Page 1 of CURRENT ACCOUNTS- which are the best 1`s?

OK i finished uni last year and i`m about to start first F-T job very soon.

So with my wage going in every month and that i was wondering which is the best CURRENT account to have.

I WANT -- ok interest, NO or low charges for basic running of the account, decent service when needed.


Any suggestions with reasoning appreciated.

Thanks.

I am with the Alliance & Leicester, been with them for 20 years (was Girobank). I have never had any problems with them and they also give you 2+ % interest.

Abbey nat have a decent one. If you have over a grand a month paid in they pay you 3% on credit balances. Not bad i thought. Get the debit card ect free as well. Online banking is free and easy to set up and use. Problem is abbey nat are s*** at everything else!!!!!!

After crap service from every high street bank, I moved to first direct about ten years ago. Everything I`ve done with them (from paying bills over the phone 24/7, to transferring cash overseas to someone without a bank account(!)) has worked perfectly. I only use the 24 hour phone service so can`t comment on how the internet bit of their operation works. But I love being able to pay all my bills with just a phone call, at any time. You can get more (taxable) interest on your current account elsewhere, but for service I think first direct are hard to beat.

Colseddon

Try

www.moneysupermarket.com or
www.moneynet.com

To get the best advice

Interestingly, LloydsTSB now offer great value Current accounts.
I`ve just upgraded mine.
No charges for having it. Arranged overdraft facility is now cheap but best of all are the rates.
Pay in £1000 a month and get 2.53% AER and 3.2 AER for £2000 a month.
Plus you`ve got the convenience of High Street banking, loads of cashpoints (free) and Internet banking. I pay all my bills online, check balances and statements, transfer money between my accounts and other (even non-TSB) accounts. I can even check my credit card balance and statement.

Ste

have you tried www.cahoot.com I use them they`ve been really good for me. As for the post about Abbey being crap at everything else - I completely agree, worked there until recently!

Compare different accounts here:
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/CurrentAccountsP/CompareCurrentAccountsForm.asp


Me personally, I`m with First Direct, the service is simply stunning. I`ve been with it for 8 years and never, ever had a problem. I use FD Internet banking for pretty much everything and it works well. Good 24hour response to electronic messages too. Via telephone, life is just so simple and money transfers, bill payments etc all so easy. Plus all the cards are black (except for the Gold Visa which isn`t black, but gold...).

I wouldn`t change banks.

Anil
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IS IT RIGHT THAT EVERYONE GETS A £250 INTEREST FREE OVERDRAFT WITH CAHOOT- SO DOES THAT MEAN IF YOU REMAINED AROUND -£200 ALL THE TIME YOU WOULDN`T BE CHARGED ANYTHING???????

I WILL PROBABLY GET MY PAY PUT IN MY HSBC GRADUATE ACCOUNT FOR NOW, BUT WON`T KEEP MUCH IN THEIR 4 LONG.

HOW DO HSBC AND BARCLAYS GET AWAY WITH PAYING ONLY 0.1% INTEREST WHEN OTHERS SUCH AS CAHOOT AND SMILE PAY OVER 3.0%.

ITS SHOCKING!

BY THE WAY IS IT JUST A LOCAL CALL RATE WHEN U USE TELEPHONE BANKING WITH CAHOOT(AND DO THEY HAVE GOOD SERVICE?).

COL.

Halifax Plc seems to be the best around. Pays decent (For a current account) interest, free overdraft for the first £100, free internet banking from where you can pay bills and transfer money amongst other things. They seem to be going all out to get customers from the likes of Barclays, Lloyds - who seem poor in comparison - and this can only be good for the consumer. That`s who I`m with anyway for my banking. Choice is yours really.