Best bank to deal with in the UK

[thebos09]

I have come across some threads but none directly related to this. I am moving to the UK soon to work for a period of time and need to look into opening an account. I am wondering what the best bank to deal with is in relation to

low account fees
online access
credit/ debit cards

Anyone looked into this recently?
Also was going to transfer a lump sum from euro to sterling (£10000ish) across and don't want to use the banks rates. Can anyone recommend a easy way of doing this online and getting a competitive rate?

Cheers

 

[Mark Power]

I have banked with most of the big UK banks Barclays, RBS, Lloyds and HSBC.

The one I would recommend for service and speed is HSBC. All of the above will provide free banking, online access and credit cards. However I found HSBC the best when it comes to customer service and speed of transfers.

With regard to moving your £10K, the exchange rate is set by the sending bank. Most banks won't give you their corporate rate unless you are moving more than £25K and you need to go into a branch in order for them to lock the rate with their Group Treasury department.