This is far from unusual! I remember having to go line by line through the last three months of statements too (with a different provider to Nationwide) but at the end of the day it's just so they can sign off due diligence.
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I remember a loooong time ago we had a small bank in the village I used to live in, I went in when I was about 7/8 to open an account and they sat down with me and we had a chat, cant even remember the name now, but moved from them to Natwest back in the days you would get pigs to collect.
Banks are like politicians now, just in it for themselves and when things go wrong they don't seem to suffer the consequences but get everything brushed under the carpet by friends in higher places..
Its all a cash grab these days, do high-interest accounts even exist anymore, you used to be able to stick money in an account that was high interest and then if you wanted it you had to wait like a month before funds were available...
That sort of high interest account don't exist any more, no, Trig (IMHO) but nor do the sort of mortgages that saw me paying 15%, despite me having about 40% of the purchase price of a house in cash. In other words, I don't think we can really blame the banks fo overall interest rates. It's far from being this country only, and applies to both savings and borrowings, that we're in a different world.
At least, we are at that end of the market.
It is still possuble to get pretty good returns, by which I mean double digit interest rates, but on investment accounts not savings accounts, and even then, that involves an element of risk. To get good returns effectively means good investmnet advice, and that means having enough capital to invest to interest good forms, and afford their fees.
That is to say, money still goes to money. If you've already got it, you can get it. Always has been like that, and no doubt always will, with the average Joe getting neatly cut out of that. It'll only change when, and if,we end up in a StarTrekian utopia where something else replaces money as what makes the world go round because right now, it sure still is.
Cynic? M'oi?
Cynic, yeah, theres a lot of that going round, perhaps its an age thing, which would obviously make you more cynical than me ;)
--- Warning rant ahead ---
Not to this level - I had to account for every bit of discretionary outlay for 3 months (I had to try justifying why I had spent £3 on a steam game in a letter for example!). The mortgage was all fully agreed until they screwed up the direct debit transfer just before signing off on the mortgage. The nationwide advisor told me I was very unlucky, he'd sort it out and I just had to explain in a letter that it was all their fault to get out of special checking. However the underwriter didn't want to know and kept asking for more and more details (all in letters!) plus how could I afford the mortgage with so many different outlays etc. I had 30%+ equity, ok affordability and no other blemishes on my record. When I went to the independent, he got me a mortgage with no more than a copy of my statements/earnings and at a better rate. Instant agreement - no issues or explaining. It should have been the same at nationwide if not for their screw up with the direct debit. I've had many mortgages since and before - trust me this wasn't standard due diligence checking. It was super stressful and unpleasant. I've used independent advisors ever since every other one has been equally simple (and never nationwide for the mortgage)!
I don't think I'd have been so annoyed by it all if it wasn't for the regular nationwide adverts saying we're by your side - no they flipping well weren't! Rant over...
@cheesemp .... I have to say an experience like that would have me spitting feathers too.
My question is ... do you believe that to be typical of them? Or, perhaps, was eiher an individual, or maybe a branch, in CYA mode, or liability-reduction mode, or something?
I've never had any dealings wih them so have no first hand experience, either positive or negative, to compare it to. I have had negative experiences with several other banking institutions, including outright incompetence, but nothing so ... peurile, so petty, so ... almost overtly vindictive, as that.
Effectively by getting you to move current accounts with the enticing offer of a mortgage, they have done a bait and switch.
Regardless of whether you took your mortgage elsewhere or not, raise a complaint. They have utterly wasted your time with misleading you into moving your bank to them and then screwed you on the mortgage. Work out how much time was wasted and put a realistic value on that.
The process for raising a complaint is you state your problem and how they can make it right with you. This starts an 8 week timer after which you can raise the case with the ombudsman. Having witnessed "discussions*" inside a bank where a customer complaint has been left festering for too long and the 8 week deadline was approaching, they will probably take you seriously, provided you are being reasonable.
* Robust discussions. Very, very robust.
As I mentioned in my first message - this was a tech problem. Nationwide seemed unable to handle a direct debit moving either as a bank account or a mortgage provider. This tech failure was the cause of the failed payment which then bumped me into these 'special checking'. It wasn't a bait and switch tactic (thanks for the response though @badass). It was their tech failings screwing me over. I got treated as someone with bad credit marks even though the only ones I had where nationwide screw ups. This was nearly ten years ago so maybe things have improved but I doubt it as I still believe all the backends to be the same ropey UNIX systems from the 1980s just like all the other mainstream banks (I know the hardware has been upgraded but the software has not - I think the only thing protecting banking from major hacking is no one understands the out of date tech).
I did get it corrected as soon as I was aware. The problem is, due to it being present at application I was then picked up for this enhanced checks (and therefore screwed). I came to the conclusion its almost impossible to get through enhanced checking - deliberately as its for defaulters! I'd had a mortgage for 8 years before then with ~3 years with nationwide so my history was good apart from their mess up.
At least it's moved on (apparently) from the days when it was largely all COBOL.
Given all the problems high street banks have and low level of change do to risks/limited IT budgets/interest from board level I'd believe COBOL was 100% gone when I saw it. I've heard enough horror stories from banks that I wouldn't want to work on their systems for double what I currently pull in.
Most of the disasters that hit the news seem to be down to outsourced IT staff submitting dodgy overnight batch jobs into systems they don't understand. That's more an incompetent management trying to cut corners on staffing costs problem than anything technical, which if anything is more worrying :(