Natwest experience

Financial Chat
#1

So due to a bit of persuasion, I opened up a Natwest account (I know… I know!) for the sole purpose to use it for my Direct Debits and earn some rewards while maintaining Monzo for my salary and spending.

They accepted my application (no reason why they wouldn’t), and offered an overdraft of £1250. Wouldn’t use that anyway but a nice to have I suppose.

That’s immediately where I began to notice how outdated their systems were. The account didn’t appear on the Online Banking for 2 days. On the day it appeared, it lasted for 30 minutes before ‘disappearing’.

I contacted their support (And I use that term very loosely) to be told it’s suspended due to needing to verify my identity… despite providing my Driving Licence number on the application. They won’t accept it online and I need to go to the branch. I also asked how to just close the account ;
“Oh we can’t do that either, needs to be the branch”.

Needless to say I contacted their complaints team, who gave me a number to call. I asked which department this would be to then be advised they didn’t know, it was just a number left on the account.

Utterly shambolic. Monzo, I’m sorry for even considering anyone else :joy:!

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Reward Points - Household Bill etc
#2

#monzokarma

So are you gonna ditch them and come full Monzo and fulfil your destiny? :grinning:

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#3

Absolutely. Sooner I’m away from them the better!

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#4

That’s interesting - I just joined Natwest (to take part in their switching offer).

When I went through the process, they accepted my application, pending an ID check, which was filled in online (submitting pictures of my drivers license). Once that had passed (the next morning), I could log into online banking immediately, and my account was shown (and presumably was fully functioning).

The card then came 2 days later.

Not sure why your process was difficult - but for me it was incredibly smooth and painless. Not quite as smooth as Monzo, but smooth none the less.

On an aside, I really like the natwest debit card - it’s a lovely shade of Purple with numbers printed rather than stamped.

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#5

Which isn’t even true. You can use CASS to close the account.

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#6

The exact reason why I asked them the question. They really have absolutely no clue!

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#7

I opened NatWest account last year…
Process was smooth and easy… got my card in 3 days… registered mobile banking…
But after few weeks account disappeared from mobile banking application.
No letters, messages nothing…
I went to local branch to check what happened…
All branch staff was useless… they just tried to call main office for 25-30 mins.
It took about an hour for them to find that I was randomly chosen for I’d check…

#8

I’ve actually just closed my 14-year standing Natwest account in favour of first direct.

#9

I did this before Monzo.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire!

#10

I wonder if Natwest’s (or any bank for that matter) staff genuinely care when customers threaten to leave?

Do banks impose penalties or cut commission on staff if they let customers go?

#11

I imagine that some staff might care, but they won’t have enough powers to be able to do anything about it.

The higher-ups only look at numbers and it is unlikely they will break anything down beyond that and look into the reason why Joe Bloggs from Birmingham left in a huff. Plus, considering the size of them I’m sure they will make up for losses with new customers and everything will balance out.

1 Like
#12

When I joined RBS in 2017, I didn’t have to go into branch or have any issues signing up or using online banking. It was all pretty much same day or next. Maybe it was because I used my passport number as my ID etc.

The only thing they did make me wait for was my cheque book as they posted out a form for me to sign to prove my signature.

#13

This was in 2017??!!?one?111!!? :exploding_head:

1993 called and they want their cheque book back.

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#14

Just used the switching offer for my wife. Had to sign one letter and post it back. Logged in online and transferred some cash, £150 for my 15 mins of effort.

I run some of my bills through NatWest for the cashback. Salary goes into Monzo and then straight to NatWest to conver the DDs. It’s all automatic and I never actually need to log in or speak to NatWest.

Some of their systems are outdated and their stupid PIN terminal thing would drive me nuts. But since I never have to use them it doesn’t matter. It’s essentially free money for no effort and I still get the benefits of using Monzo.

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#15

No, why would they?

#16

Seems odd that if the member of staff dealing with the OP’s request to close the account could easily have closed the account, why fob off the OP to the branch?

#17

I’m currently doing the same with firstdirect - they are offering £100 to join, and another £100 if after six months you “don’t like the way we do things” and close the account.

The delicious irony in this is that the account I am switching from is HSBC, just after they paid me another £50 as a loyalty bonus :roll_eyes:. Over the course of 18 months, that’s a free £400 from the HSBC group for setting up a few direct debits and standing orders!

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#18

Just done exactly the same, although I’m dubious about whether they’ll give the £100 for leaving without a fight and/or lots of hurdles…

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#19

There are very strict rules to get it, for example they require written notification of your complaint within the initial 6 months, I believe.

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#20

So make sure I send them a letter within the next six months complaining that they are not Monzo.

Sounds easy enough!