Category: Banking

Is it too Difficult to do my Banking Elsewhere?

There are a lot of people that might fear that changing banks will be really difficult. They might worry that if they want to switch to another one that it will be hard. There are a few things they might worry about but they may not necessarily be as tricky as they may first seem. 

Things Could Go Wrong When Switching

 There will always be a small risk that things will go wrong when you are switching accounts, but these days banks are obliged to help you out with switching and they should arrange some of the processes for you. They should be able to organise the moving over of your direct debits and standing orders, for example, which means that there should be no problems with paying bills. It is wise to make sure that you check that it has been done correctly, but this should not be too tricky. If you have an online bank account, you should be able to view them and you could even print them out and then you will be able to check on the new account of they have all been swapped over accurately. If you do not bank online then you may need to look back on your bank statements to check this and then you may need to wait for a statement from the new bank to check it, but you may be able to communicate with them in an alternative way, perhaps online, by phone or in a branch, in order to check this. It will not take too much time and effort to check this and it could be well worth making this effort if it means that you will be able to then be able to get better rates and make more money than you would if you stayed with your current bank.

The New Bank Will be Hard to Navigate

 You may be concerned that things will be different with your new bank and that could make it complex to use. If you bank online, then you will need to set up a new account with them and this can take time and effort. You will need to learn how to navigate their website and how to do different things. You might need to set up telephone banking details as well and you may need to find where their branch is and get used to using that as well. However, it does not mean that this will be hard. It could be quite simple to set it all up. Banks will want to make it easy for people to do all of this as they won’t want to put them off by making it so complex that they will not want to stay with them. You will also tend to find that most systems are very similar anyway and if you can navigate one, then you will be able to do others. They will also have help available that you can use as well. 

It is worth thinking about these disadvantages alongside the advantages of switching banks. There could be a lot of advantages such as being able to get a better rate of interest and having better products available. You might also find them to be a friendlier bank, easier to deal with and quicker to respond to your queries and so it could be really worth the hassle of switching. So, make sure that you calculate the financial advantages and consider other advantages as well as considering the disadvantages. It could be well worth working through the disadvantages as the advantages could well outweigh them.