@PJH said:
@Mason Wheeler said:If your bank is going to treat you like that, why not change banks? That's what I'd do.OP is a Brit abroad. Wanting a UK bank.
Changing banks is, for most, an ordeal (which it shouldn't be, given the legislative crap we have, especially wrt changing banks) for those in-country. I can (or maybe not) imagine the hoops a Brit based in furriner-land wanting to open a UK account with Santandont or Barcrap would have to jump through.
I don't know about changing from abroad, but if you're thinking about it I can sortof recommend Halifax. Their online banking is pretty good, for the most part, and it doesn't need a separate dodad. [Side WTF: recently they changed their authentication method from "username, password, memorable questions" to "username, password, memorable information"; the questions were the usual gumph, but the 'memorable information' is great: three characters from a word you've picked. So now I have two passwords! So much more secure!] The big downside of Halifax is their overdraft policy, though: they charge £1/day you're in the red. But otherwise, pretty good customer service etc., in my experience.
On the other hand, my HSBC experience has been pretty lame. Aside from assigning you a username consisting of a twenty-digit sequence of letters and numbers, they also have a calculator thingy that you're required to use in order to sign in. Of course, mine never arrived, so when I wanted to use online banking I was confronted with a screen telling me to set up a device I didn't have. Luckily there was a link marked 'skip this step', which keeps you logged in, and takes you to their homepage. I click 'take me to my accounts'... and I'm taken right back to the damn set-up screen again. I still haven't been able to log in, but I'm quitting them anyway, since they got rid of my overdraft without telling me -- they claimed not to be able to contact me, despite having both my email address and my mobile number.
Sorry, that turned into much more of a rant than I meant it to. In summary: Halifax are okay if you don't go into your overdraft; HSBC I wouldn't recommend to anyone.