What is the Worst Bank in the UK?

Following the release of customer complaints figures, this week on the Kiran Trivedi blog I ask; what is the worst bank in the UK?

Let Customer Complaints Be Your Guide

One vital step to making sure you protect your personal finances, is to ensure that you put your money in the right bank. That is because the bank ultimately has control over your money, which means that if they’re incompetent, they’re more likely to make errors with said money. This could impact your personal finances in a thousand small ways.

So how do you judge efficiency in the banking sector? You do what any wise consumer would do – your research! The best research you can possibly do is look at what people are saying about the bank, as the best way to measure their capabilities is to look at the customer service they provide. Let customer complaints be your guide.

Which Five UK Banks Received the Most Customer Complaints?

Or in this case, the volume of customer complaints, as logically, the more customers who complain the worse the bank in question probably is. As luck would have it, the financial ombudsman released customer complaints figures for banks recently, outlining which are the five most complained about banks in the UK.

For the six month period from 1^st January - 30^th June 2014, Lloyd’s Banking Group received the most complaints – 30,768. This was followed by the Barclays with 26,955, HSBC Group with 12,429, Santander with 7,876 and Nationwide Building Society with 4,886.

Which Bank Resolved The Most Customer Complaints?

Let’s be fair to Lloyd’s, yes statistically, they may be the worst bank in the UK, but the Group is also the largest. With over 30 million customers, Lloyd’s Banking Group includes banking heavyweights such as Lloyd’s TSB, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Cheltenham and Gloucester.

However, the figures go on to show that you can’t excuse the group just for its size. Not only did it receive the most complaints, but it only resolved 66% of them. Barclays, which has 15 million customers, resolved the same number of complaints, whilst HSBC Group, which has 16 million customers, managed to resolve 78%. If we’re basing the worst bank on number of complaints resolved, this crown has to go to Nationwide, who only resolved 12% of complaints.

Always be Wary of Banks!

So however you look at it, whether Lloyd’s or Nationwide are the worst banking groups in the UK, what you should learn, Kiran Trivedi readers, is to be wary of banks. As far as they are concerned, you should always be vigilant and do your research, if you want to make sure you protect your personal finances. 

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The Art of the Counterfeit: Spotting a Fake

You always have to remember, Kiran Trivedi readers that one of the biggest threats to your personal finances is when you’re tricked into buying a fake product. In order to help protect you from the risk this brings, I thought this week I’d give you a few tips on spotting a fake.

Kiran Trivedi knows it’s not rocket science. If you are tricked into buying a fake product, especially a big ticket item like a fake designer piece of clothing, then you are blowing money on something worthless, and either you’ll simply lose money on something that is not going to add any value to your life, or you’ll have to fork out more money on buying a replacement.

This is bad enough – however there is more than one way to skin a cat, and as such, more than one way to be taken in by a con. An article by the BBC brought this to my attention, as it highlighted the top five cons tricksters run on you to make you part with some serious cash.

It was certainly illuminating. According to the news source, the top five cons that can cost you the most money are the fake solicitor, fake holiday tickets, fake debt help, fake job adverts and fake alcohol.

It’s easy to see why these cons would be so effective and so detrimental to UK consumers. They are all either essential or popular products/services, and thus not only can they bring in significant amounts of people, they can part them from a lot of cash.

Counterfeit bill in the US

Kiran Trivedi’s Top Tips

So if you want to protect your personal finances, what can you do? Here are a few tips straight form the Kiran Trivedi blog:

• Use your common sense: If something feels like a con, walk away, it probably is. 
• Research: Once again, use the internet to look up who you are dealing with. Research is everything!
• Identification: If you have any doubts, check for ID or official verification if possible (this usually depends on the industry involved).
• Caution: Protect your details, don’t give them out unless sure, avoid online banking and pay in cash when possible to minimise any damage a potential scammer could do.

The reality is that it is so easy to get scammed in the modern world- it’s happened to nearly everyone at one point or another. If you want to protect your personal finances, take precautions and always remember to do your research! A great place to start is the Kiran Trivedi Blog.

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Why Should You Desert the ‘Big Six?’

If you get your energy from one of the ‘big six’ energy companies, and most people in Britain do, then you’ll know that they charge heaven and earth for their services. Saying that, Kiran Trivedi readers, why should you desert the ‘big six?’

Did you know that the annual household energy bill now runs up £1,264, and that only covers gas and electric? Why do you think that is? Is it because it simply costs that much to bring energy to your house? Whilst energy costs are rising all over Europe, they’ve risen much more steeply over here.

The thing is that they shouldn’t. In Britain we’re a lot more energy independent than Europe, as we don’t depend on Russia for our gas and oil and we have a growing renewable energy sector, which means that costs really shouldn’t be that bad. Furthermore, the fact that American shale oil and gas is flooding the market at the moment should make things even cheaper.

The thing is that the ‘big six’ don’t seem to be taking any of this into account. We see this best through the energy prices row last year. Labour leader Ed Miliband suggested that if he got into power then he would impose a 20 month energy price freeze.

The big six went mad. They immediately denounced any such strategy, saying that it costs too much to supply the country with energy as it is and that it why they are raising prices. They also rose prices again to circumvent such measures.

The actions of the big six from there show that they haven’t really got consumers best interests at heart, and that is why you need to desert them. In the end, the energy prices row stopped and not only did most of the big six not lower their prices, they also convinced the government to cutback the ECO Funding scheme; which provided energy efficiency measures designed to cut household energy bills.

This is why you should switch to a smaller energy company if you want to more effectively manage your personal finances. It’s logical really. Because they’re a small company they can’t afford to alienate their customers, which means that they have policies that mean that you get cheaper energy.

We have seen this recently with small energy company Ovo. Based on the usage of dual fuel by a medium user, the energy company has pledged to get energy bills to under £1,000 a year. This has prompted large energy firm SSE to say that they are freezing prices until 2016, showing that they really don’t need to raise prices to keep themselves afloat.

That’s why you need to desert the big six energy companies, Kiran Trivedi readers. They clearly don’t have your best interests at heart because they’re so big that they don’t need to. Switch to a smaller energy company if you want to more effectively handle your personal finances.

LINK TO INFO: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26947756

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Mobile Banking Has Officially Arrived

New figures suggest that mobile banking has arrived, and it has done so in style. How popular is this new method of handling your finances and how can you protect yourself so that you can mobile bank with the peace of mind that you won’t be targeted by fraudsters?

It’s hardly a surprise that mobile banking has become so popular. Smartphones are everywhere, and in today’s world, you can’t turn a corner without seeing someone with a device in hand. It’s simply a matter of convenience. However what surprised me, Kiran Trivedi readers, is just how pervasive mobile banking has become throughout society.

According to the British Bankers Association (BBA), the major organisation for the UK banking industry heavyweights, mobile banking has doubled within the space of a year. Considering the number of people already using this option, it’s a substantial jump.

The BBA has found that 5.7 million transactions a day are now made to banks via smartphones. Anthony Browne, Chief Executive of the BBS, commented that the figures are indicative of “an amazing revolution in the way people are banking," to the BBC.

Browne further went on to explain this boom in mobile banking. He said to the BBC that "the reason why it [mobile banking] has grown so much is just that it's a lot more flexible," and that "it's driven by customers - they can do it any time of day or night. You can pay a bill while at the pub - that sort of thing."

Browne is right, it really is a matter of flexibility, however this flexibility comes with a cost, and that cost is security. Think of how easy it would be for someone to steal your phone at the pub and gain access to your banking information. They could do untold damage. So how do you protect yourself from this sort of fraud?

It’s the same as in normal banking really… protect your information. Make sure that your phone is password locked at all times, don’t save your banking information on your phone etc. This is the only way that you can make sure that should the worst happen, and your phone is stolen; they can’t actually use it to steal your money.

This reminds us all Kiran Trivedi readers how important it is to protect your financial information, whatever system of banking we use. Remember that you’re only ever a step away from a fraudster; don’t leave yourself unprotected.

LINK TO INFO: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26816148

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ISA: You Really Need One

With the budget still fresh in all our minds, Kiran Trivedi readers, I want to hone in this week on ISA’s. You really need one. What are they and how can you use them to add a little extra to your budget in the long term?

There are so many financial products out there that promise great returns on your savings that sometimes you don’t even know how to begin to wade through the information to find the best option for you. The ISA is that option.

An ISA is an Individual Savings Account and they’ve actually been around a whole lot longer than you might think; 15 years. It’s an account that you can use to make a wad of cash on your earnings. So how can you actually do this?

Well, when the government first introduced ISA’s to the nation 15 years ago, they billed them as a way you can make money on your savings tax free. That’s what it still is today. You put money into your ISA account and the savings you make, based on interest rates, don’t get taxed.

It really is that simple, however there were a few caveats. Until the most recent budget, you could only put up to roughly £5,760 in per year. You also had to have cash and shares ISA options. You did have to pay some tax on your shares ISA.

However this new budget has brought some real changes. The limit of money that you can put into your ISA account has now been raised to £15,000 a year and you are now allowed to get rid of the shares option and just go with cash! So you really can make a bundle on savings!

Now we know that you can use it to make money, we need to know who is eligible to open an ISA. Well, pretty much everybody, as long as you have money to put into the account. According to the government guidelines, anyone over the age of 18 can open a cash ISA as long as they are a UK resident. You can even get a version for kids called a junior ISA.

So what does this mean for your personal finances? Well it means you can take your hard earned savings, put them into an account and if you wait a while, you can make hundreds, even thousands of pounds that you can then use to give you and your family a better quality of life.

This is why you really need an ISA, Kiran Trivedi readers. It’s a really simple way of making money, money that you can then use in any way you want. 

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