Natwest Current Account Review

Overall Rating

No problems running the account; £40-60 gift; free overdraft facilities; helpful telephone staff

36 days for account to become operational; low interest rate; incompetent staff; unable to contact branch

No, this is not a desperate attempt to justify what goes on in my private life. I want a divorce from NatWest. I claim 'irreconcilable differences'. To put it simply, I believe that a bank should be able to have the so-called 'bright new' student bank account operational in less than 36 days; NatWest don't.

For anyone thinking of opening an account with NatWest, especially students - read this first. I would not recommend their service to any friend of mine.

During my short time with the bank, I have been dissatisfied with virtually every significant feature of the service. My story reads like a catalogue of woes:

1. Attracted by the £60 gift and interest free overdraft facilities (NatWest is the only bank which claims to be able to offer free overdrafts over their stated limit of £1250 in the first year of study), I went into my local branch to open an account. The first problem was with the computer system: the staff didn't appear to know how to open the student account for me. Instead, a regular current account was opened, to be converted to a student account the following morning. Ahem.

2. I was told that the account was open and ready, and the cards, cheque book and welcome pack were sent to me. Incidentally, the welcome pack looked promising, but the 'useful' freephone numbers in it were useless - they were information only lines, and all banking calls were to 0845 numbers, to be charged at local call rates. The next, more important, problem was that the card sent to me for my current account was a Solo, rather than the Switch card I had expected.

3. On the same day, nervous that I had been refused for some unknown credit reason, I went into the branch. I talked to an advisor, who told me that a Switch card had been ordered and would be with me within 5 working days.This time passed, and I phoned the bank, only to be informed that I had not been given the appropriate application form, and that no card had been ordered. I then had to visit the branch again to fill in said form. I was quoted 10 working days to receive my card. Needless to say, this wasn't the case: it took 15 working days.

4. Remember that £60 incentive I mentioned? A further problem: I was quoted 10 working days for it to be in my account.When it did not arrive, I phoned the bank, and was told that my branch would phone my back. I phoned three times, and never received a call back. It eventually took 20 working days for the money to arrive.

I was so dissatisfied with my experience that I have started the process of transferring to Smile. This decision was based on their reputation for good customer service, and the fact that they currently offer around 30 times more interest than the NatWest account.

That said, the features that attracted me to the NatWest account were available: the unique overdraft facilities, £60 (the biggest incentive on the high street), the free student-specific advice in specialised brances, and student credit card. It's a shame for NatWest that their customer service couldn't efficiently deliver these promises. I had hoped that they would be keener to keep a future graduate, and hence high earner.