Bank of Scotland (Bank of Scotland)

Member Name: Purpledot

Product:	Bank of Scotland
Date:	18/05/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good online banking system, generally helpful staff

Disadvantages: Limited services in its counterpart, Halifax

Most of the banks in the United Kingdom particularly have not had it easy especially for the past one year. Bank of Scotland is no exception and being part of an institution which has more or less contributed to the credit crunch, it is no wonder that they are not looked upon very favourably.

I have been banking with Bank of Scotland for the past two years and I have experienced both good and bad services. I first opened an account with Bank of Scotland when I was in Aberdeen. This was itself a tedious and lengthy endeavour which finally ended when a staff sat down with me and looked into my case. She went through every detail of my application and made sure that she got it right for me once and for all. Before her, I called and I enquired at branches but to no avail. Eventually, I discovered that all that was required was for someone to verify my documents!! The staff at the initial branch I went to should have seen to that and advised me accordingly. If they had done so, it would have saved me lots of time and hassle.

Whilst in Scotland, there is literally a branch of Bank of Scotland everywhere you turn. This was a plus point of course as it was really convenient to pop into any one to get my banking done. The branches are very welcoming and the customer assistants are generally helpful and efficient. They also impart useful information in terms of investments and will get an advisor to sit down and explain things in detail on a one to one basis.

Another plus point about this Bank is its online banking system. Out of the few banks that I am with, I must say that Bank of Scotland's online banking experience is one of the best. Its interface is relatively straightforward and very user friendly unlike some others.

Now that I have relocated down south, Halifax HBOS is the alternative branch in England. One would have thought that these merged banks would have the same operation system which would allow customers from either one to do transactions over the ATM. To my dismay, I was informed that the ATMs in Halifax HBOS DOES NOT allow certain transactions such as cash deposit by Bank of Scotland customers! This means that each time I would like to make a deposit, I would have to queue up and get it done over the counter. It is really annoying having to queue up for a simple transaction like that. Perhaps the machines are intolerant to Scottish pounds, one would wonder...

As for charges for its services, I personally do not have any comments on it as I do not have any outstanding debt with the bank. I would think that all the charges for overdrawn accounts, balance on credit cards etc are equally exorbitant across the board regardless of which bank. These are after all where the main revenue for banks come from.

Summary: Lots of room for improvement