Great rate and service. (Sainsbury's Bank)

Member Name: stokx

Product:	Sainsbury's Bank
Date:	07/03/09 (160 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High rate, helpful friendly staff.

Disadvantages: Less secure than Tesco's (no card reader)

Sainsbury's bank supplies savings, credit cards, loans and insurance.
I took up a staff offer on a savings account to get bonus nectar points, I closed the account immediately afterwards because Tesco's was paying more at the time.
The current rate (07/03/09) is 3% which is the same as ING and Bradford and bingley and is top of the confused.com best buy table.
Opening an account is slow because it is done by post, sending forms takes about a week and you don't get your card until about a week after the account is confirmed as open.
You have to send in a cheque for an initial deposit and you have to pay postage.
I have had accounts with a lot of banks and ICICI is the only other I know that doesn't cover the stamp.
Sainsbury's pays interest annually and there is no minimum balance required to keep the account open.
The online service is fast and lets you move cash relatively easily; it does take a few minutes to register accounts other than the one your original deposit came from.
I had difficulty setting up online banking to begin with because it said my details didn't match their records.
I got the account registered by contacting online support; at first the automatic service kept asking me for the same details as when I tried to register but after a few incorrect guesses I was allowed to fill in an online form which took about ten seconds.
The next day I had an email saying the account had been registered for me and I was able to log in.
You have to phone up to close the account but this is easy and they keep you waiting a considerably shorter time than other banks.

Summary: Recommended.