Bank of Scotland for everyday banking (Bank of Scotland)

Member Name: rosebud2001

Product:	Bank of Scotland
Date:	19/03/09 (388 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good range of facilities on offer, good staff, UK call centres

Disadvantages: Hard sell on loans

The Bank of Scotland has a long history, having originally been formed in 1695 and for many years had its imposing head office on the Mound in Edinburgh - a branch I used to love to visit on occasional trips to the city in my youth.

Of course the credit crunch has seriously weakened the bank. It merged with Halifax in 2001, ostensibly to market Bank of Scotland's business product more easily in England, and to increase the mortgage market in Scotland. Sadly this has proved to be the undoing of both companies and now HBOS, as the merged company became known, has been taken over by the Lloyds banking group. The Bank of Scotland brand will remain separate under the merger however.

I have banked specifically with Bank of Scotland for over 20 years and have used a few of their products over that period including savings, credit card, a loan and my main current account.

When I first opened my current account back in the mid 1980s, things were quite different to how they are today - back then if you wanted an overdraft you had to make an appointment to speak to someone in the branch, there were far stricter daily limits at cash machines, cheques were widely used and there was no telephone or internet banking. You also had to pay for each transaction you made on your account - usually around 25p for a cash machine transaction to 40p for every cheque you wrote.

In my youth I didn't save much and the only other product I had from BOS was my house contents insurance policy, something I thankfully never had to claim on.

Over the years of course banking was revolutionised, and in hindsight this probably wasn't necessarily for the best. The first big change I noticed was telephone banking, and when this was first introduced I used it a lot. At first it seemed odd not speaking to someone at my branch, but I soon got used to the call centres. Bank of Scotland's call centres have always been UK based and I have to say I far prefer this in comparison to Barclays, who have off-shore call centres and inferior service in my opinion.

I have a pretty straightforward current account now - I have a fixed overdraft facility of £400 which is reviewed annually. The terms and conditions clearly state this can be withdrawn at any time which is fair enough - but also something people tend not to notice until the facility is removed. Anecdotal evidence from friends and family who use the bank shows that they are removing a lot of overdraft facilities since the Lloyds takeover so its wise to ensure you only have an overdraft you can afford to repay at short notice.

I earn a tiny amount of interest every month on what goes in, and pay debit interest of about double this amount for the overdraft. My actual banking is free, something that was introduced in the early 1990s on my account if memory serves.

Currently Bank of Scotland have two major current accounts they are heavility advertising - the Ultimate Reward Current Account which offers insurance and other benefits for £12.50 per month or the new Reward Current Account which gives you £5 per month for depositing £1,000 every month in your account. This sounds good if you stay in credit but the £1 charge for every day you are overdrawn is something they aren't so good at pointing out in the advertising!

What has really made banking so much easier however was the introduction of internet banking. I have banked online for years now and find it so much easier to manage my account now as I can check my balance daily, maintain direct debits and clearly see what is coming off and when.

Signing in is a relatively easy process and fairly secure, however I do think an extra layer of security would be more reassuring, such as the PinSentry system Barclays have. Interestingly, Bank of Scotland do offer an additional security layer on both the Visa debit card I have for my current account and the Mastercard I have when I use them online, requiring a password as well as the card details.

Last year I got a Bank of Scotland credit card to utilise the 0% introductory offer for a balance transfer. I have found this card easy to use and set it up with a direct debit to ensure I didn't miss any minimum payments. However its also very easy to pay a more substantial amount online and I have set up a so-called "Fast Payment" to do this, using a system which transfers money in hours as opposed to days.

I also recently opened up an Instant Saver account, purely to deposit small amounts of money I am saving up for Christmas. I did this last year using a money box, but feel a little safer having the money in a bank account. This account does give me a cash machine card and PIN number, but apart from that is very basic and the interest rate is a paltry 1%.

Both the credit card account and the savings account have been added to my online banking and as a result I can easily switch money from one account to another, only having to sign in once.

Of course Bank of Scotland will charge you a fee if you miss a direct debit, miss a credit card payment or go over your agreed overdraft limit. The fee is usually £35 for missed payments and of course they add on extra for letters they send you. I know that HBOS seem to be one of the hardest banks to reclaim fees from reading MSE and other money forums, but I personally have no experience of this.

The bank have a variety of products on offer including ISAs, car, travel and home insurance, business banking and mortgages.

My criticisms of Bank of Scotland are minor and are generally linked to a loan account I have with them.

I have had this account for about 6 or 7 years now and I added to it 4 years ago. Bank of Scotland frequently call me about it, asking if I would like to add insurance products to it, or just offering me an extension on it for me to take there and then. Now don't get me wrong, its nice to know my custom is valued, but I think its wrong to offer unsolicited loan extensions on such a regular basis, even though my history with the bank is good which makes me a good credit risk.

Also, the Visa debit card I have for my current account is really expensive to use overseas - so much so I that I have only ever used it once and will never do so again!

I have also read reviews here where customers have had really bad experiences so I am aware this isn't the perfect bank. Of course I am unconvinced that the perfect bank exists...

Overall however I am pleased with the service I have received from Bank of Scotland over the years. I find their banks pleasant to visit with highly trained and very helpful staff, and would recommend them, even though I am saddened to see this once proud and individual bank reduced to an offshoot of another banking group now.

http://www.bankofscotland.co.uk/

Summary: Products and services offered by Bank of Scotland