THINK BANKING

[Skippy]

I had a Think Banking account for a short time and when I rang up to apply for it they were determined to sell me an IVA, even though I had just gone BR!

I would also say before you open an account with Think Banking (who get very good reviews on here) think about how many direct debits and bill payments that you have. I only have 2 so it wasn't worth me paying £12.50 a month, and I couldn't be bothered with ringing them each month to tell them how much to hold back. Now if they had internet banking it might have been a different matter!

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[Maz]

I've had a new account set up with Think Banking 5 months ago and find them good and very helpful. What i like about the account is that they text you your balance when ever you want to your mobile phone. So when out shopping i just text and get a response back instantly to see how much is in the account.

[Skippy]

I had to pay for the texts to request the balance as they are considered a premium number. It was only 10p a time, but it starts to add up as I was paranoid about how much money I had! I would have much rather been able to get the balance from a cash point or from internet banking. The other problem I had was having to pay for phone calls to them - I had to hold on for ages each time I rang them and it wasn't a free phone number.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[kelzie]

thank you for your advice.your right.i only have two direct debits set up- the rest i pay by my debit card.so i could stay with my current bank and look into a debt management plan. i think it would be the best option for me, i know it will take longer to clear in the long run, but it will work out better for me as i have one set amount each month to pay out on bills. and i like the idea of that without the hassle of having to go through the iva process. its just hard for me to see what debt management company is right for me.

[Hhaggis1]

Following my bankruptcy 1n 2005, my account with the Woolwich which i had held for 15yrs was suspended despite the receiver having no objection to my using the account and the fact that i owed them no money whatsoever.
a colleague was with think banking then called greg pennington banking and suggested i try them.
i opened an account in october 2005 and was glad to get it as i had been unsuccsesful everywhere else.
it started badly as despite informing them on several occasions that i was weekly paid they insisted in attempting to take a months payments each week, resulting in an expensive telephone call each week (0845 No.from a mobile)to get funds transfered to my card so i could live.eventually i managed to get weekly stoppages and all went well for several months. then about 6 months ago i began to get letters from creditors who had not been paid,the bank had failed to hold sufficient funds to pay them despite the fact that more than enough money had ben paid in. then there were weeks when i would have unexpected transfers from my card to cover payments they had overlooked.on one occasion they missed my car payment and i was charged £20 late fee. it got so bad that i was having to keep a record of my outgoings and comparing it to what had been held and then leaving enough money on my card to cover the transfer they would have to make to cover the defecit.
in short i was managing an account for which i was paying £12.50 a month management fee.the final straw came when they failed to pay the bankruptcy payment to my administrators although there were funds there.
i have recently opened a natwest step account and closed my thinkbanking one. i'm sure there are many people for who this account works well but my own experience has been far from satisfactory.

[aguise]

Hi and welcome Hhaggis
It shows how different things can be. I have had absolutely no problems with thinkbanking at all in the 12 months I have been with them (other than that awful music they play) and I too am weekly paid. On the other hand I found natwest who my husband was with previous to our iva very uncaring if we ever had a problem. Especially with charges, they still charge even if you put the account back into credit on the same day.
In the end its what works for you. We have loads of debits and it just makes life a lot easier ,knowing the money is put aside.

Ang

Please visit my blog at http://aguise.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[Skippy]

I've found Nationwide and the Co-op to be really helpful. My salary is paid into the Nationwide account and I transfer my spending money into the Co-op account. The balance is left in the N/Wide account to pay my bills. So far this seems to be working, so I hope it carries on!

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is the present - a gift to make the most of.

View my blog at http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

[Hhaggis1]

Thanks for the welcome. i agree it is reassuring to have the money set aside automatically and not have to worry about it but as i said in my case this was not the case. i have on an average week between £360 and £420 p/w in and my outgoings came to a total of £412 per month including their fee, but they still failed to keep sufficient to pay everyone. whats more all but one payment was in place at the time of opening tha account. payments that were made one month were often overlookes the next.

[leedrobins]

Just to let you know im having terrible trouble with THINKBANKING at the moment, My account has been frozen since monday (now Thu eve) and cant get access to any of my money !!! There telling me that a number of accounts have been frozen and IT are looking into it !! Everytime i call im being fobbed off with the same answer, sorry we appreciate its a problem but we cant do anything, So i cant get at a single penny and im having to borrow of friends and relatives just to get to work and they couldn't care less, oh and they have no idea when it will be fixed, I asked to speak to IT and they had gone home, must be nice having the money to get home !!!! You think they might stay on for something so important but obviously not !!! How bad a bank must they be to not have the problem fixed after 4 days !!! I will close them down immediatly when i have recieved my money, Is anyone else having this problem ??? or any ideas what i can do ????

[aguise]

Hi there We are with them and dont seem to have any problem, wages went in and text came informing me of the balance.

Ang

[Skippy]

That's disgraceful - how can they say they don't know when you'll be able to have access to your own money. I would put a complaint in writing to them.