Am I right in thinking that HSBC also show incoming bacs payments or is this something that I have made up?
Things that I’m looking for are features like instant bank notifications and transparency on money coming in / out the bank before they come in / out
Ok that’s pretty cool! It’s a feature that I’ve grown to love with monzo. I do really love monzo but lack of customer service and reliability issues arising from this leave me feeling uncertain? I’m not sure if this is just me being paranoid but just looking to explore options with other banks
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Just to expand on this, balance after bills is really great. Similar to Monzo it will predict upcoming payments but you can do things that others can’t a such as edit dates, exclude for example.
It does as others have said show upcoming payments, worth noting that unless it’s a payment that Balance after bills has seen before it won’t predict in the calculation so there can be a discrepancy on the first instance.
Also it’s been said before but I really can’t stress just how much Better the CS is in every way over Monzo.
Live chat is exactly as it sounds. Sometimes the bot can get in the way but it’s improving and humans are very helpful and not like Monzo in that they actually read your message.
And phone support is superb. Not really any queuing and very polite.
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I don’t suppose any of you have had any comparison with NatWest compared to HSBC, I’ve opened both with the CASS service to get the money but with HSBC advanced account obviously I get benefits such as higher interest
Just trying to grasp which is slightly better, obviously I’ll form my own opinions once I’ve used them but just interested from the community 
I have both and have used both. But it’s really subjective to be honest as to what you find works for you.
Generally speaking:
- NatWest has the edge on budgeting by quite some way. You can select items as transfers, custom dates and some insights that are better than Monzos
- NatWest also takes the transaction detail crown with maps, time and date and more detail per transaction
- You can also link other accounts into NatWest, something you can’t do with HSBC
- The transaction notifications are neater and better implemented
- NatWest have a BNPL offering which HSBC don’t
- Their regular saver has a much higher interest rate
- Their rewards account has decent cashback
But…
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HSBC offers a free Fx Free account for spending abroad
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HSBCs offering is more complete with a great range of saving, investment and credit products
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HSBC has a much better interest rate on savings
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Their Credit card has a great set of rewards
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The support is significantly better with HSBC
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HSBC has a worldwide presence so their support network is greater if you are travelling
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Both have great web, iPad and Web banking
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Both have Mastercard and visa options
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Both have a decent reliability
I think they are the main things.
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Thank you! Your insights are really useful!! I think what I’m looking for is a similar experience to mozno but from a legacy bank
Obviously I know that no bank I pick will give me the experience mozno does but by the sounds of it some do come close and banks are catching up!!
I’m just tired of using a second account to pay cash / cheques in etc. defeats the whole point of using a bank account as my main account if they don’t offer what I need.
I do have a Lloyds account as well but I just find their app to look really dated and notifications are really delayed
Once both are up and running I will definitely “test run” both, they both seem like good offerings and tbh I’m not overly fussy on budgeting tools etc as I’m generally pretty good at doing this with out the need of the banks help but it’ll be good to see how they both are
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In honestly while HSBC works well for me and does what I need NatWest is closer in terms of a “fintech” alternative.
They’ve really gone for it over the last year or so.
Try them both
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In terms of BNPL I have monzo flex but tbh I find myself just using Klarna if I ever need BNPL just works better imo 
Thank you for all of your insights I will definitely be trying both out as soon as my cards arrive etc!!
I think I’ll probably get on with them both as I used Lloyds as my student bank account for the last 3 years and didn’t really have any complaints and both hsbc and NatWest seem to be better.
I used to bank with Nationwide for many many years but with lack of notifications and the stupid card reader I couldn’t take it any longer 
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I think I’m going to use a legacy bank for my salary payments and then use mozno as a spending account or just use it as a second account that only has a small amount of money in
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Lloyds does let itself down on the app front, as it does have the full package really, just the app design needs revamping.
Nationwide are slowly removing the card reader but yeah, they do need notifications.
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Couldn’t agree more. Lloyds would be the perfect offering IF the app was slightly overhauled the general layout is fine, just thinks like the old school look and font really make the app feel old
so many ifs and buts with banking apps yet to find one that is 100% what I want… think I’ll be searching for the perfect app for years to come, maybe chasing a pipe dream
Seems like a stupid point but from having my money in mozno it doesn’t feel real?? Like because it’s so instant and easy it doesn’t feel like it’s real money idk if that makes sense at all
Starling really ticks a lot of boxes for me, including cheque imaging and Post Office for any other general banking needs ie cash deposits etc.
Sleek tidy app, all the mod features pretty much. Worth a shot if you’ve not already (apologies if I missed it that you have).
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It is a pipe dream because no one app will be perfect for everybody. Even if you think you’ve found “the one”, it will only be until you discover something a different bank offers that you like, and your existing bank doesn’t have it.
I have several different bank accounts and out of them all, I like Lloyds the best. I like the layout and functions of the app. Notifications could be improved -sometimes they are immediate, but sometimes they come hours later (even the next day, occasionally). However, notifications are not a priority for me. They are useful, and I like to have them, but I’d never choose a bank based just on notifications.
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I didn’t mention it so don’t worry! I have a starling account and have used it but for some reason it’s really inconsistent with merchant data and merchant logos etc, for me I like to see everything through a visual look, idk why just how my brain functions so for me to have some merchant logos and some without it makes the feed look messy? It’s most likely just me being very ocd and picky but at the end of the day it’s the bank I’m using so I feel like I can be picky
Starling do tick a lot of boxes for me too and that’s why I’ve never closed the account in case I feel like trying it out again etc. I know deep down starling are a better offering than mozno but I just stuck with monzo for features such as consistent merchant data and I was already using it so mozno was just easier 
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I think from using a fintech bank as my main bank for so long features such as notifications that are near instant or at least reliable are definitely something I will always want to have, but as you say notifications are not a priority for you so that’s why Lloyds is a good offering
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Is N26 the bank account that used to have a clear card? I think I used to have an account but can’t remember a huge deal about it
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You’re not wrong! Changes every other month or so it feels. Doesn’t even pick up Asda merchant data any more.
It would be nice to be able to turn them all off. Hsbc/first direct have nice transaction entries, clean and clutter free.
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Fair enough! Well I hope they make a return for you!! I used to have that feeling with monzo but there has always been a small void that monzo don’t 100% have my heart and that’s getting more and more apparent the less Monzo introduces new updates. Yes the new app layout is coming but what about simple functional features that should have been added years ago such as cheque imaging ( I could go on lol) anyway going off on a rant, I fear I am someone who will never be 100% satisfied
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I really wish starling fixed this because it’s been a issue that I noticed a year ago or so when I used them and is still there now. From a very clean and tidy offering a simple issue like that just seems unnecessary that it still exists? I know it’s really picky of me not to use them because of this
But there is really no denying that starling are a top offering for a current account especially with free virtual cards etc
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