Community

What an excellent article. As someone with relationships with four banks (and having closed accounts with two banks over the last two years through poor service) I can relate to this article very well.

In fact, the best 'bank' of the four that I deal with is Nationwide Building Society. Their internet and telephone services are excellent as are their branches.

The majority of the 'Big 4' have poor telephone services and several have poorly designed internet sites. It is easy to see why new entrants to the market are going to win market share.

Mel Haskins

I believe that a bank has four main assets. The fourth is quality IT Systems. Without good IT systems it does not matter how good the staff are, the service will remain below par. And a 14 year old will want to be able to use the service on the internet.

As a family we use of HSBC, Nationwide, Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Bank of America, I can assure you that the quality of their IT systems varies significantly.

Mel Haskins

The Bank of England is only nominally independent. All appointments to the Bank's Court needs the approval of the Chancellor of the Exchequor. So, since it's independence, all new appointments to the Court have to have the nod of approval by a Labour Government. I do not see this as independent.

Nationwide use exactly the same readers. I could not agree more that for the first payment to a new payee it should be compulsory, but regular variable payments to the same person or organisation should not require the reader.

Whoever designed the system did not do a thorough analysis of the users needs. But tell me a bank that listens to it's customers - certainly not any that I have had dealings with over the last 30 years.

Grumpy of Barnet (Mel Haskins)

Private Bank & Trust, now rebranded as EFG Bank, was hailed as the first new bank to be established in the UK for 50 years in the 1980's.

Where does Tesco Bank fit into new banks opened in the last 100 years?

Shouldn't the Financial Times read it's own archives?

Mel Haskins

So how does

Congratulations Microsoft.

You have put in place a man whose only experience is in the United States.

Mel Haskins

Pingu lives

Bank of America world HQ is in North Carolina, not the West Coast.