About - triodos.co.uk

Overall Feedback:

One major problem encountered - which received a pretty dismissive response from the Customer Services team - although to be fair it's more of a strategic issue than a day - day operational problem. I attempted to pay a large cash sum from a pension into my Triodos current account. The pensions company (a large UK insurance firm) was unable to make the payment as Triodos are not on their list of approved banks for anti money laundering purposes. Fortunately I was able to make the payment into a current account I have with one of the big four banks. The point - which I attempted to make to Triodos customer services - is that while Triodos might consider itself a 'real' bank there are significant and major issues which they need to address before they are able to offer a full banking service. Clearly Triodos is not yet seen as an established member of the UK financial services sector.That said the day - day operation of the Triodos current account seems to be working well so far though limitations such as no overdraft, lack of branches, difficulty of paying in cash etc. may cause difficulties for some customers. On a positive note pretty much anything you need to do in terms of configuring the current account and debit card can be done easily on line. One feature which I find exceptionally useful and a security 'plus' is the text message which can be set for card debit transactions. The text usually pings on my phone before I've left the store. Other useful features such as balance updates, warning if balance drops below x etc. All in all for day-day use the Triodos current account is now my account of choice. Well worth the £3.00 a month, even though other (possibly less ethical) banks provide 'free' banking. There is a lack of integration within their internet banking system which means that as an existing customer a full application form has to be completed in order to apply for e.g. a savings account. Triodos also (strangely nowadays) uses snail mail a lot for communication. Again this is an indication of the lack of integration within Internet Banking. At this stage I would say use Triodos for its ethical views (which can at times be somewhat extreme,one sided and lack nuance), the ways it tries to manage money for social good and ease of use and security of their current account. But for serious banking which may involve cross institutional money transfers, overdrafts, loans etc. stay with one of the major players