Chelsea Building Society

A few years ago now I opened a CLASSIC account with the Chelsea BS since, at the time, it had one of the best rates going. Everything was great for a while but of course, time passed slowly and, like most people, I lost track of the interest rates paid on this account as they went up and down.

Imagine my surprise when I checked a few weeks ago and found that the latest (almost) equivalent account from the Chelsea (CALL DIRECT) pays almost three (yes 3!) times the interest rate of the original account I had opened all those years ago.

Now, I realise that it is not in their best interest (no pun intended) to keep the customer informed when a new account starts up that might be a better option but, then again, surely disgruntled customers must be leaving once they realise that this is how they will be treated. This leads to one of the biggest problems for banks/building societies which is constantly chasing new customers to replace those who move on.

To be fair, I assessed the options and decided that for the moment I would be best served by staying with the Chelsea so I closed the old account and transferred the funds into the new CALL DIRECT account. This was accomplished with a single phone call, two forms and a distinct lack of fuss so full marks to the Chelsea on that point.

In the long run though, I am left with the feeling that my custom is not exactly valued by the Chelsea BS and, barring unforeseen circumstances like a vast improvement in the banking industry, I would expect to be moving my account within the next year or two. You can't beat the banks but it wouldnt hurt to keep your eyes open by checking both your current bank and their rivals on a regular basis

All that and there is no online or internet banking option...

Overall, I recommend them since they are good at what they do but there are probably better options out there