Woolwich Accounts

...had an account with the Woolwich for all of my 26 years, my Grandmother having opened an account for me when I was born. Throughout that time I have tried and tested many of their accounts and feel suitably qualified to comment. My overall opinion of the Woolwich is that it is a bank that has just got too big for its boots. It's savings products at one time competed with the best of the best, offering high rates and good incentives. Following privatisation ...
...as a good example of Woolwich policy. This account used to be one of the highest paying accounts on the market offering instant access counter service. It is a no frills account, you do not get a cheque book or a cash card and so can only access your money during banking hours. Why then are they paying less interest on this account now than on their current account where you do actually get a banking service? Then there was the debacle with their ...

CareBear 02.03.2001 (05.03.2001) · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts

...account in association with a Woolwich mortgage for over a year, before transferring my mortgage elsewhere. I have noticed no differences in how the account operates, you'll be pleased to hear. Now it's pretty much a typical current account, and like all accounts you have to make sure it will work for you. I operate most of my banking through the Internet and telebanking, for reasons I'll explain more in depth as we go. So what facilities can this ...
...your money ~ The Woolwich really are trying to cut back on their counter services. Many main branches now have only 2 or 3 counter staff, and that's assuming they haven't closed their branches. They've tried to make up for this by abolishing the controversial fee to withdraw money from the Link network of machines (32,000 countrywide). You can also withdraw money free from branches of Barclays. As I said I do most banking over the Internet, but ...

cazm17 25.10.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts

I have had a Woolwich account for as long as I can remember, and a couple of years ago ago upgraded to the Open Plan Account. WHAT IS OPEN PLAN? The idea of the Open plan account is that you can off-set your current and savings accounts against your mortgage resulting in you paying less interest overall and possibly even reduce the overall mortgage term, this is because interest on the account is calculated daily, and credit balances in other accounts ...
...on a whole range of Woolwich products and transfer money between accounts. Since the takeover by Barclays, a lot of investment has been put into increasing the mortgage side of the business, as we found out tonight when an independent mortgage adviser came around our house to tell us how we could save money - do these people think we are really this imbecilic? The on-screen display (if you can manage to get through their tight, tight security) - ...

sue.51 23.03.2001 (26.02.2002) · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts

I had a Woolwich Card Saver account which I opened a few years ago because it seemed like a great idea. The premise was that you managed your account via the cash machines and that it offered a high interest rate because of this. I found it extremely inconvenient and the interest rate wasn't that great. The problem was that I couldn't pay any money into the account because I was working at the time and couldn't get to the bank in order to get the ...
...banking and a much better account paying a higher rate of interest. Cheltenham & Gloucester offered a phone account that was linked to a cheque account and this is what I use now. The Woolwich Card Saver account was a nice idea, it just didn't quite work for me. ...

adamdavid 03.10.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts

...opened an account with the woolwich where you can get the best of all worlds, in branch, by telephone and via the internet. The customer services are excellent, the products very good and the offers they give are also very good. The Woolwich are offering the Open Plan bank account as their one for internet access, i have found it to be the most comprehensive package available so far, they offer you a brand new nokia 7110 (WAP)for nothing if you ...
...enough. The products the Woolwich offer are also very competitive in interest rates (LOans and Credit Cards) They can even set up savings pots for you, this is where you tell them the minimum you want to be in your bank account and overnight, they'll sweep it and deposit the difference into a savings pot for you, this giving you a high amount of interest, but (A) You don't have to have these and (B) You can take the savings at any time aswell. ...

KGW 08.08.2000 · Read full review
Review of Woolwich Accounts

...normal current account with the Woolwich for a few years I found myself in the position to upgrade to their new Open Plan Account. I thought originally that I could tie it in with my Woolwich mortgage, but that was not possible at the time. The upgrade itself is free from an existing current account. I chose to open a completely new one for personal reasons, and found the application form relatively simple to complete. They did take quite a while ...
...but that was only to be expected with the high levels of demand from their advertising. I find it has some very useful features. I personally love the internet and telephone banking elements, where I can pay bills without even leaving the office! It's really easy to manage, if you can remember the password they give you (you can't change it unfortunately!). I hope to take advantage of the WAP phone banking in the future, but for the time being ...

cazm 04.11.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts

...an account (some £16K) with Woolwich "open-plan" which is a scheme whereby with one account all financial requirements are catered for. One advantage is that any surplus funds on a low interest cheque account are automatically transferred to a higher intersst account so that interest paid is optimised in favour of the customer. However I found the statements confusing and didn't see the need for two visa cards, one a credit card and the other for ...
...I might have persevered except that when I opened the account Woolwich as an incentive were offering a WAP phone at a discount for new accounts. I applied for this twice but never received a reply - not even an acknowledgement. I have therefore closed my account with the Woolwich. ...

2emily8 15.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts

...bank account, I applied to Woolwich only because I found the name very attractive. As time went on, I realised that the Woolwich was much more than an attractive name. The account I hold with them is known as CARD SAVER. I earn interestof about 6% monthly and I have the flexibility to withdraw money anytime I want, without informing them in advance as the interest is calculated on a daily basis. The advantages are high interest, a visa electron ...
...The disadvantages are that you can't use the account like a current account to make standing orders, direct debits etc. You don't also get a cheque book, thus have to pay £1 every time you want them to write a cheque. Recommended to everyone who has more than £50, because you earn don't interest if your account falls below £50. ...

ga15 02.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts

The Woolwich are crap - the most incompetent financial institution I have ever come accross. I rue the day I ever decided to place my account with them. It did not bode well when I first submitted all my documentation to start my account with them, they then would request a transfer of funds from my existing bank.. A week later, I tried to draw some money only to have 'insufficient funds' glaring back at me from the screen. I stormed into the the ...
...behind the desk holding up the transfer details that should have gone to my bank a week ago. They also do their 'Open Plan' account where when there is enough money in your account, a percentage of it is swept into a 'savings pot'. I wrote a cheque of £300.00 once to cover a hotel bill and was staggered to discover it bounced back at me and I was charged £35 bank charges, because they had taken a percentage of my money over to savings thus leaving ...

MaddyandTom 15.06.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts

I have had my woolich account for about 6 years. When my husband and I decide we should get a joint bank accoutn, we had tried nearly all the other banks and fancied a change. I have recently moved it over into an open services account. It supplies a very easy to understand statement and gives you the option to open 'saving pots' I have 4 saving pots called holiday, grandchildren, car and house and I can save money in each seperately. This is good ...
...money out , as I am when I keep it in my current account. It also seperates it all and allows you to keep track. I can now also, by way of a password, use the phone to order new cheque books and cards, set up direct debits and keep a track of your finances. I use the branch in Bristol and I find the staff to be very friendly. It is very nice in there now, especially now that they have redecorated it. They were very helpful when I needed an over ...

pattymac 10.09.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts

I applied for a open plan account in July 2000 it took 6 weeks to get the account up and running. I was then told i could not have a cheque book or gaurantee card because I was not on the elctoral roll , but could reapply in 3 months time . I did this in January 2001 to which I was told I could have a cheque book but gaurantee card but I could have a overdraft. My husband applied 3 weeks ago for the same kind of account and is still waiting to have ...

carrieturner 11.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Woolwich Accounts