I have banked with Abbey National for 6 years and I really can’t rate them highly enough. Although recently they have changed from a building society to a bank and they have recently changed their name from Abbey national to Abbey. The logo has changed but the impeccable service has remained the same.
I used to bank with Natwest and seriously had no end of trouble with them. The final straw came when I went £5.00 over my overdraft limit and they wanted all my switch cards back. I had banked with Natwest for 10 years and this attitude surprised me so I decided to vote with my feet and shut my account and bank elsewhere. I am not normally compulsive like this but felt they didn’t really want or deserve my business so I shut my account.
I didn’t plan to bank with Abbey National but they were the next high street bank that I came to and decided they were as good as any other on the market (besides I quite liked the look of the two little people under the umbrella on their sign!!!!!!!!) When registering to open an account I was told that I would need 6 months of previous banking statements. Now in the past I never bothered to keep them so had to trot up the road to Natwest to ask them for my statements. They told me I could have them but it would cost me £2.50 a page!!!!!!! I refused to pay, as it seemed like they were adding insult to injury but however Abbey National opened my account without them with no extra charge to myself.
Right from that moment I have never had a single trouble or bother with Abbey. They have always been helpful, kind, and courteous and nothing is too much trouble. I have a current account with them (with a substantial overdraft) a credit card, a savings account and an ISA. In the past I have had a loan with them as well
and all with no trouble or bother.
The account I have needs to have a minimum of £1000 credited to it every month but they do do others and will advise you on the best account for your needs. My saving account also pays two variable rates of interest. I get a higher rate of interest on my savings account if I do all my transactions on the telephone or the internet and my ISA is a competitive rate that is comparable to that of other high street banks. I do get charged on my overdraft but there are two options available. I can earn interest on my money when i am in credit and pay a higher rate when I am in my overdraft. Or I can opt to earn no interest when I am in credit and pay a lower interest rate when I am in the red. The bank write to me if I am on the wrong tarrif and change it easily.
I do a lot of my banking and money transfers on the Internet and their web site (www.abbeynational.co.uk) is easy to use. You can set up and cancel direct debits, transfer money to either your linked accounts or to other people’s accounts, you can deal shares and open new accounts etc. I only have to put my card number and password and passcode in. When you register for E-banking they give you a password and passcode but you can change these to something memorable so no chance of forgetting them.
When I applied for my loan it was all done over the telephone and they sent me a form to sign and three days later the money was in my account (it didn’t stay there long believe me.) I actually paid the loan back a year early and they didn’t try to rip me off with early repayment fees or anything – so if I needed a loan I would definitely recommend them. Their interest rates vary and there are more competitive rates out there but for the ease and customer service that they offer you really can’t beat it.
The card I received with my current account can be used like a switch card but has the visa symbol. This means that it can be used in wider variety of places and can also be used abroad. Although the card has the visa symbol the money leaves your account straight away like a switch so you get all the benefits of switch yet the card is accepted in a wider variety of places. Literally as they say – anywhere where you see the VISA symbol.
I have called the telephone banking on numerous occasions and again they are always helpful and courteous. Often asking me if its alright for them to call me by my first name or not. A nice touch as although I don’t mind people calling me Natalie it is always nice when they don’t presume that I don’t mind. I am never left hanging on the telephone very long if I want to speak a ‘customer service manager’ but you can use the automated telephone system so can pay off direct debits etc that way. The cost of the phone call is a lo-call cost and it’s never more than pennies on my phone bill. However I do all my banking on the Internet now as it’s easier and I’m on the net all day so its no problem. I have never experienced the web site being down either and all pages are easily printable. If you transfer money they actually suggesting printing the page out for your reference so they’re helpful as well.
The cash machines are widely available and they don’t charge me using someone else’s cash machine, which is a bonus as some banks charge you £1.25 for the privilege. Th cash machine also has a few added benefits. I can top up my mobilepay as you go phone on them, which is quite frankly an ingenious invention. You just put your card in and tap in your four-digit pin number as normal and then request mobile top up. You select the network you are on, key in your phone number and select the amount you want to top up by. You get a receipt to say it has been credited straight away and the money leaves your account. Because you can top up any mobile phone this way I could even top up my friends if the need arose (or tell them to buy a buy a voucher themselves the lazy monkeys.) I am not sure if you need to be a member of Abbey to use this facility but its certainly one that I find helpful. Via the cash machine I can also transfer money between my current account, saving savings account and ISA account – so again if I need to do this it saves time logging onto the web. They always issue receipts for your records as well. You can also pay money into your account via the cash machine but only at a cash machine that is linked to the branch. Some BP garages have Abbey machines located within them and obviously you can’t pay money into these but you can at the branch cash machines. The cheques are processed the next day however so take a day longer to clear. This is however a brilliant invention if the queues are massive and I haven’t got time to stand in them. You can also view your last 10 transactions or print them at no cost to yourself so you can keep an eye on your direct debits to see if they’ve cleared or not.
The staff within the branch are helpful and nothing seems like too much trouble. When dealing with you they call me by my name. Not a big deal I know but the fact they look at my card take the time to call me by my name wins points for me. It makes me feel special and important. There is however one point to note. Abbey doesn’t issue paying in books for your account unless you request one specifically. I get my expenses paid to me monthly via a cheque so I have to take the cheque in with my bankcard and pay it in over the counter. Not having a paying in book does sometimes cause problems, as I don’t like to give my card to others to pay money into my account. If my mum is going to the bank I am quite happy to give her my card but having a paying in book would make it easier.
You also cannot pay a bill over the counter. When you receive bills from companies you often get a tear off slip that you fill in and then pay in over the counter at your local branch. Abbey does not for some reason offer this facility and you have to set up the bill as a bill payment. This is a pain in the butt as a process but does make it easier in the long run. You can either add the payment on the net or on the phone and it is allocated a number (i.e. my Barclaycard is number 4.) You can log on or ring up and say you would like to pay X amount to bill payment 4 on such and such a date. Therefore it means you can pay these in the future without having to go into the branch. I have found that this helps to keep my finances in better track as you can ask for the payment to leave your account immediately or nominate a day up to 30 days ahead for it to be paid instead. This way I can take full advantage of my interest free period on my credit card without having to worry about getting to the bank in time or sending a cheque off.
There are loads of plus points to Abbey and I know this review is getting quite long now (onto my third page on word.) However Abbey do offer House Insurance, Motor Insurance and Mortgages. I have no experience in using these facilities so I can’t comment. When my mortgage fixed tie in period ends I will definitely contact Abbey for a quote. I don’t find I get bombarded with junk mail from them I just get my statements sent to me and no other junk. When I was at University they had a facility where you could state you had a shared mailbox and pick all your mail up from them. It might be a pain but at least it means your bankcards safe from the other 500 people in your university halls.
I really can not rate Abbey high enough. They have always been kind and do all they can to help me. If you are thinking about changing banks Abbey are offering a deal at the moment. If they can not offer you a better deal than you are currently getting at your bank they will give you £50.00. Not a bad deal then. Also Martin Kemp is the advertising face of Abbey so failing that if you go into the branch you will be met with a life size cut out of that handsome hunk – not to be sniffed at eh!!!!
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대수도원 국립 은행은 당신은 말하는 무엇을 짐 bollocks의, 있고 쓰레기 서비스, 오만한 직원이, 이용하는 이라크 파키스탄에서 저임금 노동을인지, 배설물의 이제까지 가장 큰 짐이고. 당신의 검토는 당신의 분지를 당신 작은 꺼려진 dimwit 칭찬한다 그래서 너자신에게 그들을 위한 당신의 칭찬을 지키십시오. 좋은 쓰레기가 있고 당신의 체계에서 대수도원을 빼내고, 당신은 직원의 것 또는 무언가는 이고 또는 직원의 1를 ???????? 당신이다 간다.
sidmisty123 02.03.2006 23:38
very good review I agree with everything you have said I have been banking with abbey for 13 years with no problems
RAF_Reviewer 26.05.2005 01:26
I have to say this is a superb review, it really gets to the point andgives me a good idea of whom i am dealing with, when confrunting this bank
Advantages: Regular bank accounts are provided with Visa Debit cards and good overdraft facilities. Disadvantages: Rude customer service, mistakes frequently made, banking systems often go down, extortionate unauthorised overdraft fees.
killstrelok 16.01.2009 (16.01.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Abbey
Feb 1st, 2004
exceptional by (5%):
very helpful by (93%):
helpful by (3%):
