Gets less and less of a personal service as years go by
3
When I first obtained a mortgage with HSBC about 25 years ago, I had a very nice lady in my local branch who stayed in touch each year making sure I was happy with the service - it was really good. But, as times have got harder and I've missed a payment here and here over the years, the bank has become the same as all the others - no personal service, everything automated and you have to explain yourself over and over and over again each time you contact the bank,. All banks are the same these days frankly. If a friendly personal approach worked 25 years ago why doesn't it now?
Reviewed on: 3rd February 2023
Seem to be fairly understanding in the present climate of hardship struggles; though late payments can be followed by a bombardment of calls, texts and letters - then nothing. It's like your name appears on a spinning wheel to be targeted that week, then it all goes quiet.
Reviewed on: 7th November 2018
Works fine, no actual problems on a day to day basis, but be warned, if you have an overdraft Santander will squeeze a monthly charge of around 30 quid out of you.
Reviewed on: 4th April 2017
I have two identical accounts, one used for my business incomings and outgoings as there's no monthly charge. Agreed overdraft charges are £30 per month, so best avoid having one if you can, as it's pretty extortionate. Generally on a day to day basis, I experience no problems and can communicate if need be online with secure email. Banking app for iPad Is good too.
Reviewed on: 24th December 2016
Back in the day, credit cards were run on a bill received that soon got lost under a pile of other papers and you could easily forget to pay. Moving onto the present day, and Capital One send email reminders as well as text reminders, which really do help you to keep on top of things and not miss payments. I'm sure others may do this as well, but my experience is purely with Capital One. Online payments are made easy as well.
Reviewed on: 24th December 2016
I've had this account for decades, the only downside is that the agreed monthly overdraft charges have increased - almost doubled in fact - over the past few years. Apart from that, all is pretty hassle-free and online banking is simple and straightforward - the addition of new state-of-the-art cash machines at branches is a good move too.
Reviewed on: 6th May 2016
Sinc I last had a credit card, things have changed a fair bit - now everything can be done online of course. Capital One has its own app and you can get email and text alerts which really do help make sure you pay on time. No issues so far.
Reviewed on: 28th March 2016
Since going self employed, I sometimes don't have all the money on the right days for paying the mortgage - times have been very tough, and HSBC have been pretty understanding and patient, removing much of the stress. They've allowed me to remove the Direct Debit and pay them when I have the money. The arrangement works and makes sure money only leaves my personal bank account when it's there and available.
Reviewed on: 24th November 2015
More tolerant than I would have expected after my redundancy
3
I've always found HSBC mortgages to be reasonably understanding in relation to my redundancy and subsequently setting up my own business, which of course, has initially meant a dramatic drop in income meaning payments can no longer be automated and are now made (online via my main Santander bank account) online when the cash is available.
Customer support has become less and less 'personal' and worthy over the past few years - I feel as time goes on I end up speaking to people that are reading from scripts rather than actually listening - but this is a common trend across the board these days anyway.
One major gripe - when HSBC agreed to allow me reduced payments over a tough period, I was under the impression that the excess unpaid was to be tacked onto the end of the term; turns out this was not so and I am now paying more each month to make up this shortfall - which will take a year - quite logically and clearly in my position, I would not have agreed and extended this reduced payment period if I had known. Customer Services said this was not their policy, so would not have been offered anyway. I could happily counter that with poof that they had indeed done this for me about ten years previous in a similar financial position.
So to sum up: 8/10 for tolerance and flexibility, 4/10 for the actual customer services.
Reviewed on: 18th August 2015
As banks go, not too bad - unless you get badly overdrawn
3
I have been with Santander for many years and have two basic current accounts - one i use for personal, the other for business. The online experience is really good - especially on iPad but also on Android as well as desktops - transferring between accounts is easy and paying bills is easy - the biggest gripe is the flawed 'pending payments' option - this only works with direct debits - anything else that's a regular payment doesn't show up - even though I suspect that the bank still must know in advance that a payment is coming out.
If you go accidentally overdrawn, they say they can refund charges as a 'goodwill gesture' about once a year - I know this isn't actually set in stone as I know someone that works at the bank - my branch - it's just something phone operators are told to say. So unless you argue and complain, you can still effectively be charged about £20 for going overdrawn by a fiver.
Reviewed on: 18th August 2015
