Very Frustrating (abbeynational.co.uk)

Member Name: blackrose_

Product:	abbeynational.co.uk
Date:	27/09/01 (189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Summary Statements are handy, Payment facility can be useful

Disadvantages: Very slow to load, Technical problems are fairly regularly occuring, Being charged for making payments using the online facility

I have two accounts with the Abbey National, an Instant Saver account (supposedly for my savings, although it is very rare that there is ever any money in it!) and an Instant Plus account. It is possible to manage both of these accounts online, although it is generally a frustrating experience!

To begin with, the site takes on average a couple of minutes to load, when it isn't down for some reason or another (on average one in four times I've visited it!) Not long, I know, but longer than most, and when you consider that this time is just taken to load the (duff) animated menu, it seems a bit pointless!

Secure login is easy, once you have waited another minute or so for the login screen to load in a pop up window....and don't try jumping the gun and filling in your details whilst waiting for it to finish loading, otherwise the 'submit' link (on the whole the last to appear), doesn't appear, and you have to reload the page.

To login you need your card number, and your identification number and passcode. To get an internet ID you have to first register with Abbey National for online banking. This takes a few minutes to apply for, and about a fortnight to reach you in the post! The annoying thing about the passcode is that it has to be numeric...OK, some people might not find this a problem, but I for one would find it a heck of a lot easier to remember a passWORD.

Once you are into the site, a variety of options are available; you can check the balance of all accounts linked to the card you used to login (both my accounts are linked to the same card...you can arrange this by using the telephone banking, and this procedure is instant-ish...hooray), view summary statements, make payments, set up payments, view/set up direct debits, transfer money between your accounts and read the latest bumpf from the Abbey.

I have used all of these services, and they are easy to do and generally reliable. I h
ave found the summary statements particularly useful, especially if you are waiting for a payment to go into your account, or expecting a direct debit to go out.

The 'make payments' facility is easy to set up and use, although the Abbey do charge you 1.95 for each payment you make using this system, which, considering that by doing it yourself you are saving them staff time and therefore money, I find a bit cheeky!

On the whole the latest Abbey announcements are nothing to get excited about, and to be honest I haven't bothered reading them the last few times I have logged in...but they are there if you want them.

Overall, once you are logged into the site it is easy to navigate and use, but the slow loading and too frequent technical problems with this site mean that I wouldn't recommend it.

Summary: