B - Yorkshire/Clydesdale Bank

Has anyone tried B? I have it as my main account - I have to say it’s pretty good for a 150+ year old bank’s offering.
Main annoyance being that you have to phone up for things sometimes, which defeats the object for me.
But I much prefer it to any of the current start-ups (Starling) that have a full current account going.

The only thing I find it’s lacking that I really want is the real time push notifications of transactions.

Isn’t B just the same old creaking 1970s computer infrastructure but with a shiny app on the top? That’s the impression I got, they haven’t built anything new, just given you an app. I might be wrong. Difference with Starling and Monzo is that they’ve built their systems from the ground up so are incredibly agile.

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I’m a B user. It’s the old system with a new app. The app is not particularly user friendly. I think it’s a step up from a traditional account but don’t think it’ll be comparable to the Monzo current account when released.

I imagine it is a patched up version of a decades old system. But as presented to the end user I don’t think it’s half bad. I much, much prefer the style and features (and proposed features) of Monzo and can see myself switching to Monzo when it launches it’s current account.

But I actually prefer B to Starling and any other start-up app bank I’ve tried or looked in to. I find it much more usable than Starling and I prefer the app (although it could be a little more responsive!)

Starling to me, doesn’t feel like a bank - it still feels like a pre-paid card. The ‘top-up’ element, etc.

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Moving discussions about B from the bribe thread to the actual B thread…

I have worked out that I no longer have to see a leaping chicken again! I knew I could use the Yorkshire Bank website to log into my B account but I only just realised I could use the Yorkshire Bank banking app with my B account too. The app seems faster but I don’t get some of the pot features of the B app. It does mean I may keep the account a little longer.

The B app leaping chicken
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The Yorkshire Bank app
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Just thought I should mention using the alternative app for people who use B.

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Ooh I might try this. I just opened a B credit card (which is actually a pretty good deal) as well as the current account so I’ll be sticking around. Thanks for the tip!

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I’m surprised how similar the apps are. It seems to be basically the same app with a different colour scheme, different loading animation, and features like tagging and pots missing. I like the less garish colours and I never used those extra features, so I think I’ll just use the Yorkshire app.

I found it funny that the menu item listed as ‘Be Secure’ in the Yorkshire app is ‘B Secure’ in the B app. I wonder which came first…

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Oh man - the B app but in sensible colours. I wish they let you open a YB account online. I’d be there.

I actually liked a lot of aspects of B. Didn’t like the card designs or the obnoxious app though and closed my account in the end.

The old YB app was basically the same as the Co-op Bank and Smile apps - no idea why? Maybe it was some off the shelf solution?

Does the new YB app do instant notifications?

Edit - just realised you can open an account by phone. I’m seriously considering it.

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It doesn’t push the notifications but the transactions are listed immediately as pending.

Just open a B account online. It’s still a YB account (or Clydesdale if you wish), and you can use the YB app with it. You just don’t get the spending categorisation or pots you get in the B app.

Unfortunately not with the credit card though. It’s a bit frustrating.

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I did open a B account for my wife and a YB account for myself when the switching bribe was on offer, just because I wanted to compare. Both were completely online, and the application process was identical.

As far as I can see the differences between the two are minute:

  • different card
  • different sort code (I think?)
  • different colour scheme
  • no pots, savings, categorisation or chicken with YB. (Which may be a plus if you don’t like them :chicken:
  • With both you can log on to YB online banking (and apparantly the YB app) but only with the B account can you log on to the B app and website.

The apps - as noticed - are near identical.

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So does B give instant notifications upon spending? Do regular YB/CB accounts catagorise spending?

No and no. As said above, transactions on the debit card appear immediately as ‘pending’, but there’s no notifications. On the credit card, pending transactions are not shown. The non-B YB app doesn’t support spending categorisation, even if with a B account.

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Shiny simplistic app - but why the irritating bouncing creature on startup? :rage:

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Thanks. Didn’t associate my question with your info above. Cheers.

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I wonder if they will start adding more features of B to the Yorkshire Bank app in the future. Use B to test them before implimenting them to Yorkshire/Clydesdale. Yorkshire Bank’s I do feel is faster but I still have the B app just in case I need to use it for something, but I’ve promoted the Yorkshire Bank app to the old B’s position. I wonder if they will start push notifications.

So I got an email today about ‘B Connected’ - the ability to see accounts from other banks in the B app. I connected my Nationwide account to it, and it took me to a web browser to sign into Nationwide’s Open Banking login pages - unfortunately they don’t seem to have built in the ability to authorise it directly from the Nationwide mobile app.

The B app is only able to show my Nationwide Current Account balance - no transaction details or anything, so I’m not sure quite how useful it is compared to something like Yolt or Emma, but it seems like an interesting development nonetheless and one that Monzo were at least considering at one point based upon this thread: https://community.monzo.com/t/other-bank-accounts-in-your-monzo-app/25231 - I wonder if this is still a possibility for the future, and how it might fit into the app…

I’ve included some screenshots of the email below:

Screenshots of 'B Connected Email

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for now B’s connect feature is only available for… But don’t worry, we’ll be connecting with more accounts and banks soon!

Thanks for reassuring me, B! Otherwise I would’ve been worried sick all weekend :rofl:

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https://www.youandb.co.uk/the-app/control-your-money/savings-pots-and-goals/#/

Pots and 1% on savings. The credit card has no fees on foreign transactions (excludes cash withdrawals).

I just wish they wouldn’t gouge you on debit card foreign transactions and get rid of the bird.

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B is for brazen!