Best customer service and online credit card

R

RSMike

Registered User
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After a bad experience with MBNA (annoying automated call menus & shoddy/arrogant customer service), I have decided, after being a customer for many years to give them the bullet.

I normally pay off my card monthly so APR rate not a major concern.

My primary requirements are
(1) Visa
(2) Online account access & payment via online banking supported
(3) Decent customer service

Any recommendations?

Cheers
 
hi,

I would say National Irish Bank, but I can not say 100% how their Visa works as I only use them for MasterCard. I assume you are able to avail of the full internet banking service etc. Customer care is great when you speak to your own branch, however they switch the calls to Belfast after 6pm which is not great to say the least.

AIB are also excellent. You can not fault their service, their online banking is not as "cutting edge" as NIB, but staff / customer service etc, they are #1! PS - the Platinum card gives you .5% back on purchases and they dont have the silver John Rocha design anymore :p

hope that helps.
 
AIB Visa can have foreign currency transaction fees of up of 2.75%. 1% more than most others.

I had a Halifax Visa in recent years. I found their customer service very good. However at the time you could only view your balance and make payments online. You were unable to view individual transactions. Perhaps it has changed since then.
 
gunnerfitzy said:
AIB Visa can have foreign currency transaction fees of up of 2.75%. 1% more than most others.

I had a Halifax Visa in recent years. I found their customer service very good. However at the time you could only view your balance and make payments online. You were unable to view individual transactions. Perhaps it has changed since then.
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Oh... thanks gunnerfitzy. you know I was wondering, I know the online FX rates are not the bank rates etc, but I did notice that when I spent 2,500 USD the difference seemed very high!

I'll have a look around myself.... cheers!

Ps - Just looked, NIB only charge 1.75% oops... if i had of known this before, i would have never charged them US transactions on AIB Visa, only upside is i am getting .5% back :( Thnaks again!
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

Now I am beginning to wonder if I really need a Visa card after all, I already have BOI Mastercard and Amex Blue.

When I started with credit cards way back, it made sense to have MC and Visa if traveling as their coverage varied globally, Now I guess they are both pretty much universal.

Its a pity Amex Blue does not have an online facility but with the 1% back maybe I should use it more.
 
It's a BOI mastercard I have now and it gets the two thumbs up from me! If for some crazy reason a particular establishment cannot take mastercard and only visa then the Halifax Visa Debit bails me out. It can be used anywhere Visa credit cards are accepted, including online.
 
Well, I'm back to this again, as BOI have decided to pull the plug on the Blue Amex credit card, I'm down to a single card and always like to have a 2nd as backup.

So I decided to go with NIB as

(1) Favorably rated here.

(2) I had a card with them previously about 10 years ago, so figured they could see I had a clean record with them, over a number of years previously.

(3) I have a savings account with them with a few K in it, and all set up on their online banking.

Naively I expected it was just a matter of applying, NOT So !, despite having a completely clean credit rating, being employed, and no large debts, they have turned me down!

Said I would need to open a current account and have my salary paid in there for at least 6 months.

What a laugh!, they may as well stop advertising cards at that rate, I guess its a sign of the times.

So anyway forget about applying for a credit card with NIB unless your prepared to move your current account and wait 6 months, :rolleyes:

Well lets see who else I could try based on my original criteria and the advice given here

(1) Halifax - Forget it their shutting up shop

(2) AIB - Foreign Currency charges too high

(3) BOI - Have my Mastercard with them, would make sense to go with someone else

(4) MBNA - Already gave up on them due to arrogant customer service

Hmm, looks like I'm screwed.

NIB savings rates have slowly become crap also, so I guess they have given me the excuse now to close my savings account with them also.

:confused:, am I turning into a cranky old man?
 
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TarfHead said:
:confused:
I don't see your 'reasoning' ?
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Why put all your eggs in one basket?, Its good to have choices, like if BOI suddenely change their rates, terms and conditions etc, I'm not stuck with them.

After looking at all the other options, AIB looks like my best remaining choice, just may preload if doing any foreign currency stuff.

Just been reading some US articles, apparently Banks there are really tightening up on issuing credit cards, looking for payslips, bank account statements etc.
 
Don't bother with NIB

I decided to write to NIB to complain about shoddy treatment, and I got a funny phone call a few days later, where they were at first really apologetic but then became condesending and said "if I really wanted" they would send me on all the forms to make an application, but at the same time even though they offer Visa cards in theory, their not very keen on giving them out, and would prefer if I went for Mastercard ( and a linked current account). Apparently my existing savings acount with a few K in it counts for nothing.

Its a pity as I liked their online banking set up its very flexible, but not much use to me when they won't offer basic credit, now its time to close my NIB account and move to a bank who values my business.

Since applied for AIB Visa, and going through the final stages of supplying ID and bank statements ( as have not banked with them previously), had to drop into the local branch with these today and they were very polite and friendly.
 
RSMike said:
Why put all your eggs in one basket?, Its good to have choices, like if BOI suddenely change their rates, terms and conditions etc, I'm not stuck with them.
Click to expand...

So if BOI do "suddenly change their rates, terms and conditions" you could always switch your card to a different bank at that stage. It seems to be easier these days to switch an existing card than to get a brand new one.
 
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