The Lemon Fool

mc2fool wrote:

Lootman wrote:The advisor appointment was with an institution with whom I had no existing relationship. So the question of whether I was a Digital Exception or not did not arise. I don't think I mentioned the sum and so it could not have been that either. So it must be the dodgy thing.

Yes but on looking I see Skipton have accounts that can be opened (by the looks of it, instantly) and operated online and what looks like exactly parallel "branch" accounts for Digital Exceptions, e.g. this one.

So did they tell you you could open the a/c online or by phone, and you say, nope, I want to do it in branch, or did they just assume that 'cos you'd walked in you'd be up for a (ridiculous) 10 day wait to have a (ridiculous) appointment, just to open a savings a/c?

I think they assumed I wanted a "branch" account since I walked in. Looks like the rates are the same either way. Presumably I could have opened an online account without the "advisor" or 10-day wait. Although in my case online there might have been a delay in getting my ID docs to them whereas in the branch I can just hand them over there and then.

If NatWest had had the same kind of "parallel" offering then I probably would have gone with them, and of course they already had all my ID docs. Instead NatWest have the Digital Exception Team, which as far as I could tell is basically a bunch of people sitting around dealing over the phone with people who do not have online, phone or app banking, and doing the data entry for them.

Lootman wrote:Presumably I could have opened an online account without the "advisor" or 10-day wait. Although in my case online there might have been a delay in getting my ID docs to them whereas in the branch I can just hand them over there and then.

These days checks are usually automatic and based on information you supply with the online application. If further verifying documents are needed these can often simply be emailed to the bank - as happened with me earlier this year.

Though increasingly, with some banks and accounts, a smart phone may be needed.

XFool wrote:

Lootman wrote:Presumably I could have opened an online account without the "advisor" or 10-day wait. Although in my case online there might have been a delay in getting my ID docs to them whereas in the branch I can just hand them over there and then.

These days checks are usually automatic and based on information you supply with the online application. If further verifying documents are needed these can often simply be emailed to the bank - as happened with me earlier this year.

Though increasingly, with some banks and accounts, a smart phone may be needed.

Yes I have satisfied ID requirements in the past by electronically sending a passport or DL image, upon request.

Thinking about it a bit more, if you are getting a one-year fixed term account/bond then a few days here and there won't make any difference to the interest earned. The interest is fixed for the term, and the maturity date is also fixed. The way it generally seems to work is that if you subscribe at any point in (say) June, then the maturity date is 30th June 2024. (NatWest was 13-14 months maturity, for some reason).

So delays in opening should only be a factor close to the end of the month, when your maturity date might be extended for a month for no extra income.

Lootman wrote:Thinking about it a bit more, if you are getting a one-year fixed term account/bond then a few days here and there won't make any difference to the interest earned. The interest is fixed for the term, and the maturity date is also fixed. The way it generally seems to work is that if you subscribe at any point in (say) June, then the maturity date is 30th June 2024. (NatWest was 13-14 months maturity, for some reason).
So delays in opening should only be a factor close to the end of the month, when your maturity date might be extended for a month for no extra income.

Perhaps. But when you open a FRB from Aldermore, Charter, Shawbrook et al, you then typically have 14 days to pay in.
Interest is calculated by the day, and the maturity date is set from the day the account was opened.
Given the clearing bank (e.g. Lloyds) online transfer limit of £25K, 14 days of transfers only gets me to £350K. So even using an Easy Access account (with pathetic interest) as a temporary holding area, I lose interest and am limited in bond value (my bonds are typically more than £350K).
Ergo CHAPS sometimes, even with its usurious cost.

Slightly reminiscence of opening a joint bank a/c with the local Lloyds a good few years ago. It was 5 minutes walk away.
Into a little office out comes the forms, so far so good. I said, up front, we're not interested in car or house insurance, Credit cards, saving a/cs, shares any special offers, we just want to open a bank account. Twenty five minutes it took to listen to all the offers and say no, no, no, no, no, no. I told you we only wanted the bank a/c but they had to go through it all.
Frustrating when you do your own research and know exactly what you want or don't want.
That branch has since closed.
Ray.

My young teenage son has been doing saturday cleaning jobs for a neighbour, and has accummulated a wallet absolutely stuffed with £20 notes. One of those was old style, now out of circulation. My local bank closed four years ago, so it's rarely that I get to visit a bank. Yesterday was one such rare day. I was intrigued to find no tills, but two assistants and a room full of machines.. The machine took the £20 note, identified it as such, and credited my account. At that point I could withdraw cash and present it to my son!

I liked having a local bank branch but it closed. Another example of everything getting worse in the UK.

CliffEdge wrote:I liked having a local bank branch but it closed. Another example of everything getting worse in the UK.

I remember the days when it was necessary to visit a bank for everything, and only something like 09:30 to 15:30 mon-fri. Write a cheque for "self" to get some cash. Visit a bank to pay in a cheque. Stand in a queue to see a teller and ask if some money had been credited to my account, or to check my balance.
Now, it is all online including paying in a cheque (remember them?), 24x7, and I can't remember the last time I needed to visit a bank in person.
To me, it's far better, not worse
doolally

doolally wrote:Now, it is all online including paying in a cheque (remember them?), 24x7, and I can't remember the last time I needed to visit a bank in person.
To me, it's far better, not worse
doolally

though it has to be said also that that is far preferable to the ghastly experience in our local HSBC where all the "old" things can still be done, but now forced to use a machine anyway, or the sole teller and while waiting being subjected to radio HSBC Sad Act.

repeated link lest it was missed before : this is a blog piece I wrote years ago and is still as valid today...

https://almost-middle-aged-musings.blog ... aking.html

doolally wrote:

CliffEdge wrote:I liked having a local bank branch but it closed. Another example of everything getting worse in the UK.

I remember the days when it was necessary to visit a bank for everything, and only something like 09:30 to 15:30 mon-fri. Write a cheque for "self" to get some cash. Visit a bank to pay in a cheque. Stand in a queue to see a teller and ask if some money had been credited to my account, or to check my balance.
Now, it is all online including paying in a cheque (remember them?), 24x7, and I can't remember the last time I needed to visit a bank in person.
To me, it's far better, not worse
doolally

Surely the best situation is to have a choice of both old-school and new-school?

Lootman wrote:

doolally wrote:I remember the days when it was necessary to visit a bank for everything, and only something like 09:30 to 15:30 mon-fri. Write a cheque for "self" to get some cash. Visit a bank to pay in a cheque. Stand in a queue to see a teller and ask if some money had been credited to my account, or to check my balance.
Now, it is all online including paying in a cheque (remember them?), 24x7, and I can't remember the last time I needed to visit a bank in person.
To me, it's far better, not worse
doolally

Surely the best situation is to have a choice of both old-school and new-school?

Well, yes, but not if I, as a low-cost online user, have to subsidise the branch-only users in some way. Perhaps those who prefer in-branch banking should pay for it. £5 entry fee to get in the door? Paid via a smartphone app, of course
doolally

doolally wrote:

Lootman wrote:Surely the best situation is to have a choice of both old-school and new-school?

Well, yes, but not if I, as a low-cost online user, have to subsidise the branch-only users in some way. Perhaps those who prefer in-branch banking should pay for it. £5 entry fee to get in the door? Paid via a smartphone app, of course

Well yes. If you expect private banking, expect to pay for private banking.

doolally wrote:

Lootman wrote:Surely the best situation is to have a choice of both old-school and new-school?

Well, yes, but not if I, as a low-cost online user, have to subsidise the branch-only users in some way. Perhaps those who prefer in-branch banking should pay for it. £5 entry fee to get in the door? Paid via a smartphone app, of course

I believe that in some situations there can be a financial benefit to online-only customers, e.g. a higher interest rate on savings. That is a preferential way for banks to motivate people to bank online.

But banks are also providing an important public service. They should not discriminate against people who do not have smartphones, home internet etc., and who for those or other reasons need to visit a branch.

Lootman wrote:

doolally wrote:Well, yes, but not if I, as a low-cost online user, have to subsidise the branch-only users in some way. Perhaps those who prefer in-branch banking should pay for it. £5 entry fee to get in the door? Paid via a smartphone app, of course

But banks are also providing an important public service.

Gulp!

Lootman wrote:They should not discriminate against people who do not have smartphones, home internet etc., and who for those or other reasons need to visit a branch.

Yes. There is an argument there. Though Post Offices should be able to offer these kinds of services as is.

Then again!

Long, long ago... There used to be a national banking system, providing basic banking services to ordinary people - brought in by a Labour government - that required no high street branches beyond your local Post Office.

Whatever happened to that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girobank

doolally wrote:

CliffEdge wrote:I liked having a local bank branch but it closed. Another example of everything getting worse in the UK.

I remember the days when it was necessary to visit a bank for everything, and only something like 09:30 to 15:30 mon-fri. Write a cheque for "self" to get some cash. Visit a bank to pay in a cheque. Stand in a queue to see a teller and ask if some money had been credited to my account, or to check my balance.
Now, it is all online including paying in a cheque (remember them?), 24x7, and I can't remember the last time I needed to visit a bank in person.
To me, it's far better, not worse
doolally

I remember when they were open 10-3 with an hour for lunch. If you wanted to deal with another branch than your own, you needed an arrangement. To get cash you used a cheque payable to "self" or "cash". Your own branch knew you. Statements were handwritten. Charges were opaque, but if you banked at your employer's branch, you could be free of charges.

And if you were in the armed forces you could cash a cheque by showing your 1250.

TJH

XFool wrote:Long, long ago... There used to be a national banking system, providing basic banking services to ordinary people - brought in by a Labour government - that required no high street branches beyond your local Post Office.

Whatever happened to that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girobank

Mine is currently a Santander EDGE (via Alliance & Leicester). Same account number for over 50 years

Adrian

Lootman wrote:But banks are also providing an important public service. They should not discriminate against people who do not have smartphones, home internet etc., and who for those or other reasons need to visit a branch.

True, but there is a difference between those who cannot use smartphones, home internet, etc. and those who choose not to use smartphones, home internet, etc.

tjh290633 wrote:I remember when they were open 10-3 with an hour for lunch.

It reminds me of the lines from "Three Men in a Boat"

George goes to sleep at a bank from ten to four each day, except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two

AF62 wrote:

Lootman wrote:But banks are also providing an important public service. They should not discriminate against people who do not have smartphones, home internet etc., and who for those or other reasons need to visit a branch.

True, but there is a difference between those who cannot use smartphones, home internet, etc. and those who choose not to use smartphones, home internet, etc.

Not sure I see the difference. People may choose to not use such devices for a variety of reasons, including privacy, security and fraud concerns. As well as convenience, comfort, ease of use and so on.

For instance I do use such devices but am highly selective about what I use them for. I cannot recall any situation where a viable alternative was not provided.

XFool wrote:

doolally wrote:Well, yes, but not if I, as a low-cost online user, have to subsidise the branch-only users in some way. Perhaps those who prefer in-branch banking should pay for it. £5 entry fee to get in the door? Paid via a smartphone app, of course

Well yes. If you expect private banking, expect to pay for private banking.

£2 per month at Santander I was told, but I would get some interest to offset that. The only relevant benefit seemed to be a relationship manager, but I thought that I already had one of those with my Select Account. I have never spoken to him though. Red carpet treatment in the branch? No hope. It had one person on the counter with a long queue when I last went in to deposit a cheque a few years ago. That was in the main branch (now the only branch) in a city of half a million.