Negative Natwest/Positive HSBC experience

So myself and my wife finally arrived here two weeks ago, and one of the first things we did was try to get her on my Natwest account which I've had since I was about 13. We knew they'd probably want proof of address but thought we'd quickly pop in anyway, and as we thought, without proof of address no dice.

Luckily a HSBC was just a short walk away so we went and got her a passport account, as there was literally no proof of address she could obtain as she isn't elligible for the Electoral roll, and as we're staying with my parents, we won't be getting any utility bills. So she got that open no problems (There is £60 one off or £6/mo fee though), has her debit card etc, and a few days later she received her first statement which she could use as her UK proof of address.

So we go to my local Natwest Branch again, and happen to be served by the manager, who says yep, passport was fine for ID and yep the HSBC statement would be fine for her address, and oh could he please have three months of statements showing income. We never received paper statements peferring to just check our statements online with our US bank, only the branch manager told us they don't accept printouts of online statements, and then chastised us for not obtaining a 'letter of introduction' from our former bank, something which I hadn't even ever heard of!

Then he in a rather surly manner said my wife was too much of a credit risk and that next time we should get a letter of introduction, but if we can get three statements showing income into her HSBC account then he could 'see what he could do'. Needless to say I was pretty fuming by that point.

So we went back to HSBC this afternoon, who not only let us open a regular joint account with your usual debit card and checkbook for BOTH of us, but was also happy to arrange for my the money from my Natwest funds to be transferred over and to shut my account down for me 

It was amazing the difference between the two banks, Natwest treated my wife as if she was a criminal and really gave the impression they didn't want my wife's business whereas HSBC were friendly, and opened us up a Joint Account no problem. I did write Natwest a "I've been a customer for over 10 years and have switched to HSBC because of the attitude of the manager etc etc" complaint letter which I am sure will be trashed unread but at least it made me feel better

I was amazed at how unhelpful my local Natwest branch was, especially as while I am small change to them, I've been a customer of theres since I was a kid and despite the dismal exchange rate, had recently transferred quite a sizable (For us at least!) balance over.

While my experience is slightly anecdotal as your local Natwest Branch could be brilliant compared to mine, if your bank is being a bit arsey, consider getting a HSBC passport account, it might cost a fee but at least they'll give you an account and you'll then have proof of address, and once opened its easy to get a joint account there.

Hmm, I feel HSBC should be paying me an endorsement fee here!

thanks for sharing your experience.  it just makes me thing that it really depends on the particular person you speak to at the particular branch.  i went into barclays and they were as rude as rude could be.  went into natwest- opened an account no problem (after i had all the docunments i needed).  i so wish there was consistency.

glad you got it all sorted!

thanks for sharing your experience.  it just makes me thing that it really depends on the particular person you speak to at the particular branch.  i went into barclays and they were as rude as rude could be.  went into natwest- opened an account no problem (after i had all the docunments i needed).  i so wish there was consistency.

glad you got it all sorted!

Indeed! I actually mentioned that in my complaint letter to Natwest, that while that was one person in one branch, unfortunately its my local and most convenient branch so if I had to deal with them on a regular basis, I'd rather switch to another local bank thats a bit more friendly.

Glad your local Natwest was a darn sight more helpful than mine

When DH and I tried to open an account with Barclays, the women would not even look at me. She looked directly at my husband and spoke as if I wasn't even there. She referred to me as "the Madam".  As she spoke to my husband she said "the Madam will have to do this or that". My husband finally said, "look, she's sitting right there. You don't have to talk about her. You can talk to her!" Then we just got up and left.  Walked into HSBC and everything was a piece of cake.

Sounds like the guy from the Nationwide ads, only not as much fun.

I had the brush-off from NatWest as well, despite the fact I am an EU citizen, had the paperwork showing my residence in Sweden, etc. AND I'm entitled to have a bank account here without hassles.  Called Barclays, talked with grumpylad from this site, breezed into his branch, sat down and did some paperwork and left with an account, a debit card, etc.  PLUS I had a follow-up call about 6 weeks later from the accounts guy who set me up, wanting to make sure everything was okay and could he assist me further.  I LOVE my Barclays branch, love, love, love them! 

Ha!

Horses for courses!

Everyone has a different experience with all the major banks, so it's difficult to choose just one based on others experiences.

For me Barclays are about as unhelpful, inept and backwards thinking as a government dept! (ha sorry!) and that coming from personal and business accounts. You couldn't pay me to try and open another barclays account!

Natwest, no accounts with them at the moment, but used to have one and they were quite good for recent university leavers - that was over 10 years ago, so maybe they've gotten better or deteriorated since then. HSBC is my preferred bank, and no troubles with them ever, however I've noticed their bad press with some customers questioning their ethics etc - which is duly noted, not enough of an impact to me to make me want to move though.

Like any industry, sector etc, theres good examples and bad for every company, no one can hope to get it right all the time every time.You just have to choose the one which seems best suited to your needs and hope you get a good experience from them!

Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!

That pretty much sums up my own experience with NatWest.

June

Whereas both my FH & I have NatWest accounts and are perfectly content!!

Whereas both my FH & I have NatWest accounts and are perfectly content!!

Ditto...Natwest was the easiest to deal with when I came over last year as an international student, and the process was quick and easy- account was open within a couple of days.  My fiance has a Natwest student account as well as an HSBC one, and he absolutely prefers Natwest- they recently upgraded his debit card and gave him a ridiculous amount of overdraft, hehe.