Bank of scotland at Finda Finance Deal
Bank of scotland
Bank of scotland Information
 
A bank to be proud of
Pros: local network of branches in Scotland
Cons: slow service

Recommend to potential buyers: yes

Full review
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I have been a customer of the Royal Bank of Scotland for 8 years, but not due to their service standards.

I considered their Current Account, but for £60 a year you get discounts. On my last trip abroad my currency only cost me £18 and any unspent currency was returned commision free (even taking into account the poorer exchange rate).

If the £60 actually was to benefit the things I buy every year, then fair enough. You can also use this to reduce your overdraft fee. Call me naive, but then surely that is a "charge" not a benefit, and hidden too.

Now I move into service at branch level.
My local branch has two teller positions, and from 10:00 to 15:00 it is quite common to have to wait in a queue of no less than 4 people, for about 20 minutes. The closer of a local Clydesdale Bank has increased this branches business, and it was busy before!

The statements they produce are quite easy to read, although they new-style credit card statements are not as comprehensive as previous ones. A new benefit is that you know what your interest charge for next month "may" be.

I have been trying to use their Digital Banking for the last 6 months, and this service failed on every occasion, so I retured to their traditional Direct Banking, which alows you to call an 0845 number and access your account details out of hours.
I finally connected to their Digital Banking service a few weeks ago and this enhances their service further by allowing you to manage your account from ANY PC. Well thats the theory... It was such a shame it had taken so long to find out why my account could not use the Digital Banking service, even though I was already on the Direct Banking service!

The only thing missing now is the ability to eMail my own branch, as this is something they still do not support, even though I can fax my branch!