Natwest has never struck me as the best bank for students in the UK. Nonetheless, like most of the students particularly in the Nottingham Uni, opening account with them seem to be the most convenient choice. This is due to the fact that they have the most branches throughout Notts. They even have 1 right inside the main campus for crying out loud. My friends recommended me to open my bank account with them on the convenience ground.
So I did. I opted for Student Account which last for 1 year and with a fee of GBP7 paid monthly. Under the account, I have 2 debit cards (under the new regulations, international students are not eligible for either credit cards or cheque books) and free overdraft up to GBP1000 (I think). On top of those, I also got a Railcard (which gives me 1/3 discount on british rail services), discount on concert tickets, international call sim card, insurance on 1 gadget, insurance on laptop and many others.
As months passed by, I realized only the Railcard really benefited me. I only used it once actually. I only use 1 debit card because the other is effectively redundant and I never overdrafted. GBP7 per month proven to be a waste. According to the contract, I could terminate the account after 9 months but I can still continue with the basic account which is free of monthly charges.
"Impatiently, I told the lady, never mind terminating the Student Account, how about terminating the whole Natwest account altogether? This quickly followed by another lady who brought me into the office.."
I never saluted Natwest's customer services. You see them saying hi but at the very same moment you know right away they don't mean it. They just wanna go back home at 3 (yeah, that's the time most branches close) and get this over with. If you wanna deposit money, time is not a problem. But, if you wanna do something other than that, say, if you sponsor wanted bank address or IBAN. They sure took a long time to process it and say 'we don't do that, they are in your bank statement'. Or, when you wanna buy the card reader you required to transfer money online (my HSBC doesn't require this btw), they just say 'we don't have that, you'd have to apply online'. In the whole branch, they don't keep it. This mean you have to wait for 2 weeks before you get the card reader delivered before you can transfer money online.
"She asked why do I wanna terminate the account, I just told her I got my HSBC.."
Anyway, I went to my branch to terminate my Student Account. The lady said I need to bring all the packages they given me when I first opened the account 9 months ago. What? The package included mostly all the pamphlets about the account. Plus, I paid GBP7 every month for 9 months. That amounted to GBP63. I thought I owned them. So I told the lady. Took her long time to discuss this with her colleagues. I have to stand aside to let queue moving. And I have a class waiting. Impatiently, I told the lady, never mind terminating the Student Account, how about terminating the whole Natwest account? This quickly followed by another lady who brought me into the office and asked only for the Railcard. What? Never mind, I don't really use it anyway. I agreed. She told me it's gonna take months before they really cancel off my Student Account. Huh? This means I have to still pay the fee until it really stopped. Kept my cool and said I'm fine with it. She asked why do I wanna terminate the account, I just told her I got my HSBC..
I checked online about other complaints. Apparently, they also have problems with things like delivery of cards (for example if you lost yours). Some guy had his new card delivered to wrong addressed 4 times even he repeatedly told them to send it to nearest branch. When they did send the card to the nearest branch, it's not the nearest branch to him and they didn't tell him which branch. Natwest also has history of unethical credit issuance to students. A student, was given overdraft of GBP1000 and GBP500 credit card. He overspent with both. Instead of stopping his craze, Natwest increase the overdraft limit as well as the credit card limit. He overspent again. In the end, Natwest offered a loan with 21% interest to pay up the overdraft. Took him 5 years to clear this up. He is not alone. Apparently, many similar complains are found on the web.
It gets worse actually. Natwest under their parent company Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) reportedly has been doing dubious businesses using their customers' money. For example, The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline which is considered to be an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe in the making, and it breaches the bank’s code of conduct (Source: Friends of the Earth). NatWest also collaborated with the Nazi regime appropriating money from Jews. They have admitted they have a large number of unclaimed Holocaust-era deposits but they refuse to publish their lists of depositors.
That's my story with Natwest. I'm sure you got yours. Currently, I do most of my banking with HSBC. Yeah, the have their own problems, particularly in the loss of medical and insurance details of 370,000 customers in 2008, but so far I'm more satisfied with them than with Natwest. Compare to Natwest, HSBC is international bank proper. You can easily find their branches everywhere around the globe. This is welcomed by international student like me who love to travel. Plus, as of 2009, HSBC is both the world's largest banking group and the world's 6th largest company according to Forbes Magazine. Abbey (now Santander) is also a good alternative. They are the largest bank in euro area in market capitalization. They now offer Zero Credit Card which impose absolute 0% on foreign exchange fee, cash advance fee and others.
4 comments:
Hmmm, I gotta say, much as I respect your opinion, I do feel that it is flawed. Perhaps this is due to the fact that every time you call Natwest up and get someone to help you out, or everytime you see someone in person, they give you a different answer (or a different bit to the first incomplete response they gave you). However, this can work out in your favour. For example, my housemates and I (all being international students), all have credit cards under Natwest, as well as cheque book, even though I onyl got mine in the 2nd year ( I was refused it in the first year cuz of my international status, but it became ok in 2nd year... no one even disputed it).
None of us pay a monthly fee, in fact, that was the main reason why I actually chose Natwest over HSBC (note, if your opt for an 'INTERNATIONAL student account', you'd have to pay a monthly fee).
The railcard is available for all new customers who open a student account (if they are local), or if they have over a certain amount in the bank if they are international (my housemate got one, dont ask me how), and is actually really good value (railcard is now 28pounds/yr, the one natwest offers would save you almost 150pounds by that reckoning - it is worth getting a railcard even if you only travel by train 2x/year in view of the discounts they offer on normal ticket prices).
In terms of credit and overdraft limit, I only wish they'd give me more =P Teehee!!
Natwest has even recently decided to lower the fines for going overdrawn-without-pre-arrangement....
So there, Natwest isn't that horrible... Yay for Natwest! (Please note, I have no actual first hand knowledge of any other bank in the UK)....
i never knew i can apply for a credit in 2nd year. thanks for the tips off. yeah, i do agree. this is not a critical observation. i give what think and what i looked out on the internet.
in relation to your first paragraph. yeah, that works out great for international students like us. unfortunately this means all the processes/procedures in natwest are subjected to subjective policies.
thanks for the comment btw.
Good brief and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you as your information.
Well I agree but I contemplate the list inform should secure more info then it has.
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