Does anyone that applied for an account with Cater Allen still uses it or the cards are now stored away with accounts unused/closed?
They were always going to be stored away. Itās a Stone Age bank.
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Stored away. Might actually close it
I saw the Coutts dinner. Hasnāt anyone availed themselves of the Cater Allen McEat? Big Macs, Fries, Chocolate Milkshake the lot.
Unfortunately you donāt get @Carlo1460ās sugary Apple Pie/McFlurry combo unless youāre ultra high net worth with 2.5b or more in investments
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Made a Chip & Pin transaction on Friday, still not showing on account even as pending, and available balance not gone down.
Free money glitch! 
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Itās nonsense. Took 4 days for some of mine to clear. Even cash withdrawals are delayed. Only Faster Payments update instantly.
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Presumably you mean faster payments out because FPs in take about a day for me to show. Wanted to use the card via Airtime Rewards once for a Visa only merchant. The card got verified via Airtime before my money arrivedā¦
Who and why would use them is beyond me.
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Oh yes. Any inbound payments take 24 hours. Sometimes longer.
I guess people that use it have so much money they never check their balance. Itās done for them by their accountant.
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At that point Iād go for Coutts or one of the truly private banks that only the likes of @harrysj12341234 know and talk about!
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I personally would not classify Cater Allen as a private bank, in my opinion.
Thereāre just about an actual bank from what Iāve read.
No borrowing (overdrafts, loans, etc) and accounts are limited (no instant access for example).
Iām surprised they still have a client base. Theyāre used mostly for trusts from my knowledge.
I canāt see the appeal there for any affluent cash liquid client, again my own opinion. You wouldnāt be benefitting in anyway shape or form.
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Cater Allen were one of the Discount Houses who assisted in monetary policy by buying or selling Bills of Exchange and Government Bonds. Their role became obsolete and most were bought up by banks and Financial Institutions.
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They dropped the āPrivate Bankā from their name a little while ago now. Most have been for a reason.
Iād disagree. They are functioning as any private bank would do except from they donāt have an application criteria for their bank account.
However for their business account they do. You can only open a business account with them via an accountant who will set up your account with Cater Allen for you and will have access to your account just as you would.
The purpose of a private bank account is to have features that Cater Allen has that other banks donāt such as having beneficiaries and account holder mandates etc.
Can someone who has applied, let me know if you have to send in signed copies of ID, or is there an online ID system you can use?
For some reason I keep thinking about applying, but I think I could fully put the idea to bed if I had to faff about with getting ID certified!
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Donāt believe you do. I think I sent stuff online and they emailed some follow up questions.
Thanks, very much appreciated.
I respect your opinion but most people with money go with Coutts.
I know that from experience.
If thereās no criteria then they canāt be really that strict.
However, if people do choose to bank with them then carry on. Iāll decline to part take.
Especially until they can offer some sort of borrowing facilities.
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Iāve just come back from foreign climes to test drive the Euro account. I started with low expectations and still ended up disappointed.
Contactless worked absolutely fine but each debit card transaction didnāt update the balance in online banking for at least two days. Iād previously linked it with my Lloyds account via Open Banking and could see a balance update there after about 24 hours. Still rubbish though.
I thought it would be a great family holiday spend asset if you choose the option to add 3 x other account holders / debit cards to the account, but it would be a complete nightmare to track spend and only vaguely suitable if running a high enough balance to ensure you donāt go anywhere near running out of money.
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Itās beyond useless due to how slow it updates. Only usable if you have bags of money and never have to worry about running out, but then you have a million better options.
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