Alliance & Leicester

The Alliance and Leicester is a UK bank. It was formed in 1977 by the floatation of the former Alliance Leicester Building society on the London Stock Exchange. I wanted to take advantage of the offer of free worldwide annual travel insurance and the £25 me and my friend would get if he reffered me as a new customer. Switching banks is a thing most people think is troublesome and complicated. It simply is not, and most banks now have a switcher service ...
...Services~ Like most banks, Alliance offer mortgages, savings accounts, bank accounts for all ages, loans, credit cards, so on and so forth. They tend to, like most ex-building societies, namely Halifax and Abbey National, offer much higher interest rates than the big four banks, HSBC, RBS/Natwest, Lloyds TSB and Barclays. I obviously cannot comment on all products/services offered, but I will comment on my experiences with the products I have ...

mi_ke 29.02.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

...accounts, I was shown that Alliance leicester is offering the best rate of interest or 5.35% AER for the online saver account. So I proceeded to fill in the application and started the process of opening the account with them. Remember I had also recently opened an account with First Direct.com. The website is cluttered with banners and I did not like the look of the website. The application process was similar to all the banks and had to fill out ...
...move money online into my alliance account. The next thing which I had to do was to register online with my account details. This process was to create a customer ID and a PIN number. I had to again wait for this to come in post which took another 5 days. As usual the Customer ID number comes in a post and the PIN number comes in a different post for the security reasons. So finally I was able to login for the first time today into my alliance online ...

bpg2504 11.02.2005 (21.05.2005) · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

...a lot of run up... Alliance and Leicester. THE MAIN REVIEWY BIT OF THE REVIEW ---------------------------------------------------------- So, after trying all the other banks, I plumped for Alliance and Leicester. A relative has an account with them, and never seemed to have any problems, so gave them a go. I applied for one of their Premier 21 current accounts, which as of writing offers a Visa debit card (no Solo, sorry NatWest), a 10% AER interest ...
...compared to most banks. Alliance and Leicester also offer a Premier Switching Service, which offers to take all your direct debits, standing orders and such from your old current account as quickly as possible. In the event, I ended up kicking myself for not using this, especially since one company (AXA) only conducts Direct Debit changes through post and were exceptionally slow to send the forms out. Overall the account opening took about three ...

ShelfStacker 20.01.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

Alliance & Leicester (formerly Girobank) launched a huge advertisng and marketing campaign in recent months to draw in new and small businesses to their business banking product. I am sure that like many new or early years businesses I was horrified at the charges imposed on businesses (from the four big banks) for basic transactions, hence the £10 per month standard charge for all basic transactions offered by Alliance and Leicester was a great ...
...then post it on to Alliance & Leicester! It may take four or five days just for your cheque to reach your account, a further four days is then required for clearing. This aspect of poor cash flow is extremely difficult for a small business to handle. Furthermore the process isn't any different when handling cash. If you ring and ask how you can get funds into the account quicker they do not have any speed option (even for a fee) to offer. If you ...

gerryjohnson 21.03.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

I considered switching from HSBC to A&L as I was attracted by the high interest on the current account (for balances up to £ 2,500). I submitted my application online, it was approved, and got a letter after about 10 days (why that long if I received the approval instantaneously online?). Anyway, the details in the letter were wrong: they misspelt my last name (adding a hyphen) and the flat number was wrong (I only received the letter because my ...
...I type them in their website is beyond me. Anyway, I call their customer service to complain, they tell me they fixed it. I call again in 2 days (not trusting them), they tell me nothing had been changed and that I need to supply legal proof of my change of name. I protest, because I never changed my name, but they say that that's the procedure. I fill in their form, attaching a copy of the passport and specifying that I never changed my name: they ...

UKAnonymous2007 14.11.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

...once been in arrears, so Alliance Leicester surely lost out there. So why do I stay with them? Partly because I find their internet banking service so easy and convenient to use. As I have an Apple Mac without Internet Explorer (I use Safari), I am afraid that if I switch banks I might not be able to use the website. I have a business account with the Co-op Bank, and have not been able to use their internet banking service at all. Internet Banking ...
...an Online Saver account with Alliance Leicester that does pay a relatively decent rate of interest. Both my sons have joint Alliance Leicester Easysaver accounts with me, and by registering them online I can make instant transfers between my current account and these savings accounts. When one of my sons was away from home and flat broke, he was able to ring me and ask me to make an instant transfer so that he could withdraw right away from a cash ...

denella 01.10.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

A friend of mine moved here from Jordan and has a work permit as an Internet Developer on a salary of £18k and had a credit card with HSBC in Jordan. When he moved here and started work he apploied on my recommendation to open a current account, no credit facilities were asked for or applied for. However he was turned down as he did not have a utility bill for my address where he is living, as stated earlier I had recommended him and had proved his ...
...registration made by the police for immigration purposes, but this was not enough. They were rude and offhand with him on the phone when he asked what he could do and gave eroneous reasons as to the non opening of the account. I was informed that they do not open accounts for people who have just arrived here. I asked for a written copy of this policy and they refused. So what cann yuou do . I closed my account and moved my mortgage which my father ...

iainkay1 28.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

I notice that quite a number of opinions have been expressed in favour of A&L but I must disagree inview of my experience. My mother, an account holder since Girobank days, wanted to buy a few shares recently. She called the A&L and asked whether they had a share dealing service. Oh yes they said and here's the phone number. When she called to buy some shares they said 'we don't know you so you'll have to send some proof of your identity to set up ...
...A&L customer and they said, 'yes, but we are not A&L, we are Barclays Stockbrokers operating a service on their behalf and we don't have access to their systems'. Puzzled, my mother faxed in the documents they had requested and called later in the day to purchase her shares. 'I'm sorry they said we have a dealing limit of £7,500 for all new customers and so you can't buy that many shares without a reference from your bank'. Further explanation followed ...

AW 15.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

I have had an Alliance & Leicester current account for over a year now and I can honestly say that I have never had any problems with them. My account probably offers much the same as any other bank would do, yet this is not really where Alliance & Leicester excel. Firstly, they have an excellant customer service and if I have ever had any problems, then they have sorted it out very quickly and without fuss. Another area where they excel is the ...
...post, at an Alliance & Leicester branch or at the post office. Finally, Alliance & Leicester have many different options for tracking your banking. They have an automated telephone system where you can check your account and much more. Also, they have an internet site that allows you to print statements, check your account and order stationery. ...

paulruegg 29.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

...a current account with the Alliance and Leicester, I chose them because I already had a savings account with them and was most unhappy with the bank I was with at the time. My account was opened up very quickly and the member of staff dealing with my application was most helpful. She was informitive and knew the answers to all my questions. This was at the Balham branch in South London. At the time I was working with an agency and had arranged ...
...I must commend the staff on their efficiency and manner over the phone. Not only did they find my mis-posted money quickly they were also very good at taking the panic out of my predicament and had the money in my account within two hours! Well done Alliance and Leicester. ...

Maglette 09.12.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

I have been using Alliance & Leicester for about 6 or 7 years (since before they de-mutualised), and can honestly say that they are by far the best bank I have ever used. Recently, when all the banks were suffering negative press due to the ATM charges, I was happily plodding on using my A&L account without ever incurring a single charge regardless of whose ATM I used. They offer the whole range of phone and internet banking, although the internet ...

msallen 10.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

Though Alliance and Leicester does have better saving rates than other banks, I would not recommend any new customers to them. You must be wondering why... First of all, well, it takes 10 working days to clear a cheque and credit the amount into your account...that is almost 2 weeks! And to withdraw cash over the counter, there is a charge of 1 pound no matter how much you withdraw...Think of that, though the interest rate is slightly higher, abt ...
...counter is a bit too steep. But the strange thing is, not every bank staff practises that, sometimes, the 1 pound charge is applied, otherwise it's not. Hence, it all depends on which bank staff is serving you. A bit of unprofessional I think. And you can only withdraw £250 daily from the cash machines (easysaver account). To withdraw huge amounts, you need to inform the bank at least 1 week beforehand. And it seems to me that the customer service ...

sailormn 17.08.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

...only fair to warn the Alliance and Leicester of an obvious security flaw in their system. Recently, a neighbour of mine was perturbed to discover - that unknown to him- someone had opened an account with a competitor of the Alliance and Leicester (The Abbey National) to be precise. That being distubing enough...my neighbour then discovered, that not only had these person(s) opened an account -without his knowledge- they had also used the card that ...
...these accounts being with the Alliance and Leicester. The thing that was most disturbing was, that any member of the public, should be able to aquire an account in any-one's name.... and all without producing a passport,driving licence or birth certificate... Now from where I am standing, that seems rather 'sus' to say the least. Another distubing feature, was that the perpatrator(s), were capaable of extracting funds and services form the Alliance ...

JHPRUSHTON 27.02.2001 (28.02.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

I went to Alliance & Leicester to open a bank account recently. I was amazed at how quiet the bank is on a Saturday morning compared to other high streets bank. There is practically no queue at all. And to my amazement, with 3 staff over the counters serving only 1 customer, I was asked to be seated for 5 minutes before being served. The staff kept apologising to me for being busy which I don't think the staff is. Though service is okay, nothing ...

sailormn 06.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester

...Yet dispite this fact the Alliance and Leicester have refused to let me open a bank account with them on two occasions. I even explained to them the only way I can get cash in an emergency is at my local post office, yet they did not want to know. The only debts I have are student loans, I have a full time job, I didn't even apply for an overdraft or cheque book facilities. Is there some thing else I don't know about. The first time I applied to ...
...years later with a full time job, what is wrong with these people? I is hard enough surviving in rural areas if you don't have easy access to transport or a job, I dread to think how the Alliance and Leicester treat poor unemployed, unskilled people in rural areas. ...

Gemimathecat 08.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Alliance & Leicester