a great little building society

Advantages: great small building society with a good range of accounts
Disadvantages: none

...The yorkshie building society is a traditional building society which really does seem to be there for its members not only in the range of accounts competitive intrest rates on mortgages and savings accounts but on that old fashioned thing called costomer care. I have been saving with them for a number of years and when one of my accounts became an obselte one I was alerted to the fact practically straight away and changed to the new higher interest account. This is not a building society for the carpet baggers! you sign away your rights when you open your account these days...

jo1l 28.07.2000 · Read review
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Review of Yorkshire Building Society

A bit of Yorkshire common sense

Advantages: Resolutely mutual; good interest rates
Disadvantages: No current accounts

...Still a mutual building society, the Yorkshire has shown that it is considering its members’ interests in staying that way. Their interest rates are still among the best, and you don’t have to present them with a minimum amount of something like £5,000 to open an account. They were highly instrumental in reducing the charges for cash machine withdrawals, with their “Stop the charges” campaign. So, if you, like me, are still interested in backing the mutuals, and what they stand for, I’d definitely recommend the Yorkshire. If you’re looking out for a windfall (seems to be forlorn hope nowadays in any case), it’s probably not going to reap any rewards, but at least you’ll get a good service. The Saver accounts are the most popular: I went for the Notice Saver, which is a 30 day notice...

rsmith 06.01.2002 · Read review
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Review of Yorkshire Building Society

A Local Building Society For Local People!

Advantages: Competitive Rates
Disadvantages: Only A Few Branches

...the only premises were above a Grocer's Shop in Barnsley Town Centre. In 1938 the Society moved to its current premises, a purpose built building called Permanent House in 1938. This was built at a cost of £50,000 and it is still the location of the Society's head offices today. After the Second World War the Society changed its name to the Barnsley Building Society and spread outwards from its central roots, opening branches throughout South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and North-East Derbyshire. WHAT THEY OFFER The services offered by the Barnsley Building Society fall broadly into three main categories. These are as below: Savings and Investments Mortgages and Loans Other Financial Services Savings and Investments - There are many different accounts available to suit different needs. Within the General Accounts...

micksheff 10.09.2006 · Read review
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Review of Barnsley Building Society

Nationwide Building Society

Advantages: Good selection of financial products
Disadvantages: If your requesting a transfer don't expect it to be easy

...As a loyal Portman Building Society Customer I was a little sceptical as to what to expect when they were bought out by Nationwide Building Society. Nationwide claim they are "Proud to be different", and they certainly are. Although they supply a large number of high interest savings accounts, fixed rate ISA's at a whopping 6.15 percent and great value deals on mortgages I noticed a couple of downfalls as well. With specialised savings accounts customers are normally issued a passbook to track their investment records. Nationwide's Passbook is dark blue in complexion with the Nationwide logo emblazoned on the front in gold. The pages inside in my opinion are not of very good quality especially compared to the offerings of the Yorkshire Building Society and Britannia. In a passbook I like to be able to clearly see my transactions...

K1r5ty21 28.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Nationwide Building Society

NATIONWIDE BUILDING SOCIETY

Advantages: Very friendly staff, always prepared to help
Disadvantages: Mistakes happen freqently.

...Sorry but I could not think of a witty title, so I left it very simple! I started banking with the Nationwide Building Society around 7 years ago, me and my now husband decided to open a joint account as we had been together a year by then and were ready to settle down. He already had a savings account with them so we decided it would be easier and then we could keep the savings account open as well. We had to make an appointment as we had to take in documents to prove our identity and a utility bill. Off we went on the day of the appointment fully armed with documents and ready to open our first joint account together, oh if only life could be simple! Now there are several different accounts you can open with the Nationwide Building Society. Flex Account being the main on although there are basic flex accounts of this if...

iloveshoping 29.06.2005 · Read review
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Review of Nationwide Building Society Accounts

Ecology Building Society. Save and stay green

Advantages: Save and help the environment
Disadvantages: Not as many packages available

...cheque or by regular direct debits. The Eco-Instant Account is declared by the Ecology Building as the most popular account that it operates. It is a tiered rate passbook account. Ordinary Share Account. This is a tradition Building Society passbook account. (It is the account I hold.) Charity Deposit Account. This is a special account aimed at charity groups, religious organisations, etc. Corporate Deposit Account. This is designed for housing co-ops, worker's co-ops, limited companies, etc. It also has a requirement for a minimum deposit of £500. The Ecology Building Society has only one office in Yorkshire, which helps to keep overheads modest. The building is a very special one, as it is designed to strict environmental specifications with very well insulated walls a roof top Photovoltaic Array and a meeting room that...

Martinscholes 22.09.2005 · Read review
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Review of Ecology Building Society

Updated Remaining a building society

Advantages: Good personal service and good rates
Disadvantages: No branch in my hometown of Walsall

...About four years ago I received the annual statement from Sun Life Assurance regarding my mortgage endowment and, being an accountant, I did a few calculations to see roughly what the final figure would be at the end of the term. I was horrified by what appeared to be quite a shortfall in endowment to mortgage outstanding! Since the returns from the policy were not going to be enough to pay off the mortgage at the end of the term I had a choice to either take out a further policy or change my mortgage. I decided to change my mortgage from an endowment mortgage to a repayment mortgage. I shopped around and found that the best deal would be with the Britannia Building Society, as they would give me a discounted interest rate whilst I remained a member of my trade union, Unison. I have also continued paying my policy with Sun Life...

SusanLesley 30.11.2000 (11.11.2001) · Read review
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Review of Britannia Building Society Mortgages

Building Societies And The Bosman Ruling

Advantages: They have all vanished
Disadvantages: Interest credited to mortgage account annually

...When I last moved house 5 years ago I took out a mortgage with the Bradford and Bingley Building Society (BBBS). When I took out the mortgage it was a mutual organisation and generally I have always been in favour of mutuality over the listed banks. It meant at that time that the BBBS was quite competitive compared with those banks which had demutualised like the Woolwich or Halifax. They even had a loyalty bonus which meant after having a mortgage for a certain time you got a discount off their normal rates. That has all changed now and the BBBS has become less and less competitive. When I agreed my mortgage it had a discount for the first 2 years and there were redemption penalties if we left them in the first 5 years. Increasingly I felt unhappy with this. When I took it out I expected the BBS to remain competitive but they soon...

polydeuces 21.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of Bradford & Bingley Building Society Mortgages

Our Experiences with Nationwide Building Society

Advantages: Wide range of accounts
Disadvantages: Not being able to transfer some money from one account to another on a certain day of the month

...My fiance and I have just become customers of Nationwide builing society and have already found them to be very unprofessional. My fiance wanted to transfer all money for bills in to another account on the 28th of every month, we were told when we went in it inquire about their current account that this was not a problem and that the fund could be transferred that day and for direct debits to go out the following day. This impressed us so we decided to open two accounts, a "main account" (which our salaries would be paid into) and a "bills account" which all direct debits would be taken from. The adviser took the details for our direct debits and said that he would get them set up the following day. We also registered for internet banking so we could monitor our 2 accounts from home. About a week later when the access number...

Toady 23.08.2001 (24.08.2001) · Read review
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Review of Nationwide Building Society Accounts

A Fairer Society

Advantages: Mutual society means cashback, excelletn customer care
Disadvantages: Savings and mortgage rates are a bit average

...Britannia is a mutual building society, with branches in most towns. I have both a mortgage and a savings account with them and have been in several branches near where I live recently, for one reason and another, so I thought I'd tell you all about it! THE MUTUAL BUILDING SOCIETY What this means is that Britannia are not a PLC, and beholden to their shareholders, they are a society owned by the members. so when they make a profit, they distribute a portion of that as fairly as possible to all the members. The way they have devised is a loyalty scheme, whereby once you've been a member for two years (with either a mortgage, a savings account, a credit card etc) you get your share of the profits via a points scheme. The more points you have, the more profit you get, up to a maximum of £500 a year. You accumulate points by having...

sadoldbag 29.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Britannia Building Society