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... Read review

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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... Read review

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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... Read review

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

...by 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... Read review

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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... Read review

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Advantages: Always putting memers first
Disadvantages: It's popular so you may find branches busy!!

...it is a popular branch so there is usually a queue, but even then Nationwide has come up with an innovative machine, the "fast cash atm" that deals with the majority of transactions that a cashier can thus easing the queue. This shows Nationwides dedication to offering customers the best service possible. Many of the remaining building societys are being put under great pressure to change over to banks, and members of the public are made to believe that it would be to their advantage for Nationwide to do so too. STOP. Please think very carefully about what it would mean if we lost one of our last big Building Societys. I strongly believe that a lot of these benefits will be lost if Nationwide changes to a bank, and what would I get in return?? A small lump sum payout to compensate for increased charges and lower savings rates??... Read review

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Advantages: Good interest rates, friendly staff
Disadvantages: Daft rules to prevent people opening accounts

...I have just opened an account with the Yorkshire Building Society. I didn’t want to, but we eventually had little or no alternative. Sounds odd? Let me tell you our story. As most of you know Dave and I have recently purchased a house in Llandudno and my parents have moved in with us. They occupy the ground floor of the house and Dave and I have the remaining two floors. It was decided that they would pay an amount of ‘rent’ each week and we would deal with all the bills and matters of general household management. Stick with me this will become relevant in a minute. Back in the Midlands my parents kept what little capital they had with Birmingham Midshires as they offered a traditional passbook account, which is what they felt comfortable with. Sadly the nearest branch to us here in Llandudno is Liverpool or Chester, which... Read review

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Advantages: Instant access, high interest, friendly staff
Disadvantages: You have to have a book and not a cashcard

...money in her will and my dad put it into the Yorkshire Bank (not the BS) access saver account which you had to give three months' notice to withdraw cash or risk losing the interest. As if the measly 3.5% interest that they gave was even worth losing - I got more than that on my NatWest current account (see op)! See the difference between plc's and mutual societies now? So I started scouring the building society's webpages for the best interest rates - Leeds & Holbeck had a promising 5.25%, Bradford & Bingley at 5.75%, Newcastle at 4.75% and Yorkshire at 6.5% (it has since gone down 0.35 points). Also, Leeds & Holbeck and Newcastle required notice for withdrawls whilst Bradford & Bingley and Yorkshire didn't even require any notice, you could have instant access AND a brilliant interest rate!!! So that meant that with YBS I got 3 points... Read review

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Advantages: local friendly mutual
Disadvantages: have to be in area for investment accounts. could get swallowed up by a greedy PLC

...I am a member of the Staffordshire and am unashamed to say I am a fan of almost everything they do. This profile, partly my own and some bits from their website should give prospective customers an insight. The Staffordshire Building Society is a "determined mutual", although nearly 100 years old, it is recognised for its progressive use of Multimedia, and is successfully managing to ride the wave of advancing technology. The Staffordshire seem to believe in the traditional values of excellent customer service, quality products and most of all delivering value for money. Although it is a medium sized regional society its combined call centre and postal operation effectively serve customers nationally. It invests heavily in its local communities and every year asks its members to decided how sponsorship monies should be distributed... Read review

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Advantages: Very efficient and helpful
Disadvantages: No branches in London

...The Newcastle Building Society is great for mortgages. We have never had any problems with them and the service when I have phoned up with queries is very good. We have had our mortgage with the Newcastle Building Society for about 5 years (taken out via a broker) and have re-mortgaged with them twice since the mortgage was originally taken out. We live in London and there aren't any branches of the Newcastle Building Society here but this hasn't been a problem since the call centre is so good. The mortgage rates from the Newcastle Building Society are very competitive. When we took the original mortgage deal out everything was dealt with very efficiently and the paperwork was done quickly. Since then when we have re-mortgaged, again all paperwork was done very quickly and efficiently. I would definitely recommend... Read review

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