This credit card offered me nothing really other than a measly £500 credit limit. Considering I'd banked with Natwest for almost 10 years, I expected some better perks, a more useful credit limit, or just anything really. I've since switched banks because of this.
Reviewed on: 1st September 2016
I took out the Virgin all round card as it offers a whopping 24 months interest free on purchases, which is useful no matter which way you look at it.
The card is fine, and I did like the ability to choose some funky designs for the card itself. However, the online component is still far behind what other providers offer. There's no app to see my balance, and Apple Pay is not supported, which is disappointing in 2016.
Reviewed on: 1st September 2016
Have access to the Cleo beta app and have been using it for a couple of weeks now. It's an interesting concept - passively get notified about what you've spent (in a more meaningful way than a traditional bank statement), or proactively "chat" to cleo about where your spending is going, etc via text message.
It works with a good degree of accuracy and I think could be really a really useful addition to your phone with a bit of further development!
Reviewed on: 17th August 2016
Just a typical car insurance provider with no outstanding features to make you love or hate them. As per usual, they offer a great price for new customers, and hike it up by a few hundred quid at renewal time, forcing you to look elsewhere. At least their call centres are generally UK-based...
Reviewed on: 3rd August 2016
Old fashioned and outdated. Not only are there free alternatives which arguably do a better job, you can't cancel online and they ignore any email requests to cancel. That's annoying enough, but they're very sneaky at trying to sell you a cheaper product during the cancellation process, which you don't realise until they ask you to 'confirm' your card number. Pretty shady practice if you ask me.
Reviewed on: 25th July 2016
For a bank that's supposed to be all about 'being modern' and prides itself on great customer service, I had a pretty useless time with First Direct.
I tried to switch my current account over to the first account, but had to chase them up on it twice, and then they wanted me to verify my identity with a call to my place of work, and required a passport photo or similar signed by a doctor. I thought this was supposed to be the 21st century...
If I can open an account with Atom etc. via an app, I'll be doing that instead. Thanks for nothing, FD!
Reviewed on: 12th July 2016
I used Tesco as they had a great offer on via TopCashBack meaning I paid very little for my home insurance. It was very easy to apply and I can access my documents online. Hopefully I won't need to make a claim so making this an easy process all round!
Reviewed on: 7th July 2016
It's free! The website is also really modern and easy to use, and being able to get notified of my score via the app or even my watch is really useful. Much better than other similar services out there.
Reviewed on: 29th June 2016
Did a quote for John Lewis home insurance which was not only more than double anywhere else, but now they've phoned me every single day since leaving the quote. Poor form..
Reviewed on: 23rd June 2016
Experian is the industry standard and has been for along time, however both ClearScore and Noddle now offer essentially the same service but for free. I think it's time for Experian to reduce their monthly subscription cost or offer a free service with advertising or similar as their data is of good quality.
Reviewed on: 21st June 2016
I took out this out as my first credit card, as the sign up bonus was quote good. I didn't use it much but this didn't stop them sending me endless amounts of post re: balance transfer offers and other cards which i did not need at all. I got so annoyed with all of this spam I got another card and closed this one (which was a convoluted process in itself) and would never use them again.
Reviewed on: 14th June 2016
I had to visit a branch to reset my online details which was fairly inconvenient, however the staff in the Newcastle Haymarket branch were very friendly and helpful and dealt with my concern as quickly as they could.
Reviewed on: 2nd June 2016
My renewal came through this year at about 300 more expensive than the previous year. Though this was following an accident and subsequent claim, so i had expected it to rise, I still got a quote from Aviva which actually came in 100 quid cheaper than my previous year! I then got 60odd quid cash back too which was nice bonus.
their online portal is one of the better ones i have seen too - you can upload docs there and generally get everything you need relatively easily.
Reviewed on: 25th May 2016
Trying to get a quote for home insurance for my new build and chose More than as they had a great cash back offer. I could not get a quote as my new address is (understandably) not listed on the address finder tool yet - but without a valid address, the system wouldn't allow me to continue.
Poorly functioning website = customer lost...
Reviewed on: 17th May 2016
After seeing extensive advertising from Noddle, I gave in and got my free credit report from them.
At the first attempt, the system couldn't find me at all, which is strange given I haven't moved about a lot etc. Nonetheless I persisted and tried again. This time it found me, however I don't have a great deal of confidence that my score was accurate. It doesn't show all of my credit (including some things which Experian definitely did pick up on). I think Experian offers a more comprehensive score, though obviously Noddle is free to it's best to use both.
Reviewed on: 8th April 2016
Took out a Pockit prepaid card solely to claim their free fiver when singing up. It took 99p + less than five minutes to get an account set up and they had the card out to me in the post in three working days. Once received, I topped up with a tenner and my card was accepted in a small independent retailer five minutes later, so, it does what it says on the tin! My £5 signup bonus came within a week although I'm disappointed that it isn't a contactless card, bit old school.
Reviewed on: 7th April 2016
Downloaded the app when I got access to the Mondo beta. Had lots of trouble signing up, it rejected my email about several times before I actually managed to progress, then it just dumps you at a "wait in the queue" screen which isn't exactly the sleekest sign-up.
Once I did get to the front of the queue, my card came quickly, and despite having to load it with £100 which seems like a lot - the card is actually almost "fun" to use - like the notifications, and the "you've spent £XX today" features. Wait with baited breath to see where they go with their current account...
Reviewed on: 23rd March 2016
Wanted to get a quote from ensure as they came up best in both a price comparison site, and had a really good cash back offer. Unfortunately, their website is so poor, I couldn't even complete a quote. Really poor online experience.
Reviewed on: 21st March 2016
Was with Direct Line for a number of years in my early twenties and premiums came down year on year. Then one year my renewal came and without any particular reason they increased it by £200+. Thought they might match everyone else on the market due to my customer loyalty, but they didn't budge on the premium. Also had a nightmare trying to speak to staff in outsourced call centres, and felt that they sent out too much useless paperwork. Would think hard before going with them again.
Reviewed on: 18th March 2016
Changed to halifax based on the £5 reward scheme which is better than most free current accounts offer. The app is nice and works well enough, the website does what you want it to, and staff in branch have been very helpful thus far.
Reviewed on: 14th December 2015
