I am not sure what the statistics are for switching banks, but I guess most people do not do it very often, primarily because of the perceived hassle involved, particularly with maintaining direct debits. I however, have never switched from Lloyds Bank (now LloydsTSB) for my current account for over 20 years. My main reason for this is that they have been incredibly easy to do business with.
I first opened a Student Account back in 1986, the exact reason for choosing them long erased from my memory, and indeed my parents and family have never banked with Lloyds - but I probably chose them because they offered cold hard cash as an incentive. A figure of £10 is ringing a distant bell - how times have changed! My main experience with LloydsTSB is with current accounts, although I have also held savings accounts with them in the past too, and have recently opened a new one, paying 4.65% net.
When I opened the account, banking was mainly an over the counter thing although I did have a Cashpoint Card too. Since then I have met my husband, added him to the account making it a joint account, bought six houses, rented three others in the UK, lived overseas for extended periods of time while at the same time getting paid in the UK and having to manage overseas living expenses; My salary has been as high as 15 times my first ever salaried role in 1987, but I have also had a career break when I had little or no income, and a short period of unemployment
last year too. So has my bank moved with my changing circumstances?
I have used internet banking for about five-six years as I recall, which has gone without any difficulties. We did have another account with the Woolwich for a short period, because we tried one of these all inclusive accounts with mortgage, savings and current account all in one. However, the Lloyds account was much more straightforward to use, for managing bank transfers, direct debits and standing orders. I very rarely need to go into a bank nowadays. I did have to pay a large cheque in 2005 when I sold my house, but had not bought another..and I was whisked into an office as a matter of procedure and actually got a direct line to the bank, which is a rarity these days. I didn't have the heart to say I was going to be withdrawing most of it six weeks later..! Normally when I go into the bank to pay in a cheque I only use the paying in point to avoid queues.
Currently LloydsTsb offers five different current accounts which are the Classic, Select, Gold Service, Platinum and Premier. I am currently on the Platinum Account, having upgraded from the Classic account around 12 months ago after several prompts from the internet banking site.
All accounts other than the Classic encounter a monthly fee and these vary from £7 a month up to £25 a month. I feel the Platinum account, which costs £15 a month offered the best value for me as I didn't think I would gain much extra benefit from the additional £120 a year that the Premier account costs.
All banks seem to compete with each other in their quest to show that their current account pays more interest than the others. I have to say I am not swayed by this little bit of marketing as to me the point of a current account is for paying in salary and for paying out everyday expenses, and as such there is not a lot of point leaving too much money in there anyway. The big four banks were at the back of the pack with interest on current accounts, but LloydsTsb pays 4.25% for balances of up to £5000 for the current accounts I have mentioned here, compared to a paltry 0.10% normally.
LloydsTSB's other unique selling point that it has been pushing is the fact that it will now pay interest on cheques from the day they are paid in, and not 3-4 days later like most other banks. In actual fact, unless you pay in a large amount of cheques a year, I cannot see much benefit from this. I probably pay in less than 10 cheques a year and nothing of any huge value either!
Obviously to pay £15 a month just for the privilege of banking needs to have some concrete benefits attached. The reason I chose the Platinum account is because I already had a requirement, and was paying for the two main benefits attached - that of AA Breakdown Cover and Annual Travel Insurance. The annual fees for the Platinum account amount to £180 per year. However the AA Breakdown cover I was paying for monthly cost me not far off that figure, and the Annual travel insurance is valued at up to £210 a year extra, so those two benefits alone give me the return I need.
The other main insurance benefits are free mobilephone insurance and free Sentinel Card protection. I did not have these previously, particularly as I find Mobile phone insurance quite expensive and I am not sure if I am organised enough to keep Sentinel Card Protectionup to date.
I actually had a small service issue when I tried to upgrade my account. After months of seeing links allowing me to "upgrade instantly" but I didn't want to upgrade until my AA Membership year had expired. Finally when it did and when the time was right to do this, I had no link! I contacted customer services who said I was no longer eligible. I was given woolly reasons that it was to do with "the way I was managing my account". As I was never overdrawn, had a regular salary, few outgoings from the account and saved a good chunk, of course I questioned this..within a few hours, I was called back and was advised that my account HAD been upgraded, so common sense eventually prevailed. There is usually a three month introductory offer on the monthly fees, and so I was only charged £10 for three months, not the usual £15.
Apart from getting a new bank card in Platinum colour instead of the normal green and blue that is LloydsTSB, and a weighty information pack about my new account and benefits, very little else changed. I did find it a little unusual that I didn't now have an AA Membership card and did wonder how this would work, and likewise with the Insurances. Of course, I filed the pack away after barely reading it! The card carries a £250 guarantee, and while there is an automatic free overdraft facility, any existing overdraft facility will be carried over (another reason why I wouldn't want to move, as I doubt any other bank would match my current overdraft facility which I have had for about the last ten years, and which has proven very useful during the periods when I have not had a regular salary coming in.
However, the real test with these additional benefits is how they perform when they are needed. I haven't actually needed the AA for the last 12 months, and indeed had a company car for some of that time, with separate assistance anyway. However, on a recent holiday, I had to visit a doctor, and the consultation and drugs came to $220 altogether. I decided I would review the policy to see if it was worth making a claim. My first surprise was that the excess was only £40, thus making a claim was reasonably worthwhile. I rang the Platinum helpline, to find my call was answered instantly, all benefits are driven off the account number and sort code (which I can always remember even without the card), I provided figures of the medical expenses over the telephone and I was called back within an hour to verify I had proof of the expenses and indeed the trip itself. My claim was settled within a couple of hours and I had a cheque within a few days..! I seized the moment to register our mobile phones so at least they are properly covered now too.
"Save the Change" is a new neat little saving feature that LloydsTSB offers. Basically you can link your Current account to a Savings Account (which can be opened on line in three clicks, providing you have £250.00 to transfer). Every time you use your debit card after this, the amount will be rounded to the nearest full pound and the "change" will be moved to your savings account. During February and March LloydsTsb will match the amount that is transferred, up to a maximum of £50. Even if you only use your debit card 20 times a month and the average "change" might be 50p, then this can mount up nicely over a year without you even missing it..!
Most banks offer a special Monthly Saver rate to their current account holders. I have not taken one out this year, but the interest rate Lloyds offers is 8%, which is quite competitive.
Banking is a necessary evil, and many people are dissatisfied with their banks, particularly when their charges are felt to be unfair, particularly when charges are piled up on top of charges. However, I can honestly say that the service I have received from Lloyds(TSB) Bank over the last 21 years has been fair and consistent, making them easy to do business with, and I am not looking to switch banks any time soon.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Entertainment value nothing else Disadvantages: Untrained staff, unhelpful, inpolite, bad communication, lots of other nasty things I could say
Kingseany 27.06.2004 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Lloyds TSB
Advantages: Banking service, personal loans, student loans, mortgages, car insurance, house insurance and other additional services that are available, including TORTURE. Disadvantages: All the services mentioned above, are completely useless on the long run. Bad customer service, hopeless cashiers and accounts service, untrained and misguided staff.
Pisces1977 23.12.2004 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Lloyds TSB
Advantages: Offers services you'd expect from a bank, high free overdraft limit for students Disadvantages: Confusion applying, no interest, little contact, constant changes, poor internet banking
a-true-ben 04.09.2001 (28.05.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of LloydsTSB Accounts
Advantages: Pay bills without visiting the bank, online statements, transfer money between your accounts Disadvantages: Statements sometimes a few days behind
Feb 17th, 2007
exceptional by (7%):
very helpful by (93%):
