Any better current accounts that RBS out there ?

[The Wikir Man]

I moved my personal banking to First Direct in the early days and would thoroughly recommend them.

EDIT: It was here

Not so much of a discussion really just a few people saying how great First Direct are.

WHS - been with them since we moved house 8 years ago (moved mortgage to them as well at the same time) and think they're great. Very little by way of hard sell, and the few people that I know who have had problems with them speak of how well they have handled the situation.

There was a TV programme a couple of years back that showed the inside of a FD call-centre where people actually seemed to WANT to be there and working, and it looked quite a fun place for a call-centre.

[TimberWolf]

WHS - been with them since we moved house 8 years ago (moved mortgage to them as well at the same time) and think they're great. Very little by way of hard sell, and the few people that I know who have had problems with them speak of how well they have handled the situation.

There was a TV programme a couple of years back that showed the inside of a FD call-centre where people actually seemed to WANT to be there and working, and it looked quite a fun place for a call-centre.

I sometimes worry that their parent company HSBC is a bit crap and or dodgy though.

In some unrelated Daily Mail based HSBC news: HSBC bank clerk who stole £120,000 is found hanged in suicide pact

[Gonzo]

Interesting that First Direct is a firm favourite but are their cash machine cards widely usable in the the UK and abroad or are you limited to their machines ? don't they conduct business over the phone mostly.

First Direct used to issue Switch/Maestro debit cards but have recently changed over to Visa Debit. I never had issues with using the Switch card to withdraw cash abroad.

FD cards can be used without charges in HSBC or NatWest (probably some others) cash machines without charges in the UK.

FD have no high street branches but if you have to do any counter transactions, these can be done at HSBC.