly, as for a standing order to be set up then you need the bank details of both the source account and the account the money is to be transferred to – and of course I didn’t have the latter as the new Abbey account had not been set up yet. A note on the mandate form stated that Abbey would populate this part of the form once my account had been opened, so I duly followed instructions and sent the mandate off to the bank holding my current account. As a new customer, I was also required to send in two forms of ID to Abbey from their list of approved documents: a photocopy of my passport (I wouldn’t trust the real one to the post!) and an official letter from the Inland Revenue.
Two weeks passed and I heard nothing from Abbey. A further week went by with no response, and then a curious thing happened – the standing order appeared in the online banking for my current account, and my first payment was taken on the 16th of that month, the day I had nominated my payments to be made on. I thought it was a little strange that the money had been taken without any communication from Abbey, but I took the appearance of the standing order as a good sign, and settled back to wait for my account details to arrive.
Three working days after the money had been taken from my current account and still with no communication, I phoned Abbey to find out what was happening. After an interminable wait on hold, I eventually spoke to someone who assured me (in a very bored voice) that everything was fine with my account and the paperwork “was in the post”. This statement proved to be a porky pie. Ten days after my standing order had been taken, the money was returned to my current account…and I still had not heard anything from Abbey. A second phone call followed. This time I spoke to a man who was more helpful that the first call centre advisor – he checked his computer and reported that the standing order had been set up incorrectly because Abbey had failed to populate the form with my new account number (he seemed mystified that I should be asked to send a standing order mandate to my bank without knowing the number of the account the money was to go to as well). My account had been opened, he said, but this clearly caused problems as my first payment had failed, which, under the terms of the account, meant that I would not get the 7% interest for that month. Having done all he could, he passed my details onto the woman who had supposedly been in charge of setting up my new account and promised she would phone me the following day.
Naturally, she didn’t phone the next day.
Or the day after that.
By this point, I had wasted a month trying to set up my Fixed Rate Monthly Saver and was getting a little weary of Abbey’s incompetence. I phoned the call centre again and requested that my account be closed down, then cancelled the standing order mandate with my bank. Further days passed, and I received a letter in the post from Abbey. After recovering from my shock, I opened it to find…the return of my ID and a letter welcoming me to my new account. Hmmmmmm. Back to that call centre again. And guess what? This advisor informs me that accounts cannot be closed over the phone and I have to go into a branch to do it – so that would be another Abbey employee whose nose has grown a little bit bigger then.
The following week, I spent one of my lunch breaks queuing at the counters at Abbey, clutching my welcome letter and determined to close down the account. The counter assistant tells me I need to speak to the staff on the enquiry desk, who (after queuing for a second time) then informed me that I need to queue at the counters. At this point, I think the bright red colour of my face might just have convinced them that it would be a good idea to open up another counter and take me straight over to it to deal with me sooner rather than later. And finally, six weeks after sending off my application, I closed down my Fixed Rate Monthly Saver and defected to Halifax (who have an identical account but with staff who know what they are doing).
As a postscript to this sorry affair, I did write a scathing complaints letter to Abbey listing everything that had gone wrong from the grammatically incorrect letter they sent me upwards (you would kind of expect that from me, wouldn’t you?). The result of this was an apology and a £20 payout by way of compensation (for which you can read: please don’t report us to the Financial Ombudsman).
So this is my experience of Abbey accounts. Some of the products may seem competitive on paper and the website is well laid out and attractive, but most of the service I received was very poor, the call centre was awful and two members of staff actually lied to me, which is unacceptable. Upon retelling this tale to friends and family, I have found many other people who have had bad experiences with Abbey – more poor customer service, mortgages improperly set up, and rude staff to name a few. I have even heard from someone who works in banking that the running joke in his office was “at least I don’t work for Abbey”! I couldn’t bring myself to trust Abbey with my money again, however high a savings rate they offer.
Advantages: Convenient, safe, friendly service Disadvantages: Not featured in majority of campus bank units
...And hey, I’ve found one! Abbey National may not be the most popular choice amongst students, and there are some disadvantages, mainly branch accessibility, but I’ve found that my peace of mind where money is concerned is invaluable at this stressful period in my life. ACCOUNT BASICS
A Student Account can be opened any time once you know you’re going to university. I applied in the summer before I went to uni, even before I’d ... ...shop around. I chose the Abbey because I already had a savers account with them, and didn’t look anywhere else. While I have no regrets, I would stress it’s an important decision and everybody’s needs are different.)
When you apply, you will be asked to provide some means of identification to prove your name and address. A passport or driver’s licence is enough to prove you are who you say you are, but you will also need ...
Protagonist 31.08.2003 (05.09.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Abbey Accounts
Advantages: Free, efficient, reliable, time saving Disadvantages: All done remotely - you don't see a face
...had a personal account with Abbey National for several years with no complaints and decided to see what they were able to offer.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they were able to offer me totally FREE business banking (within certain clearly defined transaction limits) with their direct business banking service. The transaction limits on a monthly basis are:-
Deposits: 10
Cheques deposited: 50
Cash deposited: £2,500
Automated BACS ... ...If your needs are more complex, from others I know they are still able to deal with it all, including Fixed Rate Charity Bonds for registered charities. What’s more, they were voted best company bank account provider for 2002 by Business Moneyfacts.
Well done Abbey National Business! ...
fish02 01.10.2003 (02.10.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Abbey Accounts
Advantages: Internet and Telphone banking services Disadvantages: Not enough information given when opening an account
...a current account with the Abbey National for three years. This is called The Abbey National Bank Account. There is a cheque book available with this account but you dont have to take it if you dont want. There are three different types of card that go along with this account.
1. The multi-function card, this acts as a cash machine card, a cheque card and a debit card.
2. The Electron card, this is basically a cash machine card, but some of the ... ...found the advisors in the Abbey National very willing to discuss my banking needs, and act upon them if it was within their power. There are products other than the standard current account available within this bank.
The Instant Plus Account
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This is a card based account, giving you access to your money through the many cash machines all over the world. The card you get in an Electron Card, which is accepted in most ...
LYZZCHARLIE 03.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Abbey Accounts
Advantages: Free UK business Banking Disadvantages: Restricted usage of account
...expensive. Along came Abbey National with their small business banking option. I read about it in a magazine and was keen to get the details onto my desk asap. A quick check on their website led me to their customer service contact and I called them.
Extremely helpful and very willing to answer questions and lead me through the details of the account.
Based on that I signed up with them, almost on the spot. Not 10 days later I was up and running ... ...get, don't you...?
Here's an overview of the small business account:
The account is a so called card cash account, which means that all transactions, such as pay-ins and withdrawals are made by using their machines for pay-ins and any Link machine in the UK for withdrawals.
I have a cheque book in my business name, freepost envelopes for correspondence with the bank as well as a great stylish folder to keep all my statements in as well as the ...
GermanGuy 24.01.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Abbey Accounts
Advantages: None that are obvious except for those with bad credit history who just need a basic account that they can't get elsewhere. Disadvantages: High fee's for all transactions,low availability of locations that accept the debit card,rules change without notice
Another whinge about abbey naff i am afraid.Continuing from nmforste with whom i have share the same gripes with abbey's instant plus and more.
The account is a card based account that gives you an electron card to rely on for all your banking etc,except there are very few places that accepts this sort of debit card,hence you need to find the cashpoint owned by the abbey naff to get some money,DON'T use anyone elses cashmachine to withdraw funds ... ...Barclays.This fee was charged by Abbey NOT Barclays.They also charge you for making transactions across the counter!!!Now i am fine with depositing cheques into a cash machine but,sometimes i need to put in cash quickly to cover a direct debit due AND if i put it the machine it WILL NOT hit my account for approx 3 days.
And the new fee for being overdrawn is totally different{i add i never recieved notice of the change either},it used be the case ...
lizbizi 02.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Abbey Accounts
Efficiency of service
Competitiveness of char...
Online - Content/organi...
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Advantages: Part of the Santader group Disadvantages: Customer service appears to be a low priority
I had a savings account with Abbey for a total of 8 years and was very disappointed at the end of that time when the security questions required to gain access to my account over the telephone were changed without warning. The questions put in place did not apply to my circumstances and when I asked for a written explanation this took weeks to arrive and did not address the issues at all. The situation was resolved only when I wrote a detailed letter requesting that the account be closed, while explaining why I could no longer use my account (no longer secure due to inappropriate security measures). The matter was then taken up by an investigation team which returned the funds that had been deposited and offered an apology.
Abbey responded well eventually but getting them to take my requests seriously took too long. ...
Vixterbelle 30.12.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Abbey
Advantages: None whatsoever Disadvantages: The total disregard and lack of product knowledge shown by "call Centre" staff and Management
Since April of 2008 I have been unable to access my Abbeyaccount.
I am a UK citizen who moved to south Africa on a work permit.
Last year At the end of April 2008 I had a burglary at home, unfortunately my laptop amongst other things was stolen. I did not lose my Abbey Card, however being prudent in these days of identity theft, I informed abbey during the first week in May that there was an issue and asked for my internet passwords to be reset and a new card to be issued with a new pin.
I waited, and waited and waited. I chased abbey and they confirmed that the card would be re issued. I travelled to the UK in May and was in contact with Abbey during the week of the 15th of May 2008, When I told them that I had received the passcode but no new card or pin at my South African address. They informed me that a stop would be ...
Advantages: Great quick and convienient at your home or work computer Disadvantages: No personal service compared to visiting branch
reasons.
The screen for this e-banking is great clear screen, navigation and text, very fast e-mail response and banking access in just a few seconds.
Compared to other banks internet banking, like, Barclays, Lloyds TSB etc Abbeynationals e-banking service is so quick and easy to navigate.
*CONTACT DETAILS*
Address: Abbey National plc
PO Box 1109
Bradford
BD1 5XS
Telephone: e-saver access line at anytime Mon - Sat 8am - 9pm on: 0845 609 0014
* PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS *
I use e-banking a every week and find the abbeynational website very easy to navigate and offers a good rate of interest and recommend it to potential buyers. Internet banking is great.
I will update this op more in due course as this new account is getting more features.
Thanks for reading. ...
